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A few days ago me and Sofia decided to go for a ride along the Douro river, following it all the way from Porto (where it reaches the Atlantic ocean) until the border with Spain a little north of Miranda do Douro where it enters Portugal. The Douro is the oldest demarcated wine making region in the world, the river and the weather make great grapes. The land is very steep and mountain like, so farmers have been making steps on hills to make use of every single square meter they can get a plant in, this practice makes for unique landscapes. The weather here varies from extreme heat in the summer to freezing cold in the winter, the soil is arid and rocky, which makes for a hard living if you're a farmer. The locals are used to tough conditions and are built like their houses, not big but resilient, they show a hard exterior but as soon as you say hello they're nothing but smiles and hospitality. Portugal is a tiny country, but the high Douro and Trás os Montes are a world apart when compared to the wide open south. Trás os Montes is the name of the region that is more or less the most northern eastern square of Portugal, it is translated to "Behind the Hills". The roads are amazing, I try to keep out of the main ones and if you ride an easy to ride bike you can't go wrong with that, having said that progress can be slow if you stop in a lot of scenic points like we did. On this trip it took us 3 days of leisurely touring to get to somewhere we could easily reach in one day on the same roads, but the point of this trip was to enjoy the region, the roads, the views, the food and wine, and stay in some amazing places taking everything in. This is my report of it, I'm sure Sofia will join in later with some pictures of her own. The day started early, by 09:00 we got the only 15km of motorway we would use for the week out of the way and quickly stopped for breakfast on a small bakery by the road, getting into the swing of things and the rhythm of our traveling. Some very nice bread, fresh orange juice and a nice expresso, couldn't resist a second expresso and a little sweet though. We are following the N108 from Porto until Peso da Régua, 5 minutes after breakfast I take us on a detour out of the main road and climb Serra da Boneca, 2 or 300 meters of gravel road lead to the first view point, this is 20 minutes away from busy Porto: Back on the road and crossing a village riding down the hill back to the N road, we stop by a beautiful old farm house: The little "levada" is a tiny irrigation channel built next to the wall all the way down, they carry water through tens of miles that way Next: DRAMA! A few kms later, and Sofia got a strange feeling of sliding from the back of the Triumph, and then approaching a roundabout it stopped! Looking at it fuel was flowing freely out from under the tank when you hit the starter but stopped with everything off. Clearly a fuel line had come off, but I couldn't see it. The tool kit had lost the allen key that you need to lift the tank and I only carry torx for my bike. It could be a disaster, but spirits were still high. I called a nearby shop and dealer, which I found on google maps being only 5km away, their pictures on google made me confident they were the right place to get anything going. Sofia went to work taking the luggage off. 20 minutes later and the Triumph's tow arrived, a little push got it over the ramp that is more used to dirt bikes and in a few minutes we were on the way. Once there the Speed Triple went straight in and they went to work with it. I made myself busy getting out of their face and made a photo report of the shop. It turned out to be a very interesting shop and dealer with some surprising bikes there. This is the heart of dirt bikes in Portugal, the dirt season is coming to an end with the summer dust, lots of quads in for repairs and rebuilds, let me take you on a tour of the place. The shop's garage, all sorts of quads in need of help: An old Sachs V5 with the forks being rebuilt, it's a common daily ride in this parts: Supermoto quad, they race these in karting tracks, some use plated ones to have fun on roundabouts too ... An old CBR600, with a nasty paint job and what must be an incredibly loud exhaust Xstreme Motorsport quad, it's for tiny kids but still smaller than it appears on the picture DT50 engine being built, it's not going to be a 50cc anymore ... Artwork A nicely rebuilt Sachs V5, 5 speeds in a 50cc made this a fast bike in Portugal back when in England you were riding big twins Up on the street level we went to have a look at the dealership part of the businesss, and it threw in a few surprises: Sofia trying out a tiny but impeccable DT50LC, the only pink bike a guy could have. One of the most sold bikes in Portugal over the years. They're here Mawsley, they're in Portugal! Mawsley? Offroad equipment section Kid's bike section, cuteness overload: Big bike section Pete would love this: And an extra big one: And now for special bikes, first a 2 stroke race bike for the local street races Something odd: And two really cool old Harleys A little later and the guilty part was found, the red clip doesn't clip into place anymore, and allows the thing to come out with pressure. They obviously had none in stock so reverted to a little improvisation and a couple of cleverly tightened zip ties now hold the clip from opening. Back on the road after a wash to get all the fuel stains off, which pleased Sofia as the bike was filthy from the previous day's rain getting north. Back on the road, the two hours delay was annoying but all turned into quite a fun experience. A quick stop for a snack and we're back to sightseeing, quick stop in Mesão Frio: We rode straight through Peso da Régua, it was quite busy with tourists and we wanted to make a little time. After Peso da Régua we got out of the N108 but continued on the north bank of the river, heading to Covelinhas and São Leonardo da Galafura via tiny roads. Sofia had been here last year but really hated it, she didn't feel confident after a car running into her in the morning, worn tires, and some other stuff, today with fresh Michelins on, handlebar risers helping the Speed Triple becoming friendlier on these slow speed roads, and what is a really fun tiny road was finally appreciated São Leonardo da Galafura is a high view point, it makes for an amazing stop if you bring your lunch with you as there is plenty of cool shade and a breeze. Between Pinhão and Porto, this is a mandatory stop for me: Heading to Pinhão from here you'll start getting proper twisties, some parts with worse surface and not really a place for riding fast on sports bikes, the ocasional gravel right on the middle of a corner making it a little interesting, but a true Douro landscape. We stopped at a famous vineyard to check it out for future trips: From there on we rode straight to the hotel I booked for the night. It was a proper posh place 5km after Pinhão, belonging to an old wine farm and with such amazing views as you roll into the property that we had to stop even though it was properly hot Roses react to mildew before vines do so they serve as an indicator and help treat vines before they're affected, which means that huge amounts of roses are planted all over the place. Someplaces smell amazing even on the bike when riding through. Picked a few of the few ripe cherries straight from the tree and ate them looking at the scenery before going in As I went to park the bikes after check in, this little dude crossed paths with me, he couldn't care less about me: Nothing like a dip in a swimming pool after a hot afternoon on the bike, more so with a view like this: After relaxation and cooling down, some cold wine was had, at sunset, before dinner. This was a great ending to a great day, not a lot of kms as one can easily reach where we got by 14:00 starting at 09:00, but that would mean no long scenic stops. Next chapter, still the Douro river, a little of the Tua river and it's amazing lookout places, and sleeping in an old stone village.

So, second day, we started the day by stopping for fuel and a morning expresso just 5km from where we slept, in Pinhão, while having the needed coffee I noticed the amount of swallows nesting on the building in front of the fuel station. I'm quite happy that Portugal's wildlife seems to be picking up considerably over the last 3 or 4 years. One sees much more birds of all sorts, small animals like rabbits and snakes, and even deer. Next was another stop for investigating a possible hotel for future tours, also in Pinhão. The parking lot full of GSs made my bike feel a little generic , the Renault 4L reminding we're in oldschool Portugal. Just a few kms out of town heading for the Rio Tua via some tiny country roads, Sofia clearly adventuring on the very street oriented Speed Triple, and we stop at Casal de Loivos to look back at Pinhão from a different perspective It was about 10:30 and already getting a little hot, that day it'd get to 33 or 34º. The tiny unkept old cobblestone streets through the center of Casal de Loivos didn't agree with Sofia, but can't really ask locations to tarmac over 200 year old cobbles, the ones in this picture are brand new and very much straight by comparison. Local vehicles behind show how you water crops high in the hills where there's no water well or access to the river. Through some pretty narrow and sometimes very much dust covered cobble farm access roads, we headed to the place where the Tua flows into the Douro Under the old railroad bridge: And onto the Barragem do Tua (Tua's dam), the tunnel to the right of the dam being one of few on the old Tua railroad, this region rich in old railways through very scenic locations. I think this one is now not in use anymore. Over on the other side of that metal railroad bridge in the distance is the Douro. Back on the road we take the N214, a little diversion away from the Douro, a quick stop after some really nice mid speed corners, wide and smooth tarmac to Sofia's content, to reach the Miradouro Olhos do Tua (Eyes of the Tua Lookout) in the small village of Castanheiro, A stop for some work calls and figuring out where to go next in the Sr. da Boa Morte Chapel and lookout, right next to the previous place in the same village. After a while, a course was set and we met back with the Douro, crossed over the Barragem da Valeira below back onto the south bank Crossing over to the other side, we're near São João da Pesqueira, to climb all the way up a chapel located on top of a special viewpoint, Mirador de São Salvador do Mundo has quite an epic name to it, and the place impresses by how old it feels, in English it's translated to Saint Savior of the World Lookout. It was hot and I really didn't feel like walking up the 100 meters we had to, but Sofia had never been there and I it's worth it. Last time the gate was open and I rode all the way up. On that green metal door rested the fattest gecko I've ever seen We tried to follow right next to the river on a tiny road but it somehow went into a farm and through it. It felt like it could be turning into something not pleasant to ride on the Triumph so I went ahead to scout. Sure enough the bumpy cobblestones turned to a soft dirt road, going quite uphill. I turned back and we went a different way. Turning back down this was the view We rode through one of the many half abandoned villages and rejoined the N222, a scenic road up here, many bikers follow it all the way to Porto but doing so lose the best of what you can see, this one taken on an unassuming M541 It was quite hot by now, and by 17:00 we reached our destination for the night. Being mostly self catered, we stopped on a country grocery shop to buy some wine, meat and a couple of vegetables. Murça is a small village with plenty of life in it, but a few of abandoned traditional homes. Some of those were bought up and converted into tourist lodging. I was quick to settle and jump into the cold swimming pool, nothing like jumping into cold water to freshen up and revive after a few hours facing the heat on a bike. Feeling fresh and happy, it was time to have our cold wine on the freezer and that the lovely Sonia baked some fresh bread for us. Sofia can do without some stuff but bread isn't one After cooling down, even the tortuously bumpy stone road looked better: We settled into a little corner of paradise and I got to work on the coal to fire up the BBQ. Cold Douro wine, some nice cheese, and Trás os Montes olive oil to dip bread in, that's a way to start a meal: Some pork and onions were thrown onto the coals, it helped smoke out the mosquitoes too Fed and watered, we went on a little walk, let me take you through Murça at 21:00... Mosquitoes were out in force, so we retreated inside, and sat on quite an unconfortable sofa to watch some 80s tv. Sleep was had in not the comfiest of beds too, but in utter silence, the north was treating us well.

Day 2 - Day of rest today before we head to Indianapolis on the bikes tomorrow. Checked tire pressure on the bike but really don't have fuck all else to do until I pack up the bike tomorrow. Planning routes to get around the severe weather that the area is expecting tomorrow - tornados are in the forecast and it'd be cool to get some pics of one but I'd really rather not have to deal with it all. Heavy rains, too. Fun! Got to the store and picked up extra drinks for this evening. Check out Todd's little refrigerator on the kitchen counter -his regular refrig took a shit and died on him and the stores are empty when he went to order a new one. No word on when the one he ordered will be here. Could only fit 3 beers in for this evening.... such a tragedy!

Although just a standard cab, it has a 4 feet wide by 8 feet plus bed on it - so it's pretty freakin long as far as pickup trucks go. Great for hauling tables that I make and also full sized bikes with the tailgate up.

Just a boring rant really. I feel an utter noob. Can you see what's wrong here then...? I took the rear wheel for a new tyre to be fitted, wheel off the bike, tyre in hand. I don't know why I didn't take it to my usual bloke, probably feeling lazy, 15min drive. But I went round local to see if there's anyone else decent. First place, no can do, they say to take it round the corner. Place round the corner runs a fairly new biker cafe next door to it, seems to be doing ok, always has bikes outside. £20. Hmmm steep. But I can have a nosy at this cafe and the bikes, never had a proper look before. OK... Done. Good so far. But, actually no because he wouldn't get rid of my old tyre. "Take it to the dump, I can't get rid of it". The dump hasn't taken tyres for years now. Alright well at least it's done but feel that the twenty was not spent wisely at all. Some time passes and I book an MOT, cancel it to pick up an emergency fridge, rebook... Go to oil the chain the night before and realise that the valve is hitting the caliper because it's a long stem for a car. Bah. I love a faff but I've already had to hacksaw my old tyre to fit it in the wheelie bin, now I've got to re-rebook an MOT for this thing and go back to ask for a shorter valve. "Don't do em mate". Well how's about just give me a tenner to go somewhere proper. "no refunds". Why be such a twat over nothing really? I mentioned the cafe because it's the sort of place you'd expect to cater for bikes and be cool about it. Thankfully someone did come over and say they'd get me a stem in and to come back later for it. So all should be fine in a about an hour. But still, why be such a twaaaat?! Lesson learnt, don't be lazy and don't chuck a twenty at anyone to change a tyre because that's just ridiculous in the first place.

Possibly here, he has the same look on his face that I do when secretly piddling in the shallow end.

Some photos of Pedro doing Pedro things!

You were right about the pics and you ain't finished yet ya bugga. Is Sofia always smiling, good girl.

That would be fine for me. Many dealers here need to make a packet on the tyre sale and the fitting/balancing. I don't mind fitting tyres myself so not too fussed. A few years ago while away Mandi got a puncture and we found an off road garage with a tyre in stock at the good price, wish they were nearer.

Showing off now

Thanks guys! I’ll get the rest of the report done sharpish, might be another two or three nice pictures there too

No actually. He'd just want to chase the hedgehogs and keep me up probably. I'm only testing what I'll be taking with me anyway , apart from the laptop to watch BSB from the weekend. Bike in for the MOT today. ... err. Wrong bike. Last minute discovery on the viffer yesterday night meant I couldn't take it for a test, so instead of cancelling again I took this old beast. It needs to go on eBay really. Or maybe one last trip? Look at it. Looks just right getting a bit of cheese and bread in for a little supper after a day tootling round alpine passes.

Excellent, Can you have two motorcycles in a bike of the month picture because that is one? That chiselled landscape is brilliant.

Brilliant ride report Pedro! It's got everything....scenery, broken down bikes on recovery vehicles (seems to be a theme this week), classic bikes (love the early GT750......though it's a long way from original) and even top boxes. Big ones too! You couldn't ask for anything more!

Fueling up the truck near home - Thanks Joe !

Fantastic report @Pedro

No photos of Pedro taking a piss?

No shit. Anyone can make a mistake - just own up to it and rectify the problem when it's discovered. To just ignore it shows a whole 'nuther level of stupidity.

You're going to have to check those out sometime Pedro!

Easy mistake to make but you'd expect a little help after an error. Blokes a nob.

Here I fit mine at a proper tire place that I've used for cars and bikes since forever, and comes up to slightly more expensive than online prices, like 10 or 20€ per tire but that includes the full work, balancing, and valves. Similar prices in some BMW or Honda dealerships, too, about 10 or 20€ more expensive than the shop I use.

Yes. While working at the garage, which I couldn't get any real discount from the suppliers anyway, I'd price from them and always get one online. Getting rid of wasn't a prob as we did get a discounted service on them. Not many places around here doing bike tyres anyway although there's a new "Superbike Superstore" opened a few weeks ago a few miles down the road so I will try to support them if they're ain't to pricey.

And being in the middle of it is a tragedy of truly Shakespearian proportions!

Twat … what’s up with your boy supporting his own family .

Excellent you two, enjoyed the shop too.

And supporting my boy's family!

me too got to keep affording the bikes

Did I show you my mange?

That truck must be pretty big (by UK standards) coz it makes the S10 look small

Had to hit the ubiquitous QT Mart as soon as I crossed into Missouri.......

11 hours later and I'm at Todd's house in Columbia, Missouri. I'll have a day to rest up here and we're off to Indianapolis (350 miles east of here) on Thursday. Hoping to get out for a nice dinner and beers tonight - pics to follow........

Day 1 -up at 2:30 am to get ready and the power is out. Heavy snow must have snapped a tree which fell into a powerline somewhere. So I get ready to go in the dark. Nice. I get out to the truck only to be greeted by 6" of new snow. Quick shovel of the steps and I load up and head out.......

Boot story............ So when I had my accident in 2001 my leg was left hanging on by a piece of skin and my work boot was still attached to the leg. Once I was out of intensive care and on the recovery ward I had a nice view of the incinerator chimney puffing away during the day. One day I was looking out of the window when a nurse came in . I asked her if that's the incinerator over there, she replied yes and asked me why I was asking. I asked if that's where they burnt my leg, she looked at me slightly worried and replied , yes I suppose so ? I said 'well that's a disgrace' , she looked slightly shocked now and was almost scared to carry on the conversation but as nurses are trained so well she said 'why do you say that' ? I was trying not to laugh now but said with a straight face 'I had a brand new work boot on my leg, they could have given it back to me before they burnt it' , she now looked very concerned but as I grinned you could see the relief come back to her face. She came over to me and said ' you wait till I've got to take your catheter out' , you won't be laughing then

Kind of set up I'd like to make, bringing my guitars together along with recording gear....

Fred's tale has reminded me of a similar situation. When I was about 15 I went to a concert in the local college, the band were called Sailor and they were quite good. Anyway, you could drink alcohol and bravely I tried to keep up with the lads I was with (they were in their 20'). After the gig it was suggested we should go for a curry, I agreed immediately even though I'd never had a curry before . I can remember going in but I have no idea what I ate and drank, what I can remember is being dragged out of the bog by Indian waiter's with my kecks around my ankles. How I got home I have no idea as my 'mates' weren't around but it put me off curry for quite a while. PS, I didn't spew as I rarely spew due to too much alcohol.