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Butt, i never looked better then when my mother dressed me!

110km this afternoon, again almost all on minor roads except the last bit. For Info, the furthest point north "Soumaintrain" is where they make the smelly cheese of the same name. Difficult to get away from food here one way or another... Tiger food spotted running away then saw this cheeky bugger had turned to look and stood still see him? zoom in : they don't usually hang around long enough for me to stop and get the camera out, but I see loads on these runs. This was early afternoon, so in broard daylight. Nice country hunting lodge for someone open country again, between Chemilly and Flogny La Chapelle somewhere I found a marshmallow farm! obviously the farmed ones are bigger than wild marshmallows...

I want to ride that trail leading away from the old house and going around the valley

having spent yesterday unblocking the bath I thought I deserved some R & R this afternoon so got kurviger to invent me a loop on small back roads about 150km northwards ride out north of Auxerre and the Foret D'othe opens out befor you cant remember which village this was I found where Christmas trees are born! It's rare that I don't see one or more of these along the roadside during a ride, often in the middle of nowhere. The inscriptions translates as " to the resistats of the Foret D'Othe In memory of those who sacrificed their lives against the barbarity of Nazism, in order that you who pass by might live free" Oh I can't remember where this one was either but it's a church There is a decidedly religious theme to this ride, I would love to know the story behind the reason for painting this roadside shrine all red Madame Moon rang me and despite having helmet comms I don't ride whilst on the phone. The helmet comms allow me to respond, pull over and talk without having to remove gloves, helmet and earplugs. I pulled over to talk. Another resistants memorial less prominent as on a very minor back road and about half way between " nowhere" and " Elsewhere" Again I'd like to hear the story behind it and why specifically in this spot. riding out of the woods I came across this dead tree and knew instantly what it reminded me of! Any LOTR fans will instantly recognise it... if you are wondering why the memorials refer to "Maquis" or "Maquisards" rather than "resistants" a short French history lesson is neccessary: "Maquis" is a Corsican word designating the uncultivated bush or scrub land covering much of the islands highlands. when someone wanted to dissappear ( usually to hide from the authorities) they would " prend le Maquis" or take to the woods ( going "Bush" the aussies would say) The term "prendre le Maquis" or taking to the woods, rapidly became synonymous with joining the resistance during the war, especially later on when the resistants were able to form organised groups, so the different groups of resistants would take code names such as "le Maquis de MERRY -VAUX" as on the stele in the photo and their members were referred to as "Maquisards". reading between the lines I think that they were largely ineffectuel and more of a morale boost to the local population than a real problem to the occupying Nazis but there is NO doubt that some of their operations did make a difference and many of them died trying. For that reason alone we owe them our gratitude. The Massacre of Ouradour sur Glane was a direct reprisal by the Das Reich Panzer division for the destruction of the bridges over the Glane by the local "Maquis" preventing them from joining their infantry batallion in the counter offensive.

I don't know about looking stylish but black and white makes everything look better or maybe not ?

That's me with the food.??

As much as I would love to be his girlfriend, ( ) I am not, so smooth away, its always welcomed!!

Depends, how fuckin cold is it? Left to right, snowmobile mittons, for when, its fucking cold, next up are aerostiches Elkskin gloves with merino wool linning, for when its kinda fucking cold. Next are unlinned aeorstich elkskin's for when its fuckin nice butt not to fucking hot. Next up are my mesh gloves, for when its fucking hot. Last up are aeorostiches elkskin "roper" gloves for if i ever want to be a fuckin cowboy. I should have been a fuckin cowboy....

Hard indeed for those of us that normally ride alone! For stylish points sake alone (!) 2 from 2005 in Germany. A long time ago! 6 kgs less, 20 degrees of hooliganism more, bike of a life time. Current affair, older but not wiser!!

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

Temps 25 degrees and never seen so many bikes out as there were today. Literally hundreds of them! But it's the first weekend that we can cross into other provinces since the start of March.......so everybody's out. I'd have liked to have gone down into the mining complex itself.....but that would have involved scaling down the banks on very tricky surfaces. I thought better of it.....because at 66 I'm in no fit state to fall off mountains!

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...

If you're able to design something, I have lathes and milling machines at my shop and can whittle it out of aluminum if you'd like.

5 minutes in the heat and you casuals would be fucked!

Nice one Pete, it may not be all that hot yet but it still LOOKS hot .

I hope that's not more than 5 miles Fred ?

@PedroYou missed the story about when my original KLR motor dumped its cam chain at 35k, first i towed her to NJ to have Tammy decree, she's fucked! Got a used lump with 10K on it from a knacker, Tammy came up, helped me shoe horn it in. So for now on we pick on Kawasaki's...... not like KHI care's ....

From today my house is around the centre of the photo in the distance

Now be fare, he was trying to figure out why it was running, why wasnt it running, kinda was running, started running great then started to run like crap...Team Green 2020

I 've been wearing the Dainese Four Stroke Evo gloves for a few years now - usually get 3-4 years out of a pair. Not waterproof (rarely rains here), vented and all leather. And they come in a size 3XL for my petite, dainty little hands.

@Tym.........some clown on what looked to be a Kawasaki got in my way. Poor bastard is probably pushing it home as we speak!

First of all, most pictures were taken just for you guys, didn't feel like stopping at all ? My home is about one and a half to two hours away from Sofia's, if I take small scenic roads. A little tired of being alone by myself I offered to visit and cook dinner, we were to meet halfway for a coffee. As I ride off the weather is looking a little much like not-summer. We were to meet at my cafe of choice for going to have something on the bike, it's located in Serra de Montejunto, which is what divides inland weather from coastal weather, going there on the extreme summertime provides me with easy relief from the summer heat. Riding into a very low cloud A few minutes after I arrive, she does too: Thinking of wether to ride straight back or not, it starts to rain heavily so I choose to have a nice hot toast and coffee in the dry and heated cafe. After, I put my padded winter mid layer on and plastic rain overpants, in June ?, to go to Ericeira. Ride there was wet with roads covered in mud and grime, I followed Sofia as she was breaking in her brand new Pirelli Supercorsas in less than ideal conditions In Ericeira she went straight to work and I went for a warm shower instead ?, before visiting her current patients, that were born not long ago and now getting a feel for chewable food: They're rather more interested in playing and exploring than eating: Dinner was prepared by me, and consisted of tinned sardines cooked in paprika and turmeric seasoned onions and tomato, African inspired, it tastes a lot better than it sounds, and was served on toast on top of goat's fresh cheese. Too much wine was consumed so the next day I slept a little later with her dog for company, also lazily taking some effort to get up: Instead of riding back home, on friday I did a little ride around the area, successfully avoided more than a few rain drops, and managed one single picture of the entire thing, stopped for refreshment: Today, weather is glorious in sunny Ericeira, so had breakfast at a street side cafe and took my sweet time walking around before riding back home. Riding back, I used countryside roads to head home, crossing the Lisbon wine area without taking any pictures as basically whenever I though of doing so the pretty landscape had already passed Stopped for a cafe at lunch time back at the same hilltop cafe, but since it was almost empty I decided to stay for lunch. Had a nice burger, cooked while both other bikes there idled away for 15 minutes, some people must really worry about riding off on a not hot engine. They proceeded to stop 1 km away for almost another hour Burger was not worthy of a picture. Going back down the hill on the other side, almost home A brief stop for urination purposes was made a lot better by pissing with a view: Arrived back home with a terribly dirty bike to a dark and moody sky. Might even wash the bike once it has properly cooled off, if it doesn't rain.

Ericeira is the only World Surf Reserve in Europe. It is a very special place for many reasons, but above all has a special energy. One can compare it to St Ives or Padstow. Rich Northen European Retirees discouvered it ( helped by the Non Habitual Resident status ) and started buying houses like mad, so a place that has always been above average regarding house prices, became ultra expensive. It was never cheap, its a little bit like Isle de Rè in France, but now its crazy. Not even Corona brought the prices down. Still, if you fancy holiday here I can help and @Pedro can be your guide!

nope it's always like that here Pete, once you're off the beaten track. That's part of why I love it. population density is waaay lower than the uk aparrently Burgundy is currently less densly populated than it was in 1851...

Never feel like you're a weirdo here @Grasshopper's Ride.........look around at the state of these twats! You wouldn't fit in if you weren't somewhat unusual! This isn't the sort of place for those types of people who are full of their own self importance.......everybody would just take the piss!

That's what I'm talking about.....bringing the sexy back to balloons...... ? I like it.....but then I am a bit strange.

lol....come on now, you guys ride some pretty fancy bikes and motorcyclist's have +1 bonus when it comes to style, so work it boys and girls...... ??

I suppose this could be classed as stylish or more likely, look at that feckin clown

I'm afraid that asking any of this lot to look stylish is pushing the envelope a bit too much ?

Surely I'm not the only one...

Hard one this as i ride alone a lot and when i am out with someone i'm usually taking the photos Got this with no bike unfortunately from a while ago And here's the bike (RWB Africa twin at back centre) at the location best i can do i'm afraid lol

Only have fotos from 3 or 4 years ago, nothing recent: Middle of nowhere, sweltering heat, marveling at how silent and fast camels walk when all of the sudden I noticed what looked like a nail on the back tire: Happiest I've been on a motorcycle, scenery felt a lot bigger than what it looks like on the picture: Annoyed at guys pestering me for money and the heat, can't wait to go back though ?: Tan Tan, farthest south I've been on the bike: Applying sunscreen Trying to go for the "epic adventurer" pose: Just talking shit not realizing the camera was on:

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...

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...

Under the bridge to Red Cliff.....

PS, never take WOT advice from a KLR Driver

Despite other sh!t going on I abandoned the children to their own devices for a couple of hours this afternoon and headed out to do something useful... and clear the mind at the same time. I used "Kurviger" to plan a route as I had 3 fixed waypoints I needed to visit to verify the availability of water and electric hook ups for our boats in the event of us actually being able to run this season. We have a guide on each boat for the clients which I update at the beginnin of each season and I have found that the most reliable way of getting valid information is to go and look ofr myself... so waypoints were Surgy, Villiers sur Yonne and Monceau le compte. add start and finish and kurviger sorts out a route based on various other criteria ( fastest, shortest, main roads, curvey or downright winding) I added a couple of other waypoints to take in one or two portions I wanted to ride, export to " Scenic" on the "mefone" and jobs done. screen capture for those who like, those who don't like can do the other thing... First stop Surgy, Neither water or power available here which came as no surprise but a nice picnic area and ahade to hide in Temps in the upper 20's so shade is always welcome when disguised in bike gear Back over the river, not in the shade... and on through Clamecy to Villiers sur Yonne to see if there's still a standpipe at the little port there Villiers Sur Yonne it looked like a snowstorm had just gone through, look at all the white fluffon the ground The stand pipe is still there and even has a pair of fonctionning taps... no water in it though but I found the stop cock under a steel plate so I know it can be nade to work as and when needed. I also say this, as important a peice of leisure equipement as any if ever Boboneleg comes this way again... a pleasant spot to sit and contemplate I moved on from here heading towards Bazoches, across country on the minor roads, I wanted a closer look at this hilltop building which i'd never seen before the road up was narrow and steep but gave some good views of the surrounding countryside From afar I thought it might just be a grain silo or something but a bit odd perched up there on the hill. Turns out it's a very nicely maintained chapel Time was getting on and I need to get home, the roads from here were all well known to me and fairly rapid, here to Bazoches was again smaller back roads but then it was then quick and straightforward. got home around 6, just in time for aperitifs... ? cheers!

How about these Wild garlic looks nice but the smell ?

Well, I started looking and maybe went a little too far back ?

I think you are probably very right my friend, the welfare state is a wonderful thing but it has to be paid for, this is also why the different govt are pushing schools to open and people back to work too early for safety, because the cost of staying locked down now outweighs the cost of dealing with a potential "nd wave of Covid.

Most bizarre Xmas Day I've ever had........and I've had a lot of Xmas Days! Because it was 20C.........and I actually ended up sweating doing the trails around the reservoir! Not only that, I also faced the trauma of one or two fluffy white clouds in the sky.......but I got through it! And no Support Vehicle either I might add!

possibly the last of my september trips as work has evolved and we now are busier in september than in July August. It was my fist proper trip on the tiger which I bought in october 2017. The 3rd week september is traditionally our "boys only" weekend away with the "club" ( inverted commas cos we're not officially a club anymore) and in 2018 the planned destination was the high Jura. 8 bikes in all and all except me had just the weekend off. I didn't need to be back at work till the thursday and had cleared it with Madame MooN that I would be an extra day at least. day one went something like this: Auxerre Besancon via A6 and A39 in order to get just east of Besancon for Lunch and then straight into the good bits. Up the Doubs valley to Baume les dames, Pont de roide, Maiche,Villiers les lac, Morteau ( sausages!), Pontarlier ( aperitif!), les gorges de la Langouette, Morez et premanon. As usual, when riding with the group I don't get time to stop and take pics. but we did about 500km in the day with about 250 on the more interesting roads between besancon and Premanon. next morning i rode with the group as far as Cure where they turned back westwards and I carried on turning right down the eastern flanc of the Jura towards lac leman ( or lake Geneva as the uneducated call it) I dropped down the hairpins through St Cergue to the lakeshore and along the edge of the lake through geneva and out the other side heading North east alon the french shore and back into Switzerland at St Gingolph where I popped down to the lake edge and took this photo. To take the pic I was sat at the same table in the café Madame MooN and I ate at on our very first weekend bike trip nearly 25 years ago... It was too early to eat so I set off again, heading for Martigny and the col st bernard. I stopped at a petrol station and grabbed a sandwich and a drink ( when in switzerland, drink milk and eat yoghurt, its devine!) There were quite a few bikes about and I had fun annoying some power rangers and then trying to keep up with some swiss plated ducatis. My excuse is that they probably knew the road, being locals... I stopped to picnic by the lake at the top which was heaving with bikes from all over. Me being the asocial entity that I am, I didn't stay long I rapidly withdrew, stopping a little further round the lake for the pic above. I then set off down the south side of the mountain heading for Aosta. I had a lot of fun on the way down but was very much put to shame by a complete nutter on a pushbike who would overtake on the straights ( 70odd km/h) and then get in my way on the hairpins. This is how I discovered that I can lean the Tiger considerably further over into the corners than I would have dared with the tralp ( Oh, and that the bakes are a little more efficient...) having skirted Aosta, I headed west and North back up the valley towards the Mont Blanc, on the Italien side turning southwest before Courmeyeur and heading back up to the french border and the col du petit St Bernard. looking north to Mont Blanc I spent the night in a small gite in Bonneval, just north of Moutiers. I was totally knackered and had made very few stop, thus discovering pretty much just how many hours i can spend in the saddle on this bike and since the back op. I think it was nearly 9 hours if i remember right, including the few stops. the next day was just an easy run home via Annecy and Bellegarde where I picked up the A40 westbound and thus onto the A6 northbound at Macon and Home for tea and buns by 5pm. i did manage to get a speeding ticket as a souvenir somewhere around Annecy and I also learnt that when an automatic camera flashes you in a Tunnel you KNOW you just got flashed...?

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

I hadn't done this rally since my last time with Fred which was 2017 (I think ??), anyway a mate of mine insisted that we should go so we put the word around and in the end six of us met up at Conwy YHA on the friday night before the rally and then went to the pub of course..... and then for a curry..... Now one thing you need to do in the week leading up to the Dragon Rally is to keep an eye on the weather forecast, when I tell you it wasn't looking good, it really wasn't . There was a storm coming in with 65-70 mph winds and torrential rain forecasted ? Saturday morning we assembled at the meeting point and were given the instructions as to where the site was this year (it's a different location every year), what a fine body of men ........ We got to the site and it didn't look good, it was just a farmers field up a track and at the top of a hill. I would much rather have been down in some sheltered valley out of the way of the worst of the weather. We picked a spot at the top of the field as it was obvious that by next morning anything down the bottom would just be a bog. It was a great laugh just trying to get to the top of the field as conditions were soft and it hadn't even started raining yet. We pitched our tents and then walked down to the marquee to collect our goody bags and have a nose at the other bikes

Did this run at the start of March........seems like a lifetime ago!

Thank you @Catteeclan, nothing has ever been the same, she was my better half by far. Next time you come by, ask where to go and I'll send you on some nice roads, or just follow the same rules as everywhere else, go for the places marked on free on maps and use white and yellow roads ?