25/26/27 April 2026

What a weekend equal parts exhausting, exciting, and pure motorbike madness! 🏍️💨
Started Friday afternoon full of hope for my Bike & Brew Passport mission:

✅ Stamp 1: SuperBike Factory – first stamp of the day, I was rolling!

Saturday

✅ Stamp 2: Chequered Flag Cafe – coffee + stamp = perfect combo

✅ Stamp 3: Matlock Moto Mother – tick!
Then... cue the drama 🎭
Broke down in Bakewell. Missed Quackers #225 AND Old Smithy Tearoom & Restaurant #226 😭 Fan kept kicking in, bike kept losing power, and my heart sank.
Thank god for Lee – mechanic of the year 🏆 He somehow coaxed the bike back to life... twice. Got as far as Matlock before she gave up again. Final push: Lee got her started one last time and we limped it to his back garden for emergency surgery.
New alternator stator ordered 🤞 Hoping it lands Monday/Tuesday so I can ride home. Back to work Wednesday, so I’m sending all the prayers to the motorbike gods. Fix her in time, please!! 🙏

Sunday

Plot twist for today: Drove to the Stafford Classic Motorcycle Show and met absolute legends John McGuinness and Dean Harrison! John signed the tail cover of my Fireblade ect..🔥 Told him I’m riding from Cambridge to the Isle of Man for the TT and he hit me with “Have a safe journey”.
My reply: “Safe and FAST for your race, m8” 😂
Both lads were class – took the time to chat and clocked my French accent straight away. Made my week.

On the way back we salvaged the stamp situation:

✅ Stamp 4: Castlewood Cafe #216
Total: 7 stamps down, loads more to go! 📖☕
Moral of the story: Motorbikes will break your heart and fix it in the same day. Huge thanks to Lee for the rescue mission. Fingers crossed for the stator!

Cambridge → Isle of Man TT dream still alive 💪
#BikeAndBrew #FirebladeProblems #TT2026 #JohnMcGuinness #DeanHarrison #MatlockBreakdown #SendPartsFast #FrenchBikerInEngland