Last weekend was a very productive one. A visit to the Hunter Valley home of an old school mate and the installation of the solar power system in the Minibago. It consists of a 200W solar panel attached to the roof (see above – obviously) and a set of two deep cycle 6v batteries (220ah each) in a box inside the van. (see below)
Attached to the box (which is VEEEERY heavy) is the controller (complete with two USB sockets) on left, a pure sine wave 240v inverter with two 240v sockets and one USB ( middle) and a voltmeter to monitor battery condition (right). According to Lenny we will have enough power to do everything we want on the road and, to quote him, “You’ll be driving around in a mobile power station.” Can’t thank him enough for all of his expertise and hard work.
Oh, and the unexpected bonus was the sight of 7 hot air balloons taking off from the next property and tracking straight across Lenny and Pauline’s house to land over near the village of Broke. It was -1 when I was taking the pictures below but it was well worth it.
The time of our departure is drawing near. The date is now set as the 12th of June and we don’t have to be back until the end of August. I’m not sure if we’ll use all of that time on the road but it’s nice to know that we won’t have to hurry. Our family will be staying in our house while we are away, looking after things at home including our two crazy cats. I’m sure they will enjoy having the house to themselves.
In the last week or so the final pieces of the “A” team MotoGp signings took place. I find it completely bizarre that less than a third of the way into the season, riders are being recruited for next season. The implications that this situation has in terms of teams having to hide new developments from outgoing riders this early in the season, riders who will be riding with one eye on their existing team and one on the team with which they have signed and team tactics as the season draws to a close are complex and confusing.
I don’t know how it could be enforced, but surely a ban on early season recruiting/signing would make more sense for the fans in the stand (although DORNA is more concerned with TV revenue than they are with the needs and wants of the fans). But then you would have secret negotiations/deals and even more clandestine stuff for the Italian and Spanish media on which to feed so it probably would be just as bad. Personally, I find the whole thing ridiculous and distracting. It just illustrates again how much of a business GP racing is and the fact that it is no longer a sport.
For reference, Lorenzo to Ducati, Vinales to Yamaha and Iannone to Suzuki. All others remain as is. There will no doubt be a lot more swapping amongst the second-tier teams but these are the ones that matter.
On Saturday I am taking part in the annual bike ride up to the nursing home near my place. A large group of riders gather in town and then ride up to the home in convoy, park the bikes in the courtyard in the middle of the home and spend a couple of hours bringing some enjoyment to the residents. In return for this, the staff shouts us a sausage sizzle and some morning tea and then we ride home. Most of the residents won’t remember us from when we came last year and they will ask the same questions that they asked last year but we don’t care. It’s just another example, unnoticed and unheralded by the mainstream media, of how motorcyclists show their concern for others and aren’t just concerned with roaring through the suburbs and being anti-social.
On the subject, however, I guess I’d better clean all the gunk off the bike from the gravel road section near the Oaks when we did the Putty Ride the weekend before last!
Lots of packing and sorting to do, better get to it.
dunc says
looks like your just about got the camper side sorted out .The unit looks like he knew what he was doing for the install in the van .
hope the weather hasnt put a damper on your trip plans in closed roads but there is ways around them if you look .
oh wash your bike before you go
lol
Phil Hall says
Bike is washed, thank you very much. Thanks for the good wishes, mate.