April 2023

                                                       April 2023

 

Another month has dragged by in a mist of ill health, rain and the death of another 2 CV club member, Keith the apiary. He loved his bees and 2CV. This month there was drive day organised by the Mad Hatters, the club next door. The run was drawn up by Gill and Bill. It was a very good route to Nuffield Place with the starting point in Staines, Sainsburys car park. It was a bit wet to start but it became drier as the day went on. Out through Windsor towards Maidenhead to Pinkneys Green Cricket Club for rendezvous with other clubs and on to the Square Deal Cafe to see a display of Historic Commercial Vehicles which we joined. Enough time to enjoy a full English and be around the Burton to answer questions from admirers. Gita took the opportunity to have a photo shoot with a New York Taxi.

 We left the cafe and the convoy was split by the main road traffic. In the queue to cross the traffic controlled bridge at Sonning we all managed to become a convoy again and reach Nuffield Place as one column of cars. We were to park as a display in front of the house so we were let in at the private entrance and came up the drive. Parked up we all enjoyed the appreciation of the visitors. The National Trust did us proud and we enjoyed the ambience for a few hours. Gita and I enjoyed the day out immensely and many thanks to Bill and Gil for organising it.

The previous week there were Bihu celebrations that we took the Burton to. It was at Hornchurch going around the M25 to get there. It was my first longish drive since last year. Again it rained and Gita drove back. My navigation was not so good and ended up in the wrong lane taking the A12 and missing the M25. All worked out well because of the level of street lighting and lower speeds. Gita did well for not having driven the Burton since 2019.

I seem to be writing this backwards as at the beginning of the month was Wey Valley Observed Sunday which was my first run out on the Buell. Observed was quite busy and much was discussed about the coming London Classic Bike show next month.

I need to have a new hood for the El Cid. I have all the materials but not a suitable frame for the sidescreens. They are made from 40mm by 3mm mild steel strip and 6mm bar. To fit the screens have so many subtle angles and curves to fit the space it is a challenge to get is right. It took s few days of trial and error to achieve this. One more job towards the new hood

March 2023

 

March 2023

 

The whole month of March has disappeared in a veil of rain storms that has kept me from all the bits that I need to do outside. I have just posted the Observed Sunday pictures for April and realized I have written nothing for the Blog since February.  It is not because I have nothing to write about more that because of the weather I have not been able to get outside to ride my bikes and finish off projects. The LE Club meeting on the first Tuesday of the month was very special as we had visitors from Assam. They were Gita’s classical dance Gurus, Dipjyoti and Dipankar, who were here performing at locations around the country and dropped in before returning to Assam. During their stay in the UK they had not visited a traditional English Pub and that was on their list of things to do. The meeting place for the LE club was at “The Land of Liberty Peace and Plenty” One such pub that does traditional ales and no food. A sample selection of beers were made available for them to enjoy while I did bike stuff.

This is a picture taken at the Nehru Centre after their performance. Their dancing can be seen on Youtube as Dipjyoti Dipankar Sattriya.

 March Observed Sunday was rainy and I used the Kawasaki that day fighting my way through flooded roads getting home drenched. The Buell was in the workshop being fettled by Snobs. Lack of use during Covid had not done the running gear any favours and it needed a new silencer and many other bits to get the MOT.

 

That achieved all I needed to do was get out there and ride. Along with the rain a leak developed in the extension making a very big wet mark on the ceiling and down the wall. I noticed it quite quickly and ran out to B&Q to get some bitumastic paint to seal the roof. Just the thing not to do is climbing a ladder and getting on the roof to effect a repair. It was only some sealant that joined sections of lead flashing between the wall and roof tiles that had deteriorated and just needed redoing. 

Fortunately it was only one storey almost step ladder height. That fixed there were other things to be done like a mad hatters tea party hat for the granddaughter two days notice to come up with something. A challenge to be relished and a chance to use some bits that looked too good to throw away. I can be a bit of a squirrel. Made from a foam-polystyrene packing material it was light and easy to work with just right for an enormous hat for a child. Painted and decorated just in time for the end of term.

Sadly an old friend from the 2CVGB car club passed away and, along with a good number of 2CVers provided a convoy behind the herse at the funeral procession. I had not seen Colin for some years Covid preventing meetings to keep up to date and many did not know how badly his health had deteriorated. It was good to see all the old gang again with the same cars. Colin had been the clubs’ Mehari expert and that included El Cid’s and as mine was quite close I would get calls from Colin for technical details and build information. He was genuinely a very polite and nice man and will be sorely missed RIP Colin Jenkins.