Gen3 Spot GPS rescue and tracking system

yes - Very pleased as I have been invited to become a "SPOT Ambassador" for the new Gen3 Spot GPS rescue and tracking system. 

So whilst this is a great headline, what does it mean. The Spot system over the last few years has seen steady improvement and now with the Gen3 the system seems to have reached maturity.

A Spot: is a GPS tracker which allows third parties to follow your routes, receive updates on your positions, even if you are out of phone reception (especially useful), send for help in the event of a breakdown to friends and family and most importantly alerts fast response rescue services in the event of a critical need/accident triggering rescue services.

Firstly the system provides almost real time tracking and recording of your travels and routes, Importantly in the event of an accident if you're unable to send a help message it records your last position so you can still be found even if you are down and out.





On a recent trip off-road enduro riding in the wilds of Sardinia, we were often many kilometers from potential road help and when doing something as risky as riding motorcycles in remote places the risks are obvious and ever present. having the Spot in the bladder pack is a great comfort.

I used the message and "I am ok" buttons every day sending Google Maps positions to friends and family who are on the preassigned list. 

With solo trips planned the Spot gives partners and myself  the huge sense of comfort provided by a PLB with the added features which make this a great basic comms tool as well.

Highly recommended and is now an essential part of the packed bags.

(PS my partner who is a great trail runner recently carried it on a solo run around Ben Nevis and Carn Dearg arete, a mix of scrambling and exposed running. I am glad she took it as it gave me the sense of comfort I wish when the boots are on the other foot)


http://www.findmespot.eu/en/index.php?cid=100 


‪#‎SPOT‬ ‪#‎SPOTGen3‬ SPOT LLC.

Monkey Butt

At the end of the last long ride back from the South of France to our French base near Chamonix, I honestly could say I was broken. I could barely press my cheeks on the saddle for one minute more. So before starting our latest 3000km epic, I thought I had better sort out the "ar.." problem.

 

I have up until now been using a cheap pair of £30 cycle shorts with pad, but after the last trip these have been relegated to turbo training sessions. Motorcycle blogs are full of useful and increasingly in my experience, useless advice. So firstly this is not advice but observations from an unhappy bottom.

Knowing the KTM 690R seat was a little sharp I bought a Touratech high enduro seat. This should have worked but no amount of shuffling, baby powder, talc and creams sorted  the butt pain. After 2 hours in the saddle it was just as uncomfortable.

So a comfy butt quest was started and I have to say it has been successful, after all I would prefer to ride rather than be distracted but a painful butt.

So to the underwear I turned. I bought 4 pairs of pants, (underwear)

Nike Men's 9'' Pro Cool Compression Shorts

Craft Greatness 9'' Boxers

Moto Skiveez  Adventure Pants

and 

Hummel HERO BASELAYER MEN SHORTS Style no.: 095582055

They have all been tested over quite a few hours and I have to say the Hummel Hero pants are by far the best. 

10 is good 1 is bad

The Nike shorts don't have such a flat seam and although good enough, smell awful after a day in the saddle. 

Comfort 4 - Smell - 1

Craft. The Craft short is much better than the Nike, but it did not seem to wick so well and on the hot days felt as though they were quite sweaty.
Comfort 6 - Smell 3

Moto Skiveez Adventure. I had high hopes for these as they we supposed to be designed specifically for off-road adventure biker types. They have a bigger pad than a cycle short and are the only padded short in the test. So they were a bit disappointing. They were hot and after a full saddle day, began to feel like a wet nappy. Heavy and not so wonderful as expected 

Comfort 6 - Smell 7

Hummel were the long shot but from the off were the most comfortable off the bike and by far the best on the bike. Unlike the others, which only lasted a day before they were either discarded or relegated to gym wear, I wore the Hero Pants for 4 days in a row without washing them and on full hard hot enduro days. Brilliant !

Comfort 9 - Smell 9

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

HTTP://WWW.HUMMEL.NET/GB/MEN/SPORT/BASELAYER/HERO-BASELAYER-MEN-SHORTS-BLACK-DARK-GREY

BMW GS or Bust

A fully kited out ABR  - Icon Suit notwithstanding

The BMW 800GS was my second bike, quickly purchased post a brief and profitable foray with a Suzuki VStrom which I picked up for a song. Suckered into the GS fraternity by promises of adventures by Ewen Macgregor,  (Charley, was the sidekick at that time) it was fully kitted out with Caribou Panniers, Jesse Side Bars and Heidi Tyres and it really looked the part. The 30th Anniversary Paint job finished off the required ABR look. A frustrating digital subscription  to Adventure Bike Rider magazine complete with articles by "Dave an ABR from Brighton" on his latest foray though the Rhine Valley war fields via some rubbish cafe in Strasbourg should have sounded the warning bells, but no.

It took a hairpin 2000m up an Italian Alp to really seal the deal. "ABRism" and its love of the tank like BMW GS was fetish I had finished with. A marketing con for me at least, which came crashing down in a heap of dirt and rubble. These machines I now believe are the motorcycle riders equivalent of the Caravan Club "car of the year recommendations".  Great for towing you home about behind you but rubbish in a fight.

Its the add-ons which turn an already Scorpion Tank like ride into a Chieftain Tank width and weight machine. Don,t get me wrong they handle the weight of the 4 lights, steel panniers, engine bars, bash plates, huge luggage racks strong enough to anchor a Mule to and a repair kit so extensive you could repair a jumbo jet with, quite well, and they are good on the road. But when you drop them you need your entire family and a the accompanying film crew to pick them up. (Episode 2 - The Long Way Round)

Having ridden quite a lot of mountain dirt roads with my GS, it was not until Greg Watts, a fellow, at that time GS owner, struggled up and down the Col du Prapaillion, described the experience as "survival riding and not that much riding fun" did the penny really drop.

The suspension sucks, they dive and wallow under the weight (even with progressive springs), they are way to heavy by at least a 100kg loaded and impossible to pick up on your own if you happen to drop them on a road thats even just off the flat. The 800GS seems worse the the 1200GS as its carries its weight differently. Furthermore they are way to pretty to scuff, scratch and dent. Fine if your using someone else's on a dirt course in Wales, but drop your £15,000 machine on a sharp Italian rock and you will cry. Its not the zippy carefree fun it should be. Time to move on.

The Col du Prapaillion - France