Leaderboard

Tea would not have any effect on Putin, the man's a total nut job. You'd have to go all out and add chocolate hob nobs and possibly even break out the big guns, the fruit cake.

Extreme t-bagging.

Sofia's very best friend came over from England to visit, and rented a bike for four days to go and see some of Southern Portugal. Sofia was going to take her on a short tour around Alentejo, there was warning of really bad weather, but still I decided to join for one day before going back up for work. Ended up aborting that plan and we spent a nice three days riding around. Screw work and long live motorcycles and good times! On a sunny but cold Sunday morning I set off from my place on my own, stopping for a breakfast expresso on my favourite place, Then rode into Alentejo on nice and empty roads, touring gently and enjoying the place, I had missed these more open spaces We were meeting up an hour's ride ahead, and I had some time to kill while the girls where picking up the rental bike and making their way to the meeting point, so I got off the main road and explored a little Found an amazing dirt road leading up to a small hotel and farm, I got a little excited and the day's top speed was certainly achieved on a straight dusty dirt road, that makes me quite happy These flowing corners made me wish for more aggressive tires, so that I could probably properly throw myself onto a tree playing Malcolm Smith Got to the agreed meeting point, had a snack consisting of a local typical chicken pastry and waited, and waited, and an hour later my company arrived: Barbara, used to Ducatis, quite enjoying the NC750's ease of ride and promptly declaring it the ideal rental bike for touring! I sat on it and think it's too low (as she does), it might have been a little lowered, I have no idea. After their midday snack, we rode off with the two best friends catching up ... on and on, relentlessly ... on the intercoms ... I took us to the castle at Arraiolos, which to me is one of the nicest views in the Alentejo region We then proceeded to Estremoz, our stay for the night, and I amused myself taking pictures of my rear view mirror, most of them out of focus but a couple of usable ones A stop to show Barbara a local winery, where a very small taste was had just before reaching the hotel A nice scenic road and we made it to the convent where we'd stay for the night The next day we had something to sort in Estremoz and that took all morning, which meant we left late. A stop for lunch near the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa was not avoided, though Quick stop by a famous dolmen... And then visiting the Castle of Monsaraz, which is nearby to where we'd stop for the day, didn't ride much at all that day but spirits were high: An aperitif was had at sunset while temperatures dropped, the cool fresh air had really opened my apetite. Showered and warm I fetched a little local cheese and wine, all they had in a period where tourists don't really pass here, and it was a result as we settled to see a cold Alentejo sunset before dinner We walked to a nice restaurant, converted from an old olive oil press room, and the food was amazing. I had (and shared) the octopus, it was declared unanimously delicious: The next day started with a cold morning. Stopping by a lookout of the Alqueva lake, here I am pondering my need to have brought proper touring pants as I was expecting lots of rain and cold, but happy for the sun. Quick stop in Mertola and I'm grinning at the prospect of the roads ahead of us. After the road crosses that river behind me in the picture it gets nice and fast, in my opinion you won't find a nicer 200km of tiny roads than what's ahead. Tarmac is dry, tires are good, sun is shining, prospect of being let lose on a nice road before a nice dinner and wines with a few laughs, etc... all that made for a happy Pedro I only stopped a couple of times, I have plenty of pictures of these roads from previous rides so only took a couple to catch the girls passing by. Barbara, being English and clearly used to a less brute civilization was pretty happy with the nice road surface, particularly the road markings (!!!), unlike my other favourite roads which lack these refinements and apparently are like farmers' track to a foreigner. Quick stop for water and deciding where to point our steeds for the night. A decision was made for Beja, trying to be within easy reach of Lisbon for the next early afternoon ... we did enjoy ourselves at dinner and Beja is a charming town to walk around searching for a restaurant. Sofia wanted to show off her favourite old bridge and again ride over something built more than 2000 years ago, so we did. It's still there and probably still will be long after electric motorcycles are finished when we'll all be riding martian plutonium powered bikes, those Romans and their slaves knew how to make a bridge: Here I am, acting as a guide and probably explaining the intricacies of roman ancient history and building bridges with rocks ... A german tourist was leaving just as we were arriving this place, and took our only group picture Couldn´t help but stop to check this out, someone converted an old dolmen and adapted it into the entrance of a chapel, I can't get mad at it although not the best conservationist effort ... Crossing the Ponte Vasco da Gama´s 12km length is a fine way to enter Lisbon, sadly, this meant returning the rental bike thus ending the trip. It had been a fun three days. After Barbara returned the Honda, I gave her a ride to Sofia's and proceeded to cook a nice dinner after going grocery shopping, it was a bit of a flop but out of sympathy and love they declared it a win. A lot of wine was consumed and a lot of reminiscing was done, I was amused with the realization of how small the world is when I spotted Barbara wearing a Luigi Moto jumper, isn't that where you work part time, @boboneleg? Earlier today I made my way north, by myself, and caught the only serious rain in the entire trip on the last 45 minutes before getting home. Here stopping to put winter gloves on in a rare moment of proficient motorcycling.

hang on ..... is that @Buckster and the Harley .

110v is gay.

We should all pose ike that and post pics, maybe make a calender for 2023

WTF kind of current do ya;ll pull i have a dualit kettle and the cord is as thick as a 220 line over here, we run 110 in the wall sockets i need an adapter, then the light s dim when it goes on. Makes hot fucking water it does.

Yep it’s a kicker mate. I’ll go and see what it’s like, it might be okay but we’ll see.

Perhaps I had long trousers on when they visited

Wikipedia says you're a Cunt Dave!

It won’t explode, radiation is limited to how far it would travel. The problem is that Chernobyl is on the Pripyat River which feeds into the Dnieper River which passes through Kiev.

Let’s hope the winds are blowing hard towards Russia.

You said that so well, like you;ve been practising waiting for the right moment.

I make a proper tea cause my scottish born grandmum taught me, talk about a pia, waters not hot enough, just enough milk and hunny to much and its all fucked up, right.. Cup of joe, cup of sugar, done, thats how to wake a man up.

I agree wholeheartedly. If you drink tea for long enough most problems resolve themselves one way or another, I dont understand why the rest of the human race hasnt cottoned on to this simple yet genius solution. Is hard to cause death and destruction if youre busy drinking tea. Quick someone invite Putin for tea.

If a mushroom cloud starts forming overhead I'll need a cup of tea!

I've phoned up and told them to put 3300 away for me ready!

I went to the dirt bike show once in my wheelchair. My mate got in free as he was classed as my carer whereas I had to pay half price. Then the feckers piled everything they bought on my lap until I couldn’t even see anything. Wankers

That's years of natural selection. The men who's head stayed above the rainy mud line were able to procreate. All the short arses drowned. This is why you are surrounded by dwarfs where you are, low rainfall and very little mud.

Teenage kicks …

First post i click on and i see this looks like i haven't missed much

"Schizoid Man" should have been number one.....nothing else like it before or since. And the album "In the Court" that it comes from is universally acknowledged as the first ever Prog album. The musicianship on it is still unequalled today! Blew my mind when I first heard it as a 16 year old!

Feckin BINGO.................... for once I win

I did ask if that place had a one legged bloke working there and she said no!

Bloody marvellous Pedro, and ladies.

She was very pretty, 17 years old when we first met...being black is differnt in America, cops never shot anyone in my family yet.

Over 30 years on you still cant eat wild boar in Germany due to high radiation levels. Water contamination for thousands of miles is devastating for decades. edit- cant eat wild boar from effected regions, not the whole of Germany.

I’m off to Puerto Lumbreras to see that DR600S. There’s no point fretting over shit I can’t control. 🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍

Yep

They cut power off to it which is required for the nuclear safeguards.

Let the kids learn sex naturally, reading about it on bathroom walls.

Taking both bikes in for the annual MOT next Wednesday.

We run the killing kind of current 240volts in our sockets.

I really really want an Africa Twin but the size of those things !!!

I like them already

When I'm out with bro in law ( locked in syndrome, just about manages to pilot his lectric wheelbarrow... sorry, wheelchair ) people often ask if I'm his carer. their attitude towards him changes subtley when I tell them I'm actually his bodyguard... It also cracks him up which is hilarious cos he doesn't control his mouvements well when he's laughing and ends up running into stuff

Not sure i could manage four inch heels to make up for my lacking in height attractiveness. Gutted. My life is meaningless now.

Great report and fantastic pics Pedro! And two ladies with you on the trip? What a Player!

Great report!! Super fun doing it with you!! Thank you.