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My day started with a 2am alarm call and a trip to Bristol airport, we’re off to Croatia for the wife’s birthday why she couldn’t have it in Ponty I don’t know, anyhow I am now sat around the airport waiting for the flight won’t be in touch for a few days as I only have a works phone and forgot to set it up for travel abroad

Just getting back from the bike shops...did all three. That bm cruiser sure looks like that would cook your leg on a hot summer day.

........and God knows some of you need it, then I'm here to help! Because I actually got out for a few hours today as we're not having the grandkids! So I was pretty much free till I leave for Guadix at 7PM. I crossed into Murcia and found some abandoned shit to brighten my day up. Things feel right on the bike now cos I've got my Top Box on.......and it came in handy later on when it warmed up, cos I could take my jumper off rather than sweat my nuts off! You can get three seasons in a day here and with a Top Box you know you've got it covered regarding clothing. And it was great not to have water bottles hanging out of jacket pockets anymore! Anyway......sit back in awe and see how it's done! Not too good a surface most of the time but I managed to wobble across it like a Bruce! Deserted shit everywhere......the fucking place don't even have a name! Bit more wobbling needed...... Then I managed to get back on tarmac...... But not for long...... Epic shit as you can see....... As I've said before, it's good to have the peace of mind that you're on a Honda when you're in some seriously remote place! So there we go........remember that anyone is welcome to come over and tag along! I don't discriminate! Obviously, if you don't think you're up to it, then you can always just carry on trolling and bullshitting on the Net. The choice is yours!

Enjoy your week at work twats

Me and the wife have found a proper metal club it’s the kind of place where they kill you and let your body go cold before raping you had to wade 200 yards through scrubland to get to it reminds me of a hells angels club house of old. If I disappear tell the pigs the last place I was at was Metal Klub Croatia

You made the right move there Pedro not sure I would be so sensible though. You’d probably find my skeleton trapped under the bike with the word fuck scratched into the dirt next to it

Paolo and I have walked around Milan this morning, the girls have gone shopping. I’m hoping for a nice pizza later then an early night as we are flying back tomorrow

Nope they didn’t. Not surprised, they obviously wanted to get away as quickly as possible from their fuckwittery. The motorway runs through the mountains and the drop on the other side of the barriers was cavernous so yer definitely could of been worse and thanks

Same , my mrs birthday we are in sunny Fuerteventura … have a good one .

I’ve just realised how senile I am that was the second time I had my teeth hit out the first time was by some prick on a motorcycle. Me and the Same mate were cycling over to meet some girls in the same area when I spotted the latest model of some Suzuki bike parked up in a back lane can’t even remember what it was now. I stopped and had a good look at it when someone came out of a house and said something to me I don’t know what I finished looking at the bike and moved on . We stopped a little further on for a chat when the bike I was looking at pulled up with the owner and he just went mad accusing me of trying to steal his bike after repeatedly saying I haven’t touched your bike he just punched me in the face while I was still straddling my pushbike then jumped on his bike and fucked off leaving me me with my front teeth missing and wondering what the fuck just happened. Anyway the end result was he ended up in court and I bought my first road bike with the compensation I got and he got a criminal record for ABH and banned from the martial arts club he was very high up in. Another Abercynon fucking prick again

Can't get much more typical Ribatejo tasca than this Very simple but nicely done bifana sandwich and a tap beer: 2,5€ I was on the bike and it was the first warm day of the year for me, at 28º that hit the spot, sadly I had to ride the bike home or else I'd have stuck around for a few more.

It's not very often I turn back except when the road ends, I did today. This was just by Santarem which is the regional capital city. Santarém is right on top of a hill with a very high and nice view to the inland of Portugal and the Tejo river. There are obviously streets, roads and even motorways to go that way, but I somehow found myself on a very steep dirt road that had a very deep water carved trench right in the middle. I managed to wedge the front wheel on a rut to prevent it from slipping down and went to take a look by foot. The dirt was sort of crumbling and I could really see myself slipping onto the middle rut, which was deep enough to wedge the cylinders and leave the front wheel in the air. Since that was what I was picturing it was probably what was going to happen, so slowly put the bike down, turned it 90º and back I went with my tail between my legs.

As a young kid I was trying to carve something with a dull knife. I pushed hard, the blade let go and I punched a rock or something. My reaction was to pull my hand back. At which point I stuck the blade in my eyebrow. Stopped the bleeding, cleaned it up, my eyebrow hid the cut so I never told anyone. Scared the crap out of me, I haven't tried to carve anything since. A few mm lower and it would have been lights out - in that eye anyway. Other stuff has happened over the years but that's the one that scared me the most. Probably because it was entirely self inflicted.

Are you crazy, he'll have your eye out with another jumbo top box pic!

Thanks for posting some actual bike content !

I was so inspired that I got dressed today, been dossing about in my PJ,s most of the last 6 days.

Same bloke could drive a nail into a rafter with one blow of his hammer, I was mocked for taking longer (tippy tap tippy tap is more my style). On the other hand I would have to go and get the box of plasters from his car every few days when he hit his own finger.

Filled up a bit now so lots of witnesses got to be honest it’s fucking awesome takes me back to my late teens, what looked like terrorists and murderers when we we first arrived have turned into the nicest people I have met. fucking amazed that everyone speaks great English here

Fucking state on that Gammon!

...and get some sun on those legs fer fucks sake.

I once died as a kid but my mum just told me to walk it off. Kids these days are mollycoddled.

I'm sure you're doing it right. It's just that it won't vibrate like the Harley plugs do so you don't get the full treatment.

So it is basically a country full of queers then.

I've been out Styling and Profiling!

Looking around I’d say their more like crustaceans lol

who isnt?

Don't tell anyone, but Scotland was probably my favorite section on the trip. Closely followed by the Lake District. The good thing was that the English portion was more than awesome, and it came in 3rd

I had a job labouring for a roofer for a few weeks when I was about 18. Standing on a roof stripped of tiles there was strong gust of wind and I lost my balance and started to fall backwards, a few floors below me was a large green house. He only used ladders, never scaffolding. I had a claw hammer in one hand and I managed to hook the claw over a batten and stop myself. "I nearly fell off then!" I shouted in shaky legged terror. He replied that if I did fall off I could bring up the next batch of tiles.

Possibly the scariest thing ever in my life just happened. As I was stuffing some cardboard into the recycling bin the neighbours cat screamed and flew from the inside right through the narrow slit and flew right past my face. I almost just died from the fright, gave a proper scream too.

They didn’t muck about at my audiology appt and immediately programmed a new hearing aid which was lovely of them. Then on my way out of the dept I bumped the person who first sorted my hearing aids out 13 years ago who gave me a lovely hug and we chatted for yonks about all sorts which was a nice bonus. This means the bluetooth connectivity now works and the trip to the Alps in just over a weeks time won’t be wrecked. Then my new duds turned up and they are all good, so I won’t have to carry normal clothes and hiking gear. They cover all occasions and will easily fit on the panniers. Good day so far

Pete was born ginger, does that count?

My kind of place!

And this is for fun?!

I probably drink faster than some - don't recall the beer getting all that warm. Maybe a I have a drinking problem - I dunno.

That’s what I don’t get, assuming you’re talking about sitting down and having some beer, why not have a smaller glass and enjoy several less stale and colder beers than one larger serving each time? For the same money per cc would you enjoy it more? when you have a bottle of wine you don’t go filling the glass to the brim time.

Oops = my conversion was off a decimal point - sorry about that. I like a tall glass- as in your pic - with about 25 ounces. That's the perfect serving for me. I'll post some pics of the beers in Texas next week when I'm there - fucking gallon buckets with a handle on them!

They said fanny packs were gone, I said no way!

It didn’t sound right so I checked it, 12oz is 35cc, or 350ml. The typical Portuguese tap beer glass is 20cc, which is what that is in the picture. This is perfect for keeping it from dying in your hands, and on hot days you don’t end up with a warm glass as it doesn’t last that long. A normal beer bottle is 33cc, so very similar to what you have, but a few years ago some genius came up with the Mini which is a 20cc beer bottle, we should hunt that guy down and make him prime minister, no more warm beers on a hot day! Somehow now it’s all pints and english style glasses in specialist beer bars, fucking hipsters!

I like a normal pilsner as well. Problem here in the US is that all draft beers are now about $7-8 each (7.2 Euro). Not sure how this happened, but in the past couple of years the price of draft beer has gotten out of hand. I haven't noticed wines, but sure they've gone up accordingly. I blame the "craft beer" craze where every town has 6-7 small breweries in it - and all think they're beer is the best shit ever. Most really suck - andf aren't worth $8 for a 12 oz. (30 ml) glass. ***Rant over***

Nothing dramatic like that would happen, it would just be stuck and a pain in the ass to take out. A proper bore on a warm day. I do like it too, and would rather not drag it out of a hole

There speaks a man with experience.

That looks a nice condition XT!

Every bike here seems to be a scooter of some sort the only bikes I’ve seen is the Xt in the photo and a lots of transalps

Always cracks me up.

Englishman: "That your Dog"..?? Welshman: "Aye". Englishman: "Mind if I Speak to him"..?? Welshman: "Dog don't Talk.” Englishman: Hey Dog, how's it going"..?? Dog: "Doing All Right, Thanks". Welshman: (Look of Shock). Englishman: Is this your Owner"..?? (Pointing at the Welshman). Dog: "Yep." Englishman: How's He Treating You"..?? Dog: "Real good. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food and takes me to the park once a week to play." Welshman: (Look of Total Disbelief). Englishman: "Mind if I Talk to your Horse"..?? Welshman: "Horse Don't Talk”. Englishman: "Hey Horse how's it Going"..?? Horse: "Cool, Thanks". Welshman: (Extreme Look of Shock). Englishman: "Is this your Owner"..?? (Pointing to the Welshman). Horse: "Yep." Englishman: "How's He Treating You"..?? Horse: "Pretty good, thanks for asking, he Rides me, Brushes me down often and keeps me in a nice Stable to protect me from the Weather." Welshman: (Now a Look of Total Amazement). Englishman: "Mind if I Talk to your Sheep"..?? * Welshman: "That Sheep's a bloody Liar”..

No choice , part of his licence ..Less schools up there .