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So, yesterday started well, not very warm by the time I left the hotel at around 9am, made my way to find some petrol as the bike was on reserve and in this part of the country you can ride for a while without fuel in rural areas, I mean 40km, not really such a drama. The big GS is quite frugal if you avoid motorways, and by the time I fueled up I had 600km on that tank with 50km range left. Landscape is changing now With a full tank I explore a little, there is no rush in going fast south, but I seem only be able to find dead ends, like this The grass is a little too tall for my liking, it's now getting a little hot and windy so I decide to go back to tarmac roads. A hot catalytic converter and tall dry grass is a great way to start a wildfire, and there has been enough of that over the last years. The road is good, though, I try to stick to small ones: See that on the other side of the river? That's Spain It's steeper than it looks My favourite road so far, as far as fun handling a motorcycle, it's barely wide enough for one van, and rolling and weaving through hills, with patches of dirt thrown in to keep it interesting: It was now getting hot, at around 11:30 it was over 37º, still I couldn't resist this dirt road: It only lasted for a few km, not even 15 I think. By now I am getting hot and hungry, so decide to find a small place for lunch. I stop at the first cafe that has shade outside, sit down and do a few calls and emails while I wait for my ham sandwich. Some water and a cold small beer go down a treat. Old lady in the cafe put some butter on the sandwich, "because I think this is your lunch, and you should have a proper lunch" Street scene, after these two dudes sat together having a drink inside, they proceeded to have a conversation outside while maintaining their social distancing , there's so much rural portugal in this picture ... Old lady over there in the shade with her cane is wearing full black, and it's 37º, she's got the cane ready for when the cat comes to shit on her flowers Back on the road, and a few kms later I stop to check my itinerary and a mini castle. Most common big birds now are storks: Pretty proud of myself taking this picture, and I go and put my thumb in it Half an hour later, the roads are ok but the heat is barely manageable. I stop at a fountain and wash my head to cool down. Last stop before getting to the hotel is Marvão and it's castle. It's very high up and worth it for the views alone. There it is in the distance: Make it to the hotel, and quickly make my way to the pool, to finish the day. I drank almost 1,5 liters of water just sitting there, plus a couple of beers, before starting to feel less thirsty. Sofia joined me for dinner, I had some greats cuttlefish and clams cooked in garlic and olive oil, it was amazing. Too much wine was had.

Another cockpit shot with my buddy Dave - meeting of the minds as we decide which way to go. Shot by his pillion/wife Debbie...

He wasn't too good on the cycling video so i cant see him being any better here

a holiday cottage somewhere in Burgundy

Poop nanner on you! Top this!

Both yesterday

Pete found the perfect Pacific Coast

Exercise!?!

I think you have been out in the sun too long Tym..... ? Still on about the lettuce too, ok we need to get you a new hobby. I've got one....you can make exercise videos for singles that get together for hamburgers after....lol ?️? Happy Summer

Salisbury Plain, England.

Taken today just for this thread...

There's a bit of a cryptic joke in there Tym unfortunately i was the only one that got it where i'm from is called the south wales valleys but i to like beaches with naked chicks on them

Changed my oil and filtre in my KLR with my cheap as chips internet oil, and bled my brakes, because, when you have EZ Bleeders, why not! lol Ready for beach season!

Didn't want to go too far today, so I stayed near home. Had to run to Golden (30 miles) for some fuel but the road getting there doesn't suck so no worries there. OIf course, there's a few abandoned buildings along the way...

I was trying to show a little more of what town looks like - it's not all bombed out log cabins and mountains....although there is a lot of that as well. I really look forward to your pics of the pubs (once they open) and towns. Having only been to Spain twice years ago, the architecture is cool. We stayed in Cadiz and Rota when we went to the Jerez MotoGP years ago - almost forget what it looks like. Need to go back some day.

So ends today's excursion. More later.....

yeah but, they also like cheese with maggots in it and organised crime... @XTreme I reckon you fell on your feet Pete, though temperament wise france has as large a range of temperaments as it does wine or cheese, you just need to find the one that suits.

On to the local ghost town; Apex Valley. It's located about 7 miles north of Balck Hawk and one mile south of my house. On a dead end dirt road, very few people go up there. Several old abandoned houses and a hotel up there...

Lots of rock climbers come to this area for the vertical climbs, look on the canyon walls and you'll see them. Lots of kayakers as well....

Riding back up the canyon, shooting pics as I ride, so they are kinda blurry at times. Six tunnels on the way...

Woohoo - rockin' in the big city. Gassed up and then back up the canyons to Black Hawk... Link to Astor House: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_House_(Golden,_Colorado)

Fathers day also happens to be my Goddaughters Birthday, she's 6 and we had cake an' a BBQ an'cake an' presents an'cake an' stuff ! ??

Montana, Wyoming and Colorado are all mostly prairies. But all have a mountainous area - less than 15% of the land probably. In 10 days I have a trip planned to Kansas and will post pics of what most of Colorado looks like. Hint: it ain't pretty!

I like the pool part!

Fucking chips mun! Tell him @Sir Fallsalot

Watched this the other day....being a RE Himalayan owner it caught my eye. It was great fun and I think the Himalayan held it's own very well. ? That CSC looks interesting but with a moody throttle and clutch I will stick with the Himalayan.

Not at all Alan, plenty of lovely scenic stops up on the Plain

That's him Alan, used to go everywhere on a beat up KLR650 as well, top dude imo

WTF is going on here Tym ?

Oh ps this thread is probably for "unmarried types" because it seems if you are married you dont have to care what you look like anymore...

Hardly's problem is everyone thinks the Fonda types are assholes now...

Me too. Remember that run across Aussie on a postie?

Probably wouldn't remember anyway! Remember me complaining that the lack of food caused my hangover? ?

Route if anyone cares.....

That would get boring pretty quickly, I'm afraid. Can't wait for you guys to see the pics from our Wyoming / Montana and not Canada because they won't let us in Trip scheduled for next month. Should have some, great pics.

That's there year 'round. Chilly up over 13,000 feet. My house is around 10,000' and it's right at freezing most mornings. Well below it at 13-14K feet. And we just had snow last week.

Popped outta the woods and there's another lake. Conveniently located next to the paved road home...

The "road" has officially become a goat path....

I was gonna put my summer house here, but I was, again, short a few million dollars.....

Come on Pete you must pay more attention in class

The paved road getting this far was prety decent - smooth as you like with lots of curves and elevation changes...

I'll go for somewhere in France for that!

For some reason i like beaches with naked chicks on them

I'll go for this one........

OK, it's now 22:00 and I'm about to type this after drinking a bottle of pretty average to shitty white wine, I hope you degenerates appreciate this. I don't want to be a day behind or else I fear I may never pick it back up So, yesterday evening yours truly had a memorable meal with an amazing view to the Douro River at sunset. I made friends with the people that own the small villa/hotel, I think the wife runs it and the husband cooks. He's quite good, and their own wine is something to be appreciated indeed. I'll come back for two reasons, second is to pick up a few of those bottles wether they want to sell them or not, and the other is to find a home for the Argan tree I have growing in a big pot at home. Me and Maria picked a few seeds off of the ground in Morocco, and I started to grow one one of them before she died. I love the thing to bits and would like to have it planted somewhere where it can grow with proper ground to put roots on and plenty of sunshine and heat. Yesterday I found the place, and the lady to water it while it needs the care. I'd get a kick of visiting my own Argan tree in the douro region, and talk to it while drinking some pristine wine. To me, that's cool as fuck. So, ate well, drank too much, woke up at sunrise to go back to sleep and show up for breakfast at 8:30, the place is gorgeous and this is it in the morning light (long after sunrise, so sue me!) I had a nice light lunch, homemade yogurt along with fresh fruits, some oj, and plenty of great coffee. People there were pretty worried I would eat bread of bacon and eggs, but this here is a man making an effort! Rode off to one the Douro's most scenic viewpoints, just enough time to warm the bike up before getting there. Here in the north we get a lot of scenery but usually not big vistas, this is not the case. I stopped the bike with nobody else there but myself and it is a sight to behold. I'll just post a few pictures for you to get an idea of it, this side is Portugal, other side (uglier ) is Spain: Riding over I notice these huge birds, eagles and vultures, they're so impressive because so high up you can see them from what seems like very close up I have just started the day, but am sitting down by my bike happy to spend an hour or two just marveling at the view, might as well take it all in in peace and quiet before I go. Just take a second or two and see if you get the sense of space I got, pictures are taken with my phone, not a proper camera so you get what you pay for: As soon as I'm settling down on a wooden bench wishing I had another nice cup of coffee, a bunch of lycra clad twats roll in. with a Kangoo following, Kangoo twat decides to provide Lycra twats with beverages, and there goes my piece and quiet. Guys shouting at each other left and right, 30 seconds later they're asking for beer, and flying a drone. Eagles and Vultures scatter as soon as the drone starts flying, so now I got twats screaming and drone in the air, and I'm starting to wish I was @Tym and packing heat. Here, noisy lycra clad twats to my left: Riding off, I'm on nice tarmac, but decide to abort and ride what seems like a more scenic route on google maps, except it's not tarmac. No problem, because as far as dirt roads go, I've never been in one with a better view in Portugal: I'm bumbling along smoothly in third or fourth gear, when all of a sudden a huge shadow goes over me, I stop and notice a bunch of birds on top and beside me. Now, please bear with me a little bit, cellphone pictures of flying birds aren't that impressive here, but they were quite big: The land whale waiting patiently: Alone on top of a mountain looking at views and birds, I'm having a happy moment Birds get closer and closer Suddenly, a lot more of them start to circle on top, and I wonder if they might think me and the GS are in trouble. It is a shaft driven BMW after all, with a decidedly unproficient rider ... I counted 30 birds at one time, being a little cold from the morning air I take my time to put on a light sweater and finally ride on, those 15 or 20 minutes all alone on top of a mountain with a few birds for company felt like a special experience. Riding on dirt, though, was a little harder work and as soon as I got on tarmac I was ready to stop to take the mid layer off I picked a place with some road porn for you, this is what you can expect to get if you book one of @Sofia 's future northern rides, view to the left: With this road ahead: Now don't get any ideas, this is my kind of road, but it's broken tarmac full of character, patches of gravel or dirt mid corner, big drops, and on sundays and summer months you also get the 5 people inside a Peugeot 307 station driving on the complete wrong side of the road. Road is a good one, though At Barca D'Alba , home of some amazing wines, and as the river stops being the border between Portugal and Spain and turn into Portugal, I say goodbye to Portugal's (and arguably one of the worlds) great wine regions, cross it, and continue to head south. But not before stopping to clean an oil drip coming off the oil filling cap. Barca D'Alba: Still the Douro in the distance: Road remains pretty great if you like twisties. Little further down the line, with the landscape getting smoother and the temperature increasing, I notice an add in front of a house and remember @Earache pondering a house in a certain biking paradise. Here you get a gentleman's home, there are surely plenty up for grabs in the area, I hereby wave my finder's fee: Road starts to get straight at times, and landscape changes dramatically Management noticed a few of you liked old stuff and culture. I am not usually one to stop for old stuff and buildings, but here you go, culture and old stuff. A medieval bridge (quite exciting, for medieval times) in a little square all restored in honor of a master sergeant who died in battle in 1642. I did this as a tease, because with all due respect to the master sargeant, things are about to improve regarding old things. But first, look how this small road is closed, it crosses into Spain in a couple of kms: Now, arriving in Almeida's fortress. It's not a castle, but I like fortresses more: You'd be proper fucked if you were stuck between these walls with a locked gate. After parking the bike inside, I go for a short stroll on top of the walls, and a smells starts to make me hungry. Behind one of those tree down there you see a beige awning, three old dudes grilling chicken down there. One of the old chicken grilling dudes' ride, a Sachs V5, 50cc two stroke: Top of the walls: Main road into town: And guard's shelter covering the entrance from above: From top of the main entrance building in the previous pictures: Looking into the square, this group of tourists is trying to take a timed picture of themselves. Poor guy is running back and forward. Eventually I make it down there and shoot their picture for them, after 15 minutes of trying I get an aplause Here's something historical for you Fortress entrance: Read up, culture: Made my way away from Almeida, Few kms further on, another castle. This area is full of them, being a border area with Spain near Salamanca, a very important city in Spain back then, home of their biggest University of old. Castelo Bom (translated to Good Castle) is a tiny fortification, a village squeezed within walls I rode in and found a spot to park, space is not abundant: And away again: I stop to give this guy a nose cuddle, I think it's apreciated because of the temporary fly relief Little ways further, I stop for lunch. Wind is blowing a warm breeze, I have a nice wee and proceed to eat my sandwich, kindly prepared by the nice lady in the hotel, a little ham, a little cheese, little lettuce and a little butter in dark cereal bread. Lovely lunch and location, two cars passed the whole time I was stopped On the picture above you can really see the difference between this morning's landscape and where I am going. Stopped for an expresso after lunch. No normal portuguese person can go by without an expresso after lunch. Getting tired of typing, just look at the nice pictures of the great forrest roads after I had my expresso Nature slowly taking back this previously tarmac road, turned out to be a dead end. Now in a pretty great forrest area, in a nature reserve and always taking the smallest roads possible. That's why it's taking so long to cross this small country Going a little further south, I pass Fundão, this is more or less the center of Portugal if you look at it from north to south, it's a pretty flat area stuck between hills, and fucking hot. Right now I'm in need of a swim after crossing that damm in previous pictures. Saw a couple of small cottages right on the water but early birds had gotten the worm, serves me right for not making plans. I divert from the road to climb a little village with a small castle on top in search of a view. Long story short, there was a little fender bender, a very steep very narrow cobblestone street, a hot Pedro on top of a blowing GS, and I didn't feel like waiting around, so there you go, you get this instead, another house for sale, this time smaller and more modest but with a proper view. Don't move here though, you'll melt: By this time, I'm melting, I pass a fuel station with the fuel light already on but decide to ignore it since the town where I'm sleeping has a couple of hotels so should have a fuel station as well. Make it to the hotel and the nice swimming pool beside it, and jump right in two or three hours later, I regret my choice of location, this is truly a one horse town, everything's closed or abandoned, I am looking to find a small typical joint to eat in, but no luck, the only thing I find is a great oak tree, typical of the area, and an abandoned guesthouse overrun by swallows Make my way back to the hotel, and have a mediocre meal washed down with some average (at best) wine, missing my friends from the previous night and their wine. Tomorrow is another day, probably a warmer day as well. Bike as done about 550km on this fuel tank, need to deal with fuel first thing in the morning. See ya...

Story of my life Pete i'm always in some form of shit its just the depth that varies

ZXR, then? It was faired and had the intake tubes coming from the fairing over to the intake. I'm clueless, looked pretty old and in very good condition.

So onto the next set of lanes which were very dissapointing as the local authority has decided to tarmac them........... and now I'm heading for a couple of lanes that will lead to the Plain........... But before I get there I ride down this lovely old holloway near Potterne.......