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My lovely 2003 XR400, out enjoying Ribatejo's summer, And the GS: Ericeira: Algarve, near Santa Clara Dam: near Faro: Mertola:

Last October I was in a similar position to what I'm in now in regards that I couldn't go out on the bike, for nearly 4 weeks road repairs had shut both the roads that led away from my garage. One Sunday I was so fed up I got up early and moved one the barriers out of the way and went for a near 500 mile ride out to a place here in Spain called Consuegra and back. Consuegra is famous for being the home of the famous windmills from the Don Quixote story by Cervantes. It was long old run for a day out but worth it, the weather was brilliant and being a Sunday not too much on the road and the views when I got there were stunning. If any of you get out that way its worth a stop.

Inspired by Bob i thought i'd share my attempt at this years Dragon Rally. The plan was to go to the Bruce Pollard memorial rally on the Friday night held at Y Giler Arms at Rhydlydan, Betws-y-Coed and then onto the Dragon rally on the Saturday night. The route planing was easy i drew a straight line from my house to the pub and just picked the roads closest to it no off roading was planned. So set off after the rush hour traffic had died down about 9.30 no breakfast as the first stop would be the dolwen garage cafe just outside Llanidloes two hours away it's a bit of a tradition of mine stopping there every year, weathers great for January, the bikes running sweet and i'm really enjoying the roads to get to the cafe and i'm starving, to my surprise its bloody closed ? Feeling a bit pissed off i pushed on thinking i'd get something to eat in Bala another hour further on, The roads are even better from here ( using some google street view images as i was riding ) the road past Clywedog Reservoir After this its back onto some smaller roads with great scenery and no traffic not that i'd had much on route At the end of this there were some trails i hadn't done before and my sense of adventure took over and next thing i know i'm climbing up some rocky track with way too much pressure in the tyres i struggles on for about a mile only to end up a few yards from where i started but on a much easier trail lol. I come to a closed gate with a guy doing some gardening i ask if its ok to go through and what the track is like, he says its OK but the track is rough and i may struggle with the luggage on, well in my head i thinks yeh ok man I've heard this all before just trying to scare me off, so i say OK i'll have a look if you don't mind and off i goes. Its a bit slippery with the hard tyres but not too bad I gets to this little stream crossing thinking this is great goes on a few hundred yards and things start getting a bit narrow Ends up pushing it backwards back to the stream and up the field on the left this had me a bit hot and sweaty sometimes the land owners not lying LOL. Anyhow back on the road for a few miles to cool down i'm off my route now and have to do another lane to get back to it luckily this one is great My original route is at the bottom of this valley passing the white house heading up over the hills in the distance the photo doesn't show just how steep this is Back on the road now and gave myself a little row for going off road but it was worth it this is the top of the pass another regular route for me to get to the dragon I gets into Bala and realise its only another 20 minutes to the pub so decides to have food there, Pitches the tent and has a quick look around its about 14:30 and there's already a few there i bungee's the the bike to the tree as I've seen the weekends weather warnings So into the pub for food but the welcoming committee is there and i consume a lot of alcohol before the food and its all downhill from there Getting merry with my enemy Jager ? The night was great, in the morning my jaw was aching from laughing last night, i hadn't spewed in the land ladies flower pots this year and still have all my possessions everything's peachy. I'm up for breakfast relatively early scoff that and catch up with a few for a chat but when i go back to the tent last night gets hold of me with a vengeance i'm dying takes me almost two hours to pack my kit away and i head off to the Dragon checkpoint after stopping for fuel and a lucozade hoping it will pick me up. when i get to the checkpoint i just stop and rest my head on the bars of the bike for about 20 minutes before i get off to get my ticket stamped and directions to the rally site, i leave there heading west and the wind is picking up getting blown about and riding like an old lady, the campsite is another 20 minutes ride north west of me i come to a junction at Capel Curig and take it south towards home and don't stop until i get there never been so happy to see my bath ? When i get up the next morning i see the photos coming in of the night i missed i do wish i was there to experience it for some reason but glad i was home This is a photo of somebodies ride home

Here’s a few of mine.

Great story Pedro! Sage is quite literally my "Best Friend"......especially since Jana passed last August. She's been through so much with me. I'd be an absolute TrainWreck without her.....

A bit of tunnelling on this ride the guy that's with me is 70 years old this was 2018 he's given up the trail riding now. He said something about me trying to kill him LOL

2004 BMW F650GS Dakar with a few modifications...

Glad you made it Bob i overdone the Friday night again and failed to get there had a lucky escape i think. Watch this from 1 minute on to get an idea of what it was like lol

I hear rats like to eat all that new green stuff used under the hoods of new cars...lol

Proper fright I caught, I wasn't used to dogs and was left to fend off two huge Rottweilers while holding a mug of tea! Bless her, 14 is quite a nice age. Mine probably won't live as long.

Thought of this report after Bob's weekend camping in a muddy field one. December 2019, although the weather is shit, I've just spent a week jonesing for riding my bike, so although the weather promises to be shity, I go out maintaining my ritual of going out for lunch on the bike on saturdays when I'm home. I usually ride in jeans, but needed to test the suit pants to see how they still fit so the bad weather gave me the perfect reason to. No pictures on the road, cause it was wet and I didn't feel like taking gloves off in the rain. I know it doesn't compare to Bob's weekend camping in a muddy field, but I have standards to have a good time. Above is my usual sport for going for coffee on the bike, I'm all alone today, below is how it usually looks: After that, went to lunch on my favorite hilltop restaurant, had some nice typical scrambled eggs (too difficult to explain what's special about them) while the weather turned to shit outside. Made my way back closer to home, and stopped by my other favorite place: Stopped by the supermarket for some dinner supplies, as I had friends for dinner that evening, but when I got home I came across this filthy bike from wet country roads, this is farm country so there's lots of muck on the road: Pants straight to the washer! Time to get a fire on, and cook a nice simple dinner, a puttanesca with added spinach for health Bike was washed the week after, as it pestered my thoughts daily

23rd April 2006

Hey @XTreme, remember this?

I don't know whats wrong with you the bikes getting washed i thought you liked them clean lol Not me by the way this scares me as much as it scares you ?

I think they boarded it up many years ago.

Good stuff, I suppose you have quite tall gearing on the XR to be good for touring? What kind of cruising speed can you manage with luggage like that? I might be spoiled, but my XRs brakes are awful for the road, are yours stock?

things can change daily here when it comes to weather this was me and a couple of mates last November And this is the same lane a week later a (different mates photo)

You might be right Fred, apparently it was fine last year ?

tunnel is not me. ?

not done any real off roading with the tiger yet, but just a couple of lanes and bits

Hard to believe that some bastard would do that to a puppy, maybe you two found each other as much as you found him. He looks to have bounced back from his surgery and hope he'd well and truly spoiled. Jan brought me into the world of Jack Russels. First we had Charlie who came over with her when she left blighty. He came down with lymphoma and we had to say goodbye, then we adopted Lucy who ended up being my dog and not paying much attention to Jan. Then there was Scooby who we got from the shelter and he is being terribly neglected as he snoozes between us in bed, it's just awful! We said goodbye to Lucy on boxing day, she was sliding into dog dementia, we found her in the morning bumping into the wall as she had no idea where she was. And we are kind of looking for some poor pup to neglect, mistreat and otherwise make miserable

Come on Pete, it’s only spinach

Yup that's why mine stays tucked up in the garage through the winter. I think you are the problem here Bob the last time you went to the Dragon there was a tornado on the same weekend or was that the first time LOL

I'm glad me and Gaz are trail riders as it helped us get out without too much bother, the poor sods on road bikes had it bad. All that was feck all compared to the ride home, that was something on a whole other scale. You'll know Fred that a loaded CRF1000 is not a light bike and to watch it just get blown over like a feather was pretty eye opening .

The downside to owning a kick-start only bike had to drag it out the rut to kick it up

Not this time mate, that's the same ford where you once superimposed (spelling ?) my leg in it.

Bloody hell, it's not worth going through that unless you're escaping war in search of a better life.

WTF, StateSide we had the million dollar man on the telly jumping buildings during the 1970's! Your NHS is way behind hollyweird!

Its not my fault y;all dont speak "american", see, if you spell well and can pronounce words properly...no EU for You! LOL...

First trail ride on the T700, on my way back from taking it to the dealer for first service ?

Video inside my tent IMG_6205.mp4

By now the wind was really picking up and the rain was just begining so we decided the camp in front of the tv in the marquee, watch the rugby and get pissed...... By evening it was carnage outside , the place was just a mudpit and peoples tents were either flattened or blowing away. When I walked back to my tent at midnight I had no idea wether it would still be there or if it was would it even be inhabitable. As it was my seven year old Coleman tent survived the night and kept me dry though sleep was severely limited as it was whacking around the head all night where the wind was so strong. Some of my mates were not so lucky as there tents were fucked and they spent the night in the marquee with lots of others. I have no photos of the chaos the following morning as it was a mission just to get your stuff packed away and make your way out of the site, then the fun really started ? The winds were horrendous and the rainwas coming at you horizontally, we made our way back towards Capel Curig but after about 12 miles found the road blocked , trees down and telephone lines. The police told us that the wind speed had been recorded at 83mph and I didn't disbelieve them in the slightest as it was all you could do to keep the bike upright at times, it was the worst conditions i've ever ridden in. We back tracked and managed to get to Porthmadog and found a cafe open which was bloody ace. When we set off again it seemed even worse and you could hardly see out of your visor. Gaz came past me on the A470 and signalled to pull over as he couldn't see. We pulled into a layby and you hardly hold the bike upright, he got off of his Africa Twin and came over too speak to me and with that the wind blew his 200kg bike straight over. He was now hanging onto me and my bike to stop me going over and the wind was so loud we could hardly hear each other speak. We must have stood there for at least 15 mins trying to stay upright before there was a slight lull and we managed to lean my bike against the wall and eventually got his back upright. All the while there were some twats in a car just gawping at us and taking photos, fucking wankers ? Anyway, the further I got south the easier it got and I got home about 6.00pm in the dark and still in one piece. It was something I'll never forget and I know that I'll never camp knowingly in those sort of conditions again. It's a shame that there are no photos of the journey home but taking photos wouldhave been impossible.

This is why im glad i have a valid EU passport!

Heyup Pete! Xtreme what? Puddle avoidance? Lol ? sorry mate, you must've been expecting that though!!

Yes that was sort of my point the Italian made stuff was classed as shit next to the stuff made in japan years ago but it was a better build quality than what the Japs are building now ?

My 96 Dominator was made in Italy and the quality on that is better than my 2016 CRF1000 which was built in japan, Honda's quality is not what it used to be but that goes for all motorcycle manufacturers, everything is made more environmentally friendly nowadays the down side to that is the environment destroys it as apposed to it destroying the environment

My wife and I had always figured that we would travel part time or move elsewhere after I retired. We actually had four acres of beachfront property on the island of Roatan and had planned to build there. But as the years went by Honduras became dangerous and our priorities changed. We like a lot of things about Europe. Also, the healthcare situation in the US became just nuts. I was doing contract programming at IBM and getting a fair wage but I found that about 1/3 of my take home was going for medical expenses. Then the orange one was elected and my wife asked me to get her the hell out of Dodge. We did our homework, creating a list of the things we were looking for in a new home and then comparing that against the options. We visited some of the best candidates and took a look around. But what set us on to the Valencia region is when we ran into an expat American at a music festival who had lived here for 20 years. What she told us convinced us to take a closer look and things just worked out. Found a nice house at a reasonable price in La Drova which is about 15 minutes from Gandia. All in all it's been great. We've done some exploring of Europe including a couple weeks in Russia and even Chernobyl. I'm working on the language a little bit every day but it's going to take time. At age 66 one's neurons don't rewire as fast as they do when one is younger. But right now I figure it's important to just stay safe and wait until the lock down opens up and hopefully there's a vaccine.

Made in China, wouldn't have it, especially now. Got a CBF125m in the garden, made in India, absolute crap. The CG125 that sits next to it, made in Brazil is much better but neither as good as one made in Japan.

Hope this isn't becoming tiring, but the weather is amazing now, the bike is clean and ready to go in the garage, and I have nowhere to go and nothing else to do. So, October 2018 and there was a big storm here, lots of damage all over the coast. After a few weeks without touching the bike, it's now a Friday, I'm about to go from Porto (North) to Azambuja (Center/South) to go home for the weekend, with a brief stop to visit a client halfway through. I get on the road, brief stop to check some emails and client calls me to cancel my meeting. Day is already lost and I'm suddenly on the road with nothing to do, so instead of taking the 2 hour motorway ride home I take the coastal road less traveled, it's a part of the country I'm rarely on. If you feel like checking it out on a map, this covers the coast about 20kms south of Aveiro to around Nazaré. First storm damage, this is a pristine tarmac road I am on: Although all the branches and wet leaves are quite slippery, we are only about 3 or 4 km from the beach so I decide to carry on and ride through, only to come to this: Well, guess it's time to turn back... Another route ... Few more kms and I finally get to the shore Not one to take the good road Arriving at Figueira da Foz, where I'll stop for a spot of lunch (spot of lunch! sounding british here) Meal was not worthy of picture, but the place was nice Going inland after lunch, and I come across some more storm damage, there's miles and miles of this Eventually I get away from the coast, and start to head for the hills, and explore some hills that I always checked from the motorway but never really been at Porto de Mós, it's got a lovely castle / palace with green roofs Here's a nice Passat with the castle behind it I am then going through the valley on the right of this picture, on the other side of the town Looking back at it Then things took a little turn, as I ventured off-road the track proved to be too steep and slippery, and as I was turning back I dropped the bike with the wheels up the trail and the bars down the trail, had to pivot it on the engine to pick it up and turn it back. Since I hit a rock with my shin, I decided to take a little rest. It's a pretty place, Serra d'Aire e Candeeiros: Heading home: I'll post another report about another ride to the same place, only with better pictures, I think. Trying to see where the dirt road that i crashed in led to.

So, July last year and it's hot in Ribatejo, I didn't feel like going for a long ride so decided to test the R1200 off-road properly. Took the windshield off, and went for a bimble around some of the local sandy dirt roads and farm tracks I had gotten to explore already on the XR. With the Heidenaus on it's quite a capable bike, although it doesn't like sand nor mud. Between the two I prefer sand, and there is really not much chance of mud in July here. Passing through a local farm with horses, they got scared so I didn't stop next to them. Using my old phone for pictures here, it struggled with light, dark, dust, basically everything Us Late lunch snack by the Tejo river The beast, back home, I love it Now for something different, I had company over for dinner, and started to cook early. Hope this isn't too Martha Stewart for you, but a man should cook something. Had some chicken bit marinating on olive oil and spices, and proceeded to put some heat into them. A couple of onions, thickly cut As soon as the onions soften a bit, throw some white wine and water on it, Let it boil for a bit, then close and put heat on minimum After a while, stir it a little, and let it on low heat till it reduces more. About 45 minutes later, job jobbed, enjoy. Boom:

Me and a couple of mates out just before the lock down replacing one madness with another seems along time ago now My mate getting used to his DRZ he picked up that week ? The last time we went out this was me the new rear tyre helped this time We had a great day until my mate dropped his DRZ doing a steep hill climb and broke his clutch lever, I'd given him a lecture about being prepared for our trail rides and luckily he has a nice big bag on the back of his bike full of tools or so i thought all that was in there was the important stuff tobacco, papers, phone and wallet so made him think he had to ride it home without a clutch for a few miles before bodging the spare lever i had for my bike on his hope he's learnt a lesson but i'm not holding my breath ?

Still got the old WarHorse......prepping to line myself up an AutoClutch for it from these guys....EFM

Fucking leg still hasn't grown back

I don't know if you know Tym but I suspect he's a fraud ?

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