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Last week before lockdown..............

Thought I’d share these again ?

It was awful. It looked like hard, crusty dirt as I rode into it at a good pace and within a metre or so I came to a dead stop and nearly went over the handlebars ??? I clambered off the bike and got stuck as the clay went up to my knees. Managed to get out and got a local in his tractor to dig me out. Very embarrassing ??

They had a news item on it a few years ago and the reporter was stood in a vast candle lit space. He said that if you stood quietly (obviously there is no breeze) you could hear the rhubarb growing, a sort of creaking noise.

I once had to do that after spinning my car off of a cobblestone road and landing in the middle of a soft grass field. It was raining and the guy wasn't inclined to get himself wet, I had to ask him pretty please

I tell you what none of them sell......Welsh Cakes!

More grub Yen! Though I did manage to pick up a degreaser spray and a dashboard spray while I was there!

Left at 10......and back by 1.30! A round trip of 140 miles! First stop Brit shop 1...... Filled up half the boot there......starting with the most important first! 3300 Tea Bags! Then it was Brit shop 2...... Culminating in this...... Saw two Guardia......one was pulling a gypo on the motorway.....and the other coming from the opposite direction. Mission accomplished without incident! I believe this is what is known as Dark Shopping!

Thank you to all that served.

This is exactly how I feel, never get myself into situations where I have to prove that I can't swim at all. When I walk along a canal at work, I keep as far away from the edge as possible, if anyone is going in it's gonna be a cyclist or a jogger. Not that they are deep but you could get stuck in the mud or cut yourself on a shopping trolley.

I'm going in!

Psst, dude, i got the good chit yo, lipton, how much ya want?

We might all be saved they've been bleating on about a possible vaccine they have produced which stops covid in 90% of tests subjects and could be ready for public use before Christmas. I think I'll wait until every fucker else has tried it before i have a go

Today was the first proper run on the Beemer other than when I brought it back from the dealer! So how did it do? Well I've covered a few of it's aspects before........so no point going over those again. All I can say is that this G650GS is probably the best fit for me, and the roads I ride on, than any machine I've had since I've been in Spain. It really is that good! The only minor negatives (and they are minor) is that the sidestand is too short......so the bike leans over quite a bit when parked. The other thing is when the fan comes on it blows out hot air over my right leg. Very minor stuff as you can see. It was great on the motorway trip coming back from collecting it, and it was even better on these rural, bumpy country roads. Just so easy to ride. It ticks all the boxes for me.......but in terms of reliability it has to prove itself! Only time will tell if I can get the same level of trust in the Beemer that I would have in a Jap bike! So watch this space!

It's the Perfect Storm! Due to Covid we're restricted to staying within the town perimeters, but we're just about out of our Brit food.....inc tea bags! However, the Brit supermarkets are all in Albox, Almeria. And I think you're all familiar with my bi-monthly visits by now! To make things more tricky, I suspect home confinement is heading our way soon.......with Xmas approaching! So after carefully studying the regulations it appears as if we can leave the town area, and the province, if it's work related! And what do you know? I have a client in Albox! So I rang him today, told him the score, and he's giving me an alibi in case I get a pull. So tomorrow, it's keep business papers and laptop in the car, along with tax returns to prove the existence of the business. And the destination will be Albox! Fingers crossed I don't get to experience......

What's in the cardboard boxes? Bike polish or dunking biscuits?

Oh deer!

There'll be a lot like us . Waiting.

From MAG "We have been asked if riding during the lockdown invalidates your insurance. The answer from the ABI (Association of British Insurers) is "Your cover will not be affected if you drive during the lockdown period. However, all motorists should follow Government advice and avoid non-essential travel." "

I'm not sure Pedro.....I'd say a big bag would last us about 5 to 6 weeks. They'll go further in Summer though cos it gets a bit hot for tea!

How many tea bags do you use per day, @XTreme? Sounds like you could import them by the pallet!

Oh mannnnn, can I vote now?

Death cures all ills!

You are so right about that Pete. I cannot believe how long it takes for stuff to heal ever since I turned 55. Every year it seems to get worse

A month from now you'll see a washing line outside the XTreme hacienda with teabags drying out in the winter sun for re-use

That's so brit it hurts, @XTreme, can´t you buy the damned tea bags and have them delivered? Are they not good for more than 2 months? You are forbidden to criticize any UK residents for a week

I've got plenty of form for this.......2010.......and a DR650 returning from Albox with 2200 tea bags in the box! Never thought I'd ever see the day where I could be potentially breaking the law by going to buy tea bags! And let's be fair......I've seen a lot of days!

The drama of a brit being left out of his tea bags

I used to twist the right grip until I saw God then I backed off, but after smacking a deer going 65 mph mid point in a down hill tight corner in Northern California I have somewhat reformed myself. I take the high speed shit to the track now.

Does it come with the rug.

Since typing this this seemed to have a number of customers walking into the workshop and stand next to you while I'm working and start asking questions. Think we've got a stupid virus going around here.

These tires don't really like dirt, but they absolutely hate wet dirt and puddles

They should keep you on payroll to ride to all the major cities, everywhere you go in Spain people lock themselves inside!

So, today I rode to the supermarket .... proper casual, I know! I was going insane at home and had to go out, was in danger of running out of wine, had had run out of olive oil, can't have that so any excuse is a good one for warming up the bike. Stopped by my local favourite shop for a coffee, what a nice place this is, Dainese outlet, plus coffee shop and wine shop. Bought 4 bottles of my favourite local Syrah, said hello to a couple of friends, meanwhile the sun came out and the weather turned glorious. Heading back home Took a little excursion off the main road It's been raining a lot over the last few days, and this is quite sandy terrain, turned back when it got too soft for my liking Properly green in the Ribatejo now Brief stop at the supermarket, apart from the groceries I decided to buy some toilet paper in the spirit of the season

And now he's a BMW owner he can pay £50 for it instead of £5 on e-bay and say its better than the Chinese crap like i had some guy telling me not so long ago

Now enjoying the end of the afternoon outside my front door as it gets cooler again

Since covid started there's been a huge difference in the traffic on my daily commute even now two of the busiest bottlenecks i had to sit in are just straight through I'm probably travelling 15 to 20 minutes less each day because of it

So having put the winter wheels/tyres on the Donkey the other day it was time to get them dirty. First thing I noticed was how much more 'lively' the bike felt after riding all summer on Mitas E-07's but it it was fine after riding about an hour of tarmac. First stop was by the gatehouse of the Spye Park estate.......... a and onto Heddington Steps which doesn't have any steps anymore, it's been totally sanitised , you could drive your car up there nowadays ? and then rode a couple of trails around Devizes...... and then up onto Salisbury Plain via the Redhorn Hill vedette. When the army are playing war there would be a red flag flying here and a barrier across the trail but no live firing today so on we go........... There are plenty of warnings about not straying from the byway, if you're stupid enough to do so you really are playing russian roulette.... and down to the tank graveyard which is good place to stop and get the flask out for a coffee.........

I’m sorry, delicate flower, didn’t mean to make you feel unappreciated! I liked your bench too!

I decided that if I was able to continue working than I must be able to ride and that If I can;t ride then I shouldn't be working. the sun came out between rain clouds and though the temps were not high I peeled the cover of the bike, checked tyre pressures and went for a ride. The most difficult part was getting my left arm into my jacket wit the thermal liner in... Managed 100km and was just getting warmed up but needed to be back to send No.1 back to Uni. The rain clouds were moving south so I shot through a gap by riding eastwards. This was just outside chablis looking south and looking north. the trick was going to be staying in the gap between the two rain cells. I ran south untill i caught up with the rain from the southern cell around Joux la villeso cut back westwards (ish) along its trailing edge, crossing the route Nationale and the river Cure at Voutenay and turning more northwest around the western edge of the northern cloud mass. I got rained on for 5 minutes but nothing serious. by the time I got to Mailly la ville the roads were bone dry as it clearly hadn't rained here all day. I crossed the Yonne river on the 15th century bridge at Mailly le chateau I closed the loop by riding back via Champs sur yonne to refuel. route map: 100km, an hour and a half ish and no pain or discomfort in either shoulder or knee which is reassuring.

Went out on some familiar back roads into Murcia province to put the Beemer through it's paces.......get a better feel for it type of thing. As I've said it's totally different to the Strom in all respects as it feels like a big dirtbike or supermoto.......rather than a road bike that looks like it can handle a limited degree of offoad. The upshot is I'm still very impressed with it......even took it in places I wouldn't have taken the Strom......and it handled it easily. Couple of Beemer Boys loaded with dustbins were holding me up......so I had to pass them! Not sure if they're aware that despite paying around €20K for the full Ewan and Charley experience, they were holding up and got passed by an A2 licence motorcycle ridden by an Old Age Pensioner! Anyway, I ended up near the abandoned village of Moralejo de Arriba so I took a few shots in there. After I left there, I wanted to top up with petrol.......but found that the filling station was abandoned as well. Looks like they left quite a bit of stuff in there too. So it's a treble dose of dark motorcycling......Abandoned Beemer Boys, Abandoned Village, and Abandoned Petrol Station! This has to be End of Days! And remember, you don't get this shit on Buttrider! Tell 'em @Tym

Now it was time to head for home so it was back up onto the Plain to ride tracks to Westbury and then tarmac back to Bristol. It started to get really breezy and you could see big showers in the distance but I managed to avoid them and made it back home dry

There isn't much left to Luggershall Castle but it's worth a quick visit especially considering that it's free to enter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludgershall_Castle

Superb @boboneleg.........you couldn't do justice to stuff like this just by putting it on FaceButt. It needs a forum to really display it correctly.

Opposite Old Sarum is a Roman road , parts of which you can still ride........ and near Firsdown there is even a bench on the byway so you can stop and have your lunch ? Then I did a couple more byways including Whiteshoot hill which was 'interesting ' going down on the wet chalk and then I rode the back roads to get to the second castle of the day.

In the outer bailey is the site of the original Salisbury Cathedral........... but from Old Sarum (Old Salisbury) you can see the spire of the present Salisbury Cathedral in the distance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_Cathedral

So I carried on going south and then took a detour to the east and came across this............ Now on the Plain there are puddles that you can loose a bike in so I got off and tried to gauge the depth but in the end it was fine, there was only one hole in it and I rode through it safely. Then I managed to scoot around this one to visit another tank, I think you've seen this tank before but it looks sadder every time I see it ? So once I got to the Rollestone Camp I carried onto the first castle of the day via tarmac. Old Sarum is quite important in English history but I wont bore you with the details , you can find it all here........ https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/old-sarum/history/ Because of Covid-19 you can only visit now by pre-booking and then you have to turn up within your chosen hourly slot. Well I dragged myself around the site in my bike gear for 45 minutes but I'll go back another day with my wife in the car and wearing more suitable gear. I'll let the photos do the talking.............