No adventures planned and life is still hand to mouth, but I did get my bike back on the road this week (I expect that running costs will limit the use this year). After the Touratech period and the loss of the house with a garage, the bike was kindly stored by a guy I’d bought in to Touratech UK to run the Travel side. After Nick’s decision to fire me (legally can’t say any more about this) and the guy I brought in getting a version of my job, it became impractical to store the bike in his dad’s garage, so it’s been outside at a pub over Christmas. I must admit that it looks very shabby now. Rust on the fixings and the frame are the main issues. So I’ve treated them with rust remover and Hammerite paint. The bike is still outside until I find somewhere more permanent to stay, so I may be fighting a losing battle, but I can’t and don’t want to afford a new one.
Who knows, with the cost of fuel being so high, plus the imminent insurance and tax, the bike may have to go, so that’ll be something else Karen can have taken from me and as you know the bike is just the physical representation of my desires and dreams to explore and discover, to sample cultures and to escape my current situation, so that’s another stab. And for what?