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Dear
all, Welcome to the eighth edition of the Unicorn Adventures Newsletter! Enjoy your reading! If you need more information about a topic, drop us a line : contact@unicornadventures.com Have fun,
drive safely! Unicorn
Adventures Ltd Team |
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1. Events
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4.Cultural drops
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2. Unicorn Adventures Ltd tour tips
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5. The Ladies news |
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3. Bike test
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6. The techie tricks and tips |
| New Fleet
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Not sure what to do during a week-end? Bored to watch the sea? Why not join a Unicorn Adventures Ltd week-end tour to improve your skills? We have noticed over time that if we take two days out from some of our tours they become a "curve ridding skills improvement" course! Our guides will share their experience while taking you on roads where you will be able to experience more curves than possible in a year on your usual rides. Come ride the Provence coastal and inland roads for smooth and intermediate level roads. Or jump on your bike to experiment the south east French alpine roads for the advanced curves!
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TTA Unicorn Adventures Ltd is a Travel Trust Association (TTA) member. Why is that? Few people know that as a Tour Operator customer you are protected under European regulations like: "Council directive 90/314/EEC 13th June 1990 on package travel, package holidays and package tours" with the UK extension " Statutory Instrument 1992 No. 3288, The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 ". The most important point for a customer is that, in summary, NO tour operator can spend the money paid by a tour member before full completion of the tour! Thus a T.O has to either: be part of a bond, or under a specific insurance policy or be part of a Trust Association. Unicorn Adventures Ltd being part of the TTA = your money is protected until the end of the tour you signed for. Make sure you always check that iten when you select a Tour Operator. Guides selection Always looking for new faces Unicorn Adventures Ltd is starting to consider having some new guides! Most think it is an easy job, well considering that you ride all day long cool bikes, spend time with nice people, visit lovely places and experience for free great hotels and food, it sounds very nice indeed!
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But being a guide requires a lot of work! While you ride you don't ride at your pace but at the customer's one, you have to keep an eye on them, stop when they want, where they want, make sure they get the answers to their questions (cultural, motorcycle etc… ), know the road, adapt the tour if required, be able to speak at least 3 languages, have your first aid training up to date. You will of course check the bikes every morning, take care of them in the evening, have passion for BMW bikes while knowing all other brands. Not to forget be available in the evening to walk the customers around etc…. And by the way: have a motorcycle license for more than 5 years and quite some mileage on the saddle!
As you are, as a guide, the Unicorn Adventures Ltd representative in front of our customers you have to represent the values of the company: high quality service, honesty, fun!
Still motivated? Let us know… |
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BMW R1200R
BMW R1200R (c)
Unicorn Adventures Ltd For
a BMW biker no difference from the other latest BMW bikes: every possible
info is avail on the dashboard and the indicators work the usual way.
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The breaks are very, very, very impressive! They gave the feeling to be even better that the ones on the RT or GS! Well the bike is lighter! Even though there is an ABS and assisted breaking make sure you don't pull the right handle too strong or you may move on while the bike is waiting for you 20m behind! Impressive!
So highway: piece of cake! Knowing that we have a light bike and a great engine this will for sure be fun on the local twisty roads! Yes! It does! On our local test spot we could really go hard on the bending, breaking, accelerating capabilities of the bike thanks to the easy and precise handling it offers. The result was a huge smile !
Add some side cases and a top case and you start to have a light tourer (don't forget to add a wind shield). A passenger is possible too as the saddle is long and large enough and the passenger feet rest are at a comfy height.
The R1200R is a BMW: quality, technology, price etc… but as all of the latest BMW 1200 models it is a fun one! You will still look like a serious guy who knows where to put his money but you will surprise people when you over take them with your beemer! |
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Balsamic
Vinegar For years now the balsamic vinegar has become a must among our biggest Chefs, as in our kitchens. Everybody speaks of it, but no one really knows what it is.
The balsamic vinegar has been known for the mists of time; history tells that Lucrece Borgia already drank some to recover after her childbirths. Anyway, the manufacturing process has been invented in 1860. And in spite of him Napoleon is the one who contributed to spread this production: his soldiers took possession of the ducal palace of Modena, found some barrels there and sold them to big owners. These families got involved then in the vinegar manufacturing.
Beside the name "aceto balsamico" there are two distinct products: the " aceto balsamico di Modena " which is used as vinegar and the " aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena" that is a condiment (no dilution and the product is used drop by drop). It is quite more expensive but of a higher quality. Both products are issued from the Trebbiano grapes variety must which is cooked in cauldrons. Then the vinegar spends at least 3 months, even a few years in barrels; whereas the condiment ages from 12 to 25 years, passing in a smaller barrel each year. Obviously the condiment value is really high. An auction sale took place a few days ago in Modena. People came from all over the world and real tiny vinegar bottles were knocked down at prohibitive prices.
The balsamic vinegar has its own A.O.C. (label guaranteeing the quality of the product) which corresponds to a specific area: Regio Emilia-Romania. This piece of Italy offers a certain microclimate, a high range of temperature, humid and cold winters and very hot summers which permits this vinegar manufacturing. |
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Buon appetito!
References : www.bienmanger.com, www.linternaute.com .
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Being blind means you see the world in a different way. That's all.
That is one of the messages that Catherine Birchall (British citizen) wants to pass on during her fantastic challenge: she will be the first blind person to travel around the world on a motorbike (departure scheduled on Spring 2008).
She will ride through Europe to Russia and on to India and China before going to Australia. To follow, a Pacific crossing by plane before restarting the journey in South America, continuing north towards Canada and - finally - arriving at home. She will be piloted on this trip by Bernard Smith, her companion, who is also an employee of the Royal National Institute of the Blind. Fan of two wheels for so long, he has believed in this project since the beginning and totally supports Catherine. He even sold his house to finance the expedition.
Together they will place their efforts to get more than GBP250.000 for charity. But above all that, they hope to foster better relations between international organisations tackling visual impairment.
Recent figures from the World Health Organisation suggest that there are 161 million people suffering with sight problems across the globe. Of those, some 50 million are blind. "There are two million people with sight problems in Britain. Simple facilities such as software to enable reading and writing can make such a difference to our lives. All of that costs money and, unfortunately, there isn't always enough to go around", says Catherine. "We want to raise awareness and people's hopes that even if they lose their sight, it shouldn't necessarily mean placing boundaries around their expectations or ambition."
To follow their epic adventure: http://www.worldtour.org.uk/
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Cheap waterproof gloves.
Thanks to our tour friend John we discovered a superb trick to keep your gloves dry during some rain!
On a rainy day during the Wines Tour de France John didn't replace his everyday light gloves by some heavy waterproof stuff. He just pulled out of his pocket standard plastic gloves you can find in any DIY or General Store! Get the DIY ones as they are a bit stronger, take a size that will fit your hand with your beloved summer gloves on and here you go!
Good grip, 100% waterproof and…super
cheap (of course you look like an alien, but at least makes children
smile)! |