Sunday 29 April 2012

QR Code added

QR what?  Yes, if like me you are old and new to OR not even up to speed with the smart phone revolution, then you won't know what a QR code is.
You may have seen little box shaped bar code type things in newspaper/magazine adverts or on products in the supermarket. I've even seen one on the side of a taxi. Well these little shapes, once scanned into a smart phone, can give you a web link to a product or service, etc. As this is 2012 and I know there are a number of my followers who possess smart phones, I have created and added to the blog, my very own QR code. Just scan this into your phone to have access to the blog on the go. Simples!

Thursday 26 April 2012

Route Map Update

OK, I've tidied the map thing up a bit. It was a bit in yer face, so I have made it smaller and now added links to the individual day routes, for those of you who want to know a bit more detail of where we plan to ride, rather than just the map of the British Isles and Ireland with a blue squiggly line on it. I think it'll make things a little more interesting....maybe.

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Route Map added

Have transferred the route from the Tyre software across to Google Earth. Was hoping to be able to just add a link to the blog but can' t see a way to get from Tyre back to Google maps, so this will have to do. Check it out below. You can't miss it, it's quite large.

In case you are wondering, I have started and ended the route in Tetbury. We shan't all end there though. Pat will stay in Ireland and I plan to drop in on my daughter Jen in Pontypridd, before returning to Kent. I'm not sure what Dudley's plans are at this moment but at some point he'll have a trek back up to Keswick.

Sent from Samsung Mobile

Sunday 22 April 2012

Fuel Stops Identified

Well, That's everything sorted, as far as fuel stops are concerned. Assuming none have closed down since they appeared in front of the Google maps camera, I have identified each stop along our route and added them to each day's route. I had been relying on Google maps and the Shell/BP websites to assist but when it comes to Ireland, they don't appear to have Shell or BP, instead Jet, Gulf and some other wierd names, for which I didn't have website assistance. Not every petrol station appears in Google maps or are sometimes just indicated in the wrong place. Having the ability to zoom right in though is a great help. Most petrol stations seem to have a white roof to them, so are fairly easily identifiable as you zoom in and along a section of road. It's then just a matter of using streetview to confirm what you've found, IS a petrol station.

I'll soon put together a complete route in Google and post the link, so you folks following the blog can follow us every mile of the way.....if you have nothing better to do ;-)

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Sightseeing Stops Added

Well, it's been quite a few days since I last posted. I have not been idle though. Having got everything booked up, I have traced the route in Google maps and picked out some places of interest, I/we think we'd like to stop off at. Grizzly was a big influence in the Irish part of the tour. There were one or two places I picked out but mostly lots of green fields. It certainly helped to have 'local' knowledge and we now have quite an exciting and entertaining route mapped out across the Irish sea. There may still be some minor tweaks to the mainland route, as Dudley chips in with some possible things to see in/around Keswick but otherwise we're sorted.

I've also started to look at our fuel stop requirements. Biggsey and I can probably cover around 190 miles comfortably but Grizzly and Dudley are probably more like 140 miles. To avoid any calamities, I'm proposing we fill up every 120 miles, wherever possible. The first part of the journey looks to be the most challenging on that front, at the moment, as petrol stations are few and far between up and over the Welsh mountains. I'm getting a little help from the Shell/BP/Esso websites and Google maps isn't too bad at listing them either. Last of all, Tomtom has fuel stations programmed in as POI (Point of Interest).

The trip seems to be coming up rather fast. It's now only 3 months away and I for one can't wait. Before that though, I've got a holiday to Sicily with my partner Catherine, then almost immediately, a trip to Le Mans for the French MotoGP, with my brother Paul.

Watch out for the route map, coming soon.

Thursday 5 April 2012

All booked

Well, that’s everything booked now. Irish Ferries will be ferrying us back from Rosslare to Pembroke. We’ll have said our goodbyes to Grizzly by then, as he hails from the Emerald Isle.

I think I may leave Biggsey and Dudley on the way through South Wales and cadge an overnighter with my daughter Jen, in  Pontypridd, so long as she can accommodate.

Have now started on filling in some sightseeing stops along the route, well, proposed ones. I’ve forwarded the Day 2 plan to the other hogs for approval. If they like it, I’ll stick an overview of the route on here. Once agreed, it’s then a case of getting it into the TYRE (Trace Your Route Everywhere) software, which can then be downloaded as an itinery into my Tomtom.

Monday 2 April 2012

Life, what life?

Busy, busy yesterday. This thing is dominating my life at the moment. The results are showing though, for all the time in front of the PC.

Route has now been nailed down, excepting the sightseeing tweaks. All accomodation has been secured and the ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast is also in the bag. All that remains on that side of things is the ferry back to blighty. I just need the regos of the Triumph and the Harley and I can sit back and put my feet up. LOL!

Had some good and bad news yesterday. Good, our friends from Route 66, Simon & Viv, are planning on meeting us in Betws-y-Coed. Bad, they probably won't be on their Harley Road King, after a prang in October left Viv in particular, physically and mentally scarred. Am hoping she finds the strength of mind to get back on the back but whetehr on the RK or in a tin box, it'll be great to welcome them into the fold once more.

Sunday 1 April 2012

Almost Done.

OK, almost there now on the planning of the route side of things. Been a bit of 'confusion' over which way we'll go through Scotland but I think we have that agreed now and I'm going to sit down and map that out. Grizzly has been busy devising a route through his own fair isle (and the northern bit), so we are very close now to putting the lid on that. We'll then need to get the accomodation and ferries sorted out.

Day one and two overnighters have now been booked. In Betws, we are staying in a private hostel called The Vagabond. Sounds quite nice and will save us a few quid over the price of a B&B. I'm adding links to the places we stay in at the bottom of the blog, so anyone interested can look them up. Day 3 we'll end in Keswick and spend the night at Dudley's house (free of charge I hope ;-) ).

Anyway, back to the maps!!