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Since my last ride to the Algarve two or three weeks ago I was missing riding my bike without freezing my nuts off, and ever since Morocco I was missing riding my bike putting wheels on dirt. Today, with a forecast of almost 20ºc I decided to go for a ride around. After a little work in the morning, I set off at around 10 or 10:30, heading out on tiny farming roads, not 15 minutes into it and the phone starts ringing and a couple of emails I really should see to come through so I stop at my local riverside cafe for a morning espresso at 11AM. Annoyed to stop so soon, but there are worse places to work out of your phone: I jump the queue of three cars into @XTreme's favourite bridge (from my reports), Ponte da Rainha D'Amélia is my favourite way to start a trip. It's an old train bridge converted to road traffic, there's many like that around this area and they are great but since they were made for trains they often cannot deal with two full lanes. Into Coruche through small roads and I notice this older gentleman exiting a shop on a pristine and shiny looking red old bike, I fail to get him on the phone but turn back to see the little jewel sitting outside the place he left. It looked 10 times more shiny in real life: Nobody answered when I called, so I continued. I aimed for a reservoir close by, I had been there on a previous time on the bike and a few days ago with Sofia on the car for a picnic with her dogs, I wanted to see how the sandy dirt roads felt on the bike this time. Stopped to check where I was as I took a little more dirt to get there, and spotted this cool guy under the shade, I said hi and he came for a nose scratch after the picture. By 12:00 I was taking a little stop to enjoy the place, only a little after one hour into it: Not a bad place to ride a bike. Sadly the high water levels make this a short little dirt road, it's only good for a few minutes but it sure is pretty. Some parts of this area are sandy though, but I do like the GS's manners on these tires. Considering their current mileage I am very impressed, don't think I'll go back to more mixed/road oriented tires unless heading for a bigger road trip on rainy Europe. Sandy area: The little quaint dirt road turns into a full on service road, plenty of forrest industry this way so these are good for proper big trucks, you would be wise to remember that when considering how fast you could ride there, plenty fast but a big truck coming around the corner would make things unpleasant. Can't get much more Ribatejo countryside than this, I think the rural houses in southern Portugal are the definition of what a "home" looks like: I had searched on google maps where to find something to eat and came across a little grocery style cafe. It's a very typical shop in these parts, somewhere where you can buy bread, pastries, grain, flour, vegetables and fruit, but also have a snack of eat a full meal. First, just a little but of road to get there, lovely smooth tarmac through pine and oak trees. The views inside the shop, not really a vegan friendly location: I make my choices of a vegetable "empada" and a ham sandwich, and enjoy them outside. My choice of a alcohol free beer raised a few eyebrows amongst the other clientele, most of them stopping by for a coffee and a little something else with a kick to it, before heading back to work on the forrest. My food was delicious: As soon as I bit into the ham sandwich a little older dude appeared from inside the shop to say hello. He gave me an unrelenting stare and I couldn't help but share lunch, he gently put a bit of bread on the floor but was happy to have some ham Saved the location on my phone, I'll be coming back. Temperatures were now 19/20ºC, I rejoiced and sat in the sun. My mid layer was folded away and I prepared to enjoy the perfect motorcycling temperature. Rode just out of town to stop by a lovely field filled with happy looking cows munching away on green grass, last year they weren't so happy. What meat farming should always look like: Through Lavre and heading to Ciborro, I took a detour south on a dirt road down the plains you see on this landscape picture taken a few minutes previously: After a little water crossing, not deeper than a foot, I asked a gentleman about directions and he stated there was open roads all the way to Montemor. It's easy to get lost in the maze of farm access dirt roads to find a closed gate preventing you into private property. I followed this great 3rd and 4th gear dirt road between fences. The GS's engine is great for this, all the torque you could want to slightly break traction with tact, it's a treat on this road. Looking at these two, the little one, my plan for a stop by the butcher for a steak for dinner was dismissed in my mind Quick stop for a wee and I realize I had been here before, arriving from a detour from the road coming from the South, it's a lovely place. On my way here I passed a cow loose on the road, it wasn't happy at all that I came close by, and trapped between two fences reacted by having a go at me. I gave it a quick braap in third and avoided her. When I stopped I checked the map and realized there was a way back north via more dirt roads, another 20 or 30km maybe so tried to go back 1km to get to those, but found the loose cow on the way. Whenever I approached she jumped on a fearful alert and stared at me with her hoofs stomping the ground. She was not happy at all, and I was not confident that I could get past her a second time, with her on alert. Between stared and stomping, she grazed I swear the road was narrower and the cow bigger in reality ... Decided to go 10km longer the other way and get on tarmac instead of crossing that cow, so made my way out of dirt and to Montemor o Novo, then got on the N2 and headed north, eventually went a longer way but maybe gained time. Stopped to take a picture on steep street crossing a southern village center, just for @yen_powell since he like the northern version so much. Stopped in Mora to fuel up, but it took forever. First a lady had her car's fuel filler flap closed, and nobody could figure out how to unlock it, then the card machine started updating mid payment, spent a few minutes there enjoying the chaos and paid cash to move on. Stopped by Montargil dam to see the place. I hadn't been there in ages, spent a couple nights there twice once in the summer, it's a great location to go for a swim as it's usually got water and it's always really hot. The water level was way higher than last time though, this is as high as they'll let it go before flooding houses, it was cool to see. The Montargil Biker Club has the coolest clubhouse I've ever seen, converted from an old primary school building: there's a poem written by the door, I loved it, it sounds and rhymes better in Portuguese but translates to: The plan was to now get on the road and head home before the low sun. That plan lasted for 15 minutes before the GS got a little detour out of tarmac for a couple of kms, stopped for a call on a particularly rocky road: That lasted for not much more than 5 or 10km, got back on the road and was making progress when crossing the small bridge at Raposa, decided to stop to take a couple of pictures the storks living on it for @Clive: I remembered there's a nice dirt road going from there to Muge, where the bridge I was going to go back home is, the light was getting to be really pretty so took that which although obviously ridden at a lower speed than tarmac probably still saved me time as it was almost straight. Well, it would have saved me time had I not stopped twice, once for the pretty light, and then to look at the horses: I've been here with completely no water at all and just a rice field down there. The road was softer than I remembered, but that might be because most of the time I rode through here was on the XR. Back on the bridge returning home with the sun starting to lower And through the tomato farm fields with the sun in my face. Stopped by the little shop down my street to buy a broccoli to make pasta for dinner, and in time to have a shower to wash the dust off and have a cold drink with a little bit of light outside before the mosquitos came. Overall, it was a great 300km ride, game me exactly what I wanted:

tool box made by me many years ago as a trainee. and last summer I made some new shutters for the front of the house

Sod old school farmyards. They are GRIM. Everything in the house never escapes the faint smell of animal shit. Sod your vehicle sliding around in a gate entrance covered in detritus, sod knowing your car stinks (even though you can no linger smell it) cos you have to carry shit covered wellies in your car to cover the eventuality you’re gonna have to get out and lug a bale of straw back to put in the mud. Yep don’t miss that. Long live hard standing n best of all concrete.. VIVA CONCRETE

Better cockney’s than Welsh Twats with their stupid accent… boyo

I'm back from Albox......miserable Brit ghetto! Shops were full of fucking Cockneys......you can hear their gobs going a mile away. Probably looking for Jellied Eels and all that other shit those subhumans eat! If @Skippy had been there they all could have had a right old knees up!

Brunch stop at Quatford , proper bikers cafe

Been out with the Dear Boy this morning. Normal loop for me but murky misty out there so I tried to take some different shots for a changeI always fancied this house as it is the old Trenant farmhouse and barn conversion. Lovely about half a mile from the main road but in your own little Vally. This muddy set of steps has always been called Jacobs Ladder which I suppose is a reference to the hymn of the same nameA couple of interested faces this morning looking warm a cosy on a chilly morning I always enjoy that the Saint’s Way goes right through the middle of Tregaminion farm. Proper old school farmyard. We stopped and had a mooch around the tiny Tregaminion Church. It’s gonna be beautiful there soon when the Snowdrops and Daffodils show their heads. We then walked past the gate house/lodge to Menabilly House. We disturbed a few pheasants but on the hen stayed to stare at us. Then on to our old stomping ground of Polridmouth beach the Dear Boys happy place and home. 8k in total and it was good to be out again after 8 days of unwanted rest.

Back from the MOT station got to say the road back still hasn't improved from last year

Shot in 2021, a bunch of birds took over a power tower, happens a lot all over Portugal. They might be chickens, big ones if you use the GS for scale.

Should have mentioned that - the house was torn down as the property it was on was sold. The guy just wanted to save a bit of the house as a memory of his childhood and grandmother.

For gods sake say no @Pedro or you'll have the ginge descending on you

Ha ha you daft twat……….my old man’s a dustman etc etc etc

Coffee stop at Ledbury

Old chart recorders used to record flow before the digital days

@XTreme

But you've got your superior genetics to help you...

It's street legal and I'm sure you could fit a ridiculous top box on it Pete...everything now wing Wong made anyways ...

To round the day off I've just spent £100 on batteries, one for the marmite wagon as its needing to be charged regular now and i find out the place i bought it from fitted the wrong cheap Chinese crap battery, the other one for the Beta as it seemed to lack oomph last time i was out, the guy tested it and confirmed my suspicion it has lost is oomph i opted for a 7ah battery instead of the 4ah that's fitted, quite a noticeable difference in weight between the two even though they are the same physical size

Another 30cm coming down today....a little tractor fun that's about it..

Cornwall is very much like Wales in many ways. Only everything here is pretty close to the sea, so most of us have webbed feet out of necessity

calm down lads

My German buddy has just put his order in for a new Yamaha T Max 560cc..............€14,500. !!

Why not just take the sign down? They temporarily closed our hospital down 6 years ago but just leave the sign blanked out.

I'm off work today mainly to try and sort my pension out but first i have to take the XR for an MOT and its fecking raining never mind it will give me a chance to try the ex RAF goretex jacket i bought before Christmas

And the weather's looking reasonable here! Haven't full recovered from the flu, but after being sidelined for 8 weeks I will be out! What about you?

Introducing my grand daughter to nature, this was a location I went to where the birds seemed to follow me, so I figured they wanted food and they did.

What you need is a nice boxer engine to take the hit instead of your luggage thus saving you money on … oh wait…

He would be too close to the midgets.

I think you are a bot and don’t really go anywhere. Any day now you’ll start advertising luggage straps or chinese plastic fairing kits.

van action happening in may ...

poor bugger.

I just couldn't be arsed to click the happy emoji

I have actually managed to find a left side original triumph side case for my bike on "le bon coin" ( French classified ads site) for 100€. The bloke sent it and I picked it up this evening, winner! I can just swop the lid off that one onto mine, cos all the key and locking mechanism is in the box part, not the lid and Ill be back fully operational again AND have luggage parts as spares for the next time I drop it, or it a fence post, or whatever...

think i got a cold on its way ..

Unlike the Wood Pidgeons that nest in the trees at the bottom of our garden. 3 twigs is a nest to them...

Having the whole weekend off. Going to try n recharge my batteries so hopefully lazing about. If Sunday’s forecast is true and its 10 degrees n dry then a ride out feels overdue

Also, @Sir Fallsalot, the rails are mangled and bent all the way through, as a reminder not to get too cocky, plus going down on that would be like falling on a cheese grater.

2F / -17C here today. Think I'll stay in.

It would, unfortunately there’s a tight corner on both ends, and the bike weaves a bit over the grid platforms.

Lionel should have got the Mod gig!

1 hour and 38 minutes on the phone i was busting for a piss towards the end it was close LOL but all sorted now

Waterproofed by a coating of brylcreem.

Bloody pension helpline is a joke been waiting in a que for the last hour, they said there was a 25 minute que so still lying twats

Worked in the morning, felt like trying to row against the tide, and uphill Fuck this, I'm going to take my leather jacket for lunch at the hills.

Great ride report @Pedro and photos. My buddy in Germany sends photos of the Storks nesting in his area, they even tried to build a nest on his church roof Never seen a Stork in this country, must be something to do with Brexit.

Shit! I've got to go to Albox this morning!

Last night i discovered the battery tyre pump i have has a duff battery, I used it to pump the XR rear tyre up a few PSI and ran the battery flat even though it said it was 100% charged before i started, so put it on charge overnight but it wont switch on anymore even though it's showing 100% charged. So tonight i stripped it down removed the battery soldered on a length of cable (off the old tv i changed a month ago) to the battery wires and now its a plug in 12v pump, not sure if it will last as the original battery was 7.4v but everything works for now the digital display and pressure cut off setting even the little LED just need a fag lighter plug to finish it off now