MooN

Keep moving @boboneleg, moving target’s harder to hit…

And very welcome cup o tea it was too. @Tango tried to get out of it by giving me a false phone number, but that didn’t work so i pitched up, drank his tea, dirtied his sofa and buggered of before his mrs got home actually he’s a nice bloke and we set the world to rights for a couple of hours. I did have to leave earlier than originally planned i had an invite that i couldn’t politely refuse, so i missed Mrs Tango, much to my regret. thanks Bob, good to meet you. I got home about an hour ago.

yeah I'll only be stopping for lunch at Clermont, pshing on to millau for the night if I can make it.

well according to meteo France, it looks like I'll be riding into rain tomorrow and will be playing dodge the thunderstorm by the evening. Thursday doesn't look too bad, showers but nowt worse. Friday I'll be running north trying to keep in front of a storm front coming in from the south west, which I hope will go through during the night otherwise I'm going to have a really shitty day on saturday. Still, it's better than they were forcasting a week ago so maybe it'll not happen... OH, @XTreme,

been planning this trip for a while but with no definite parameters for a number of reasons. The idea was that, I've wanted to do the "gorges du Tarn" for a long time and that ties in nicely with Millau and the suspenders bridge. Once I'm that far south I'm only a mornings ride from our Base at Capestang on the Canal du Midi. That could tie in with invading @Tango's personnal space and drinking his coffee ( well it'd be rude not to...) as he's not far from there. Once that far south I'm too far for me to ride home in a single stage so back home via the Gevaudan and the Auvergne with an overnight stop somewhere in the Puy de Dome. I still don't know wether I am physically capable of the distance (using very little autoroute) and I haven't done 8 or 10 hour days for a loooooong time, That and the weather forcast is mainly why i'm keeping theplans fluid cos if I find it's just fucking miserable and / or painful then I shall stop and re adjust the plans accordingly ( the Joys of riding alone) Plan A is this ( ish). wednesday morning to Clermont Ferrand ( I know I can do this, cos I'e done it before in a small group. about 4 hours afternoon: millau via les Gorges du Tarn. spend the night in Millau and then an easy ride down to Capestang where I'll stay on one of our boats and, if they've let him back in the country, say hello to @Tango ( can you PM me a phone number mate? that way I can let you know if i've copped out, or call you on thursday afternoon to meet up.) Friday, still a bit vague and will depend on motivation and weather but something basically hesding north with with the autoroute as the escape route if needed overnight stop around Ambert or Thiers. Then more North and home on the saturday which will just be a slog cos from Vichy North I know the roads having ridden them many times already. Unfortunately no real escape route here as returning into Burgundy and the land that time forgot and the world passes by. I'll try and take some pics if the weather's not too bad. about 1500km in all.

there's another place?! why wasn't I told?

pretty much, except that we're now playing catch up for 2 winters worth of repairs and maintenance not done, so yeah, short staffed, under equipped, no stock and no money to buy any parts, but still expected to provide the same level of service and quality... I'm now having a week off and have a 4 day trip planned but as per usual with me things are going wrong one after the other which may well prevent that from hapenning.

currently working 9 days a week, ( 40hours overtime sofar this month) so not much else getting done really. I've planned a 4 day trip for next week but the longrange forcast is shite weather for the whole time so I dunno wether it'll happen or not ( and I have to avoid injuring myself at work for the next 3 days)

my doc made me take mine 3 times a day for three days and calculate the average. The pharmacy lent me and bracelet thingy with a digital readout that was idiot proof... supposedly it was hardly a constraint to do it and cost nothing.

it,s been fookin snowing here, on and off, since friday afternoon here, thursday was 20 degrees today it was 2 or 3. tomorrow much the same. I, worked all week, and done 5 hrs overtime today. I shall mostly be sleeping tomorrow. Starting summer hours this week so will be working weekends from now till october, well saturdays anyway and having time off during the week.

no they move quite slowly... i crease me up sometimes.

main problem is the amount of tax on the bloody stuff and as it's all percentage based, the higher the price the more money the govt makes out of it. I dunno how true this is but I read lest week that if a litre of petrol is 2€ then 1€60 of that is govt tax...

Avallon, that's where I was at 2,30 am on sunday morning picking the girls up from the cinema...

Well im probably going to have to sell at least one of them to pay for the petrol…

On the P&O firing question, that manner of termination of employment would simply be illegal under European employment laws. Oh, wait a minute… the Uk voted to leave the EU… Tough shit then I guess. ( but don’t let anybody say “i told you so…”)

Well its a lovely day here today but i wont get any riding in. Maybe tomorrow. Mrs Moon is working all weekend so i’m trying to rack up some brownie points by doing all the housework & a couple of other things ive been meaning to do for a while. I also jave to take the twins to the cinema in Avallon (50km) for 17:30 and then go pick rhem up at 02:30 tomorrow. Now am i a hero or what?!

well I got so sick of hearing "brexit means brexit" that I now just say " Brexit means Brexit, now fuck off !"

"education is important... opening the pub is importanter!"

you'l have to buy the books to find out....

cheers, but unless something very strange happens I'll kip on one of our boats at Capestang. I might come round and drink your coffee though if you're not too far away from there.

well if my plan comes off and the weather is clement enough I'm planning on heading into @Tango country. A trip south via millau, free nights kip ( and drinking) at our base in Capestang and home via Ambert in the Auvergne. about 1500kms in all. I'm planning on doing it over 4 days cos I can't do huge distances in one hit anymore cos my knees and back wont take it and I'd rather take my time and only use the Autoroute in short sections to make ground so it'll be mostly Route Nationales and D roads. I reckon if I eat from a supermarket at lunchtime and stay in Youth hostels ( Yeah!... youth hostels! ) on nights 1 and 3 I can feed in a restaurant in the evening and keep the cost down to about 85 € a day. depending on fuel costs at the time obviously.

didn't you get eaten by his dogs or something?

You could say that, it's kinda his specialist subject... However did you guess? He's my Dad. He's now 82 so the more money he makes now...

anybody got any proper trips planned for this year? I know @boboneleg has a good plan for a French trip this summer. Im thinking about more than the usual or regular day trips. @Specs ? another trip to equal the Nordkap saga? anyone else attempting the North west 500 or whatever they call it? I might have a 4 day trip on the cards for April but it depends on so many factors at the moment thet it's still on hold untill I know more. Otherwise I have 2 weeks off in first half of september but nothing planned yet, still looking for inspiration...

Oh if you're getting into the God Squad you need to rush out and buy these books... multiple copies for family and friends, Oh... well for family anyway:- Speak to these Bones, by Martin Down Streams of living Water, by Martin Down The fountain of Life, by Martin Down Building a new church alongside the old, by Martin Down The Gospel Truth, by Martin Down Deluded by Darwinism?, by Martin Down The Christian Hope, by Martin Down and anything else written by the same bloke.