Touring and Motorcycling

Well, the tour to Spain is almost upon us.

Easter having come and gone and the dilemma I had to face of packing for three weeks into one pannier now achieved, with I must say myself not as much fuss from my hubby as I originally thought there would be!

Since I wrote my last hub relating to my up and coming tour many weeks ago so much has happened with the preparations.

For my hubby, purchasing many new items and gadgets has of course for the rider been the most important part of planning this tour.

We have three new road maps, a new sat nav, a new state of the art camera and many other items for the Suzuki Bandit 1200 now under our belts.

The Sat Nav I hasten to add proving to be quite a challenge for both of us as we are very much into map reading, as the old saying goes 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks' springing to mind now being safely untrue in both our books as we have overcome the dreaded fear of this lovely neat piece of equipment!

The Camera is another issue, discussed between us both and deciding we needed a camera that I could use whilst sat on the back and riding along at speed, with me clicking away and taking photo's on route. Well, the camera we have invested in would be far to heavy and expensive for me to do that with, so has become yet another toy to be used only by my hubby, whilst I settle with using a modestly cheaper and smaller one!

Do I mind? not really I would only worry that I may drop the thing and cause an argument on our exhausting as I see it planned trip!

Now on to me! I have decided to wear my new textile outfit, my reasons include, comfier, bigger, warmer and lighter, plus of course the main reason being since giving up smoking a year ago I have not managed to get rid of the extra weight I have managed to pile on, not through lack of trying I hasten to add!

Moving on to packing the pannier. My hubby gave me a box to start with, the size was, let's say the same size as what a pair of men's riding boots come in!

Yep, that was it, fill that up, he said and then we will look at what you have chosen and half it! right oh, I thought and responded with "absolutely no way" while contentedly choosing the items I would need and would like to take.

I really struggled! Being a female and having an already lovely wardrobe of feminine items and knowing that there was absolutely no way my hubby would let me take them, proved to be quite a challenge to say the least!

The box ended up containing (such a small amount I'll list them for you so you can get the picture!) five vest tops, two long sleeved t-shirts, one pair of really small slippers (size 4 u.k) a pair of walking shoes, one pair of shorts, one skirt and two pairs of cargo trousers, one pair of pyjamas, a sun dress, nightie, underwear too lat the three weeks, oh and a bikini, lets hope (and pray) the sun will shine!

Very happy with my box, I handed it to my hubby, smiling and grinning with a great sense of achievement being at the forefront of my mind.

Now, my hubby being the rider and always thinking he can do better than me started to go through the box, removing the skirt, one pair of cargo trousers, the slippers and the pyjamas!

Unbelievably, the anxiety that I was overcome with came out of my mouth at such a speed with the words "you are joking, how the hell do you expect me to go on holiday for three weeks without my pyjamas and slippers, i'm not going without them!"

My hubby thought that this was extremely funny and laughed hysterically and uncontrollably before saying in such a way that I really thought he meant it "o.k, will cancel the trip then!".

After digesting his response and storming out of the room I knew that I had to think of a response to get him to change his mind and let me take the two 'must have' items with me. I made a cuppa for both of us and returned with the response "its ok love, I can put up with losing the skirt and trousers but instead of taking out the pyjamas and slippers I'll compromise and take out the negligee and walking boots!"

His face was an absolute picture! As my mum used to say "where there's a will, there's a way" and I was going to get mine! Being a full blooded man and let's say enjoying the romantic aspect of any of our holiday's (if you get my gist!) my hubby was defeated so to speak!

With the plastic clear bag's with zip's on the top in hand, he started to role the contents of my belonging's and squeeze the air out of the bags to make all in all five bags to be put into the one pannier.

Watching my hubby put the contents into the pannier and close and lock it with ease I said almost instantly "see, I knew it would fit!".

One question for all you motorcycle rider's who have toured abroad out there,

"On the ferry from the UK to Santander and with a booked cabin, do they provide towels?".

I look forward to your responses.

Ride safe all.

Waterproof Sealskinz

I think I may give these ago, not only for the bike but also when walking and wearing my wellies. There waterproof!

Knox Aegis Level 2 Back Protector

This back protector comes i seven sizes and has a flexible sliding spine protector that moves in the same way as your vertebrae in your back and it has a waist strap system to keep it in place.

Spada Merino base layers

I have tried many base layers and this range looks like will be the next, there made from Merino wool and can be used all year, there soft (a must for us girlies) and there not too thick, there firmal and allow perspiration to evaporate into the air.

Rukka ladies Belle jacket and trousers

The ladies jacket is made our of Cordura, it's a stretch fabrick that allows a comfortable fit. It's fully waterproof as it has a Gore-Tex membrane, which has a lifetime guarantee. Reflective panels on the rear of the jackt and the arms with two waterproof pockets on the inside and two on the outside providing plenty of space for my camera and any other essentials.

Now to the Boots - Daytona Ladystar GTX Boots

These sound fabulous! As we all know it takes years to break them in and is a nightmare to find a new pair when you just can wear them anymore because your feet are getting wet!

These boots apparently have Gore-Tex linings to keep your feet dry, they have an integrated insole and an adjustable calf strap.

Schuberth C3 Pro - Womens Crash helmet

Weighing in at just 1570g it is one of the lightest on the market. The Pro has 23 changes from the original C3 and the female version has been specially designed to fit ladies heads perfectly! There is also a Coolmax liner which has interpower coatings for moisture, and a big plus is that the liners are fully removable and washable too.

Really!