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I thought I'd do something useful yesterday ( yes, me! Useful! ) adn reckons I could tie it in with some riding. Since mother in Law was hospitalised at short notice a couple of weeks ago there were some loose ends needing tying up at her place, car to put in the garage, house to shut up properly and not least her Tax declaration to figure out and send in ( it seems that the French tax office does not recognise " being rushed to hospital with terminal illness" as a valid reason for late submission of declaration and will incurr a 10% penalty... wankers!) I also needed to make sure her home help was paid and that all declared for last month too. So, off at 09h00 ish and had planned a back road route that i'd never done before taking me via Pouilly en Auxois, Beaune, Verdun sur le Doubs to Louhans. I had to stop in the centre of Beaune for some luxury goods from https://www.mulotpetitjean.com/en/ the best pain d'epice EVER! but with shops only in Dijon or Beaune we don't get it very often ( it's also bloody expensive!) parked illegally infornt of a posh cheese shop, can't not get some smelly cheese now can I? I didn't stop much after that cos I needed to get on and get food before a telephone meeting I had scheduled for 14h00. Lunch i did what I needed to do in Louhans and set off home, lateer than planned and riding into fast deteriorating weather. Louhans - Chalon - mercurey- Couches - Autun - Brazey en Morvan - Saulieu - Avallon and home. I had planned on a more roundabout route but with time getting on and a number of storm cells moving eastwards in front of me I simply aimed for a gap and managed to pass between to cells riding some drenched roads but not actually getting actively rained on, the strom cell coming up from the west which I needed to stay in front off was quite impressive but moving fast so I didn't stop for any photos on the way home, just snapping this one specially for @XTreme once I got in and just before the heavens opened... 430 kilometers, beautiful scenery and roads and acheived something useful to boot all in all a successful day, AND i got to stuff myself silly with Pain d'epice at the end of it

Only one I've got!

Let's see some photos of you AND your motorcycle looking cool, stylish or just plain adventurous! ? If you just happen to be pointing to something off into the distance, you get bonus points. ?

Had some time off todfay, so a quick blast was in order. Couldn't think of anywhere to go, so over to Minturn / Gilman it was...

From today's ride...

Time to steer the Big Blue Turd for home anyway. More on the next ride....

Even though this was at about 9,500' of elevation, it was still pretty hot out in the Sun...

But now it's just wide open space for me to rip around in...

This was the old field house at the Camp along with some historical pictures. Place had nearly 15,000 soldiers in it at one time...

Under the bridge to Red Cliff.....

Gilman is a more modern ghost town where they once mined lead - as recently as 2005 or so. It polluted the entire area and it is now off limits to people...

Stuck in traffic

Come on @MooN, Pete thinks kebabs are exotic.

Definitely pointing to something in the distance!

Cool! I love chit like that! After voluteering for my Main Street non profit in the mornings im doing chores for mum, she has a list, Duty, biggest 4 letter word in the English language.

Another weekend nearly here! Tomorrow I've got to take the wife down to Albox in the car to go to the Brit supermarkets! But Sunday.......it's the abandoned mining village! This is how it used to be.......Iron was mined there from the late 18th century until 1968. What's left of it now? I'll find out on Sunday! You won't find shit like this on ButtRider!

We seem to lack ethnic diversity here, what’s all that about then you bunch of fucking nazis?

This was nine years ago

Thought about stripping down for a dip in the creek, but the water was cold as Hell...

Stopped by an old WWII US Army camp where they once taught soldiers to alpine and Nordic ski and blow shit up. I paid attention to the ordnance sign. Looks like a few others did as well by applying some of their own ordnance to the sign...

The creek was moving fast with cool water...

Looks like @yen_powell may have to delete his Bob Milligan post then!

Antifa will be here any moment to stage a protest.

Good point Ian! But I can't ever remember us having anybody non-white as a member! Nearest we had was Dell!

I haven't got a clue what foie gras is! I'm from Swansea not fucking Kensington!

well, let's just say that they're not in the habit of being generous ( or just, or moral come to that...)

They aren’t looking for cunts anyway.

naah, good on the surface only, I've looked into it when it came up on the french sites weeks ago. As far as I can make out from michelin it is effectively 3 months, so not exactly a career more a holiday job, you provide and pay for everything and are paid by michelin.... oh, wait a minuite, you will be paid by michelin ( futur tense) the authors rights to whatever of your writings does eventually get published. now I might be pissed off with my job sometimes but it does have certain benefits that i'm not able to forgo for some promise of possible futur payment if they use my material and if they publish and if the book sells etc etc. if their motorcycle guide bears any resemblance to their touring /food/ hotel guide then it will be overpriced, overhyped, self serving elitist drivel. I will freely admit that I heartily dislike ans despise the michelin food guide and their entire approach to the food and hotel industry. However, if someone is free for 3 months and can do a bit of travel prose then more power to their elbow if they want to try their hand It could start a vocation for someone.but from what i've read to Michelin wanting to throw money at riders" I would suggest that there is a liberal use of " creative jonalism"

What a cunt.

i had just got used to the quiet in the office and the lack of traffic. now, all them scared nannies are back ?

I'm really busy now with work.......beginning to miss the peace of the lockdown!

The rest of the week looks pretty crap weather wise so I decided to get out for a short ride on the T700 once I'd finished the shopping ? So as Wales is still out of bounds I decided to ride some back roads in Somerset, a couple of trails , dip my toe into Dorset and then head back home. The roads are still fairly quiet if you stay off the main routes , just a few quarry lorries to get past around Frome. After crossing the A361 at Nunney, I made my way up Gare Hill, through the forest and onto the first couple of trails. The trails are still pretty dry, not much mud about at all which suited me fine as it was only my second time off road on the Yam.... I came across this structure in a field just off the lane, it looks like some sort of old crop store, I can't imagine it was for livestock as the roof would be much lower... I pressed onto the next lane before coming out onto the B3092........ After passing through Bourton I was now in Dorset and went further south to Fifehead Magdalen. Here I turned west and over the River Cale which was really low...... Now I started to head north and cut through the back roads to avoid the traffic in Wincanton and Castle Cary, after passing through Bruton I stopped at the top of the hill near Milton Clevedon to have my sandwiches and coffee from the flask. At the bottom of the hill is what looks like an old drove road, these were used in the past to drive cattle, sheep etc to market. You can tell it's a drove because of the width between the fences............ Once I got to the top of the hill I crossed the A361 again but heading north this time and made my way across the Mendips to Wells. At Wells I continued across the Mendips until I dropped down to Chew Valley lake where I stopped to take some more coffee from my flask..... It was only 15 miles to home from here so I skirted around the very edge of Bath and then back home. It was a good ride and I just get more and more impressed by this bike everytime I ride it

Great stuff, Bob. Bike looks great on those trails, sure enough it'll feel like a pig when going through the kind of mud you're used to taking lighter bikes on proper knobbies on. I have great admiration for guys who can use a big bike to do stuff like the trial's riding type stuff shown above, that shows real skill. I loose all confidence when on the GS and the nice hard dirt turns to sandy trails. Soft ground just makes me wimp out, I'd like to say it comes from not wanting to damage the bike but in fact it comes from not knowing what to do with it on soft terrain, may take a class one of these days when stuff opens up again.

I was thinking of the high fender kit as you say no point if your staying away from the boggy stuff On a seperate note i'm waiting for you to recreate this simple maneuver lol

Going up in altitude on variable road surfaces, adverse cambers, sheer drops, strong crosswinds, and at the summit it was cold enough to give me white fingers! Then on the way back I stopped to check out the Old Peoples Home (cos at 66 you never know)......and they put the barricade across the road!

My feet didn't reach the floor and I'm a tad under 6 feet tall. I was probably riding back towards and shouting out for you to catch me when I came to a stop.

when your selling products to Harley owners you only have to answer yes to two questions for a almost guaranteed sale Is it shiny and is it loud.

I did let a fellow ride my KTM once at a BMF rally, he sat on the back seat while doing so for some reason and it smelled like shit afterwards, no idea who it was, any idea @yen_powell?

Me and a mate were lucky enough to get snowed on riding up there in 2010, I don't think i will ever get a chance to ride that valley in fresh snow ever again our bike tracks were the only ones there