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Tomorrow morning I’m setting off on a few days trip, I’ve been strugling a little lately, bad emotions and an overall dark mood. Nothing sorts my mental health (such a millennial expression!) like spending a few days on the bike so that’s what I’m going to do. The plan is to head south and avoid rain as much as possible, I’m packing my passport because Morocco is an obvious destination, I like going South. Instead of posting a big ride report like before, I’ll try to upload a few pictures each day and just a few words along with them. One sidecase is packed, the other containing all the clothing and laptop still isn’t. Was just visited by @Mateiro and cooked a lovely oven codfish with tiny tatters for dinner, and am now enjoying rum by the fire and watching Friends on tv. Seems the other luggage is going to be left for tomorrow morning. Temperatures are now getting colder, but I’m hoping for blue skies tomorrow, and getting on a small road taking my time heading south. Small roads take longer, but also allow me to take work calls without my clients (and more importantly, bosses/suppliers) realising I’m not in the office. See you tomorrow.

I went out this morning, not really for any reason apart from to run a couple of errands. Anyway I found myself up on the Moor so took a couple of photos. Then rode back through the Glynn Valley to Bodmin the the A30 to St Columb and Damerells. I needed to book my 600 mile service for the Hornet. Funny when I headed out wet, slippery and wobbly by the time I got back it had dried up and it is amazing how confidence grows when there is more grip. Felt properly cold though, thank goodness for heated grips.

Fuck him!......he never wished me Happy Birthday.

Well I went to see the trade plates lot and I'm joining them again, on an ad hoc basis to begin with because they've just taken on a couple of new lads but they have been needing to use agency drivers alot recently so I'd say I'll be working more than not so yeah it's not taken me long to sort something out, now to see if Joe pays me for last week this coming Friday if he doesn't then I'll be paying him yet another visit and this time it won't just be for a nice friendly chat.....

......and it's that doddering, toothless old cunt @Renegade who has reached 71!

Happy Birthday Phil

The beer shop? Marcel, after all those nice trails through lovely forests you stop to take a picture for ATV of the month under a motorway bridge?

I don't think he's in any rush to be abused by Gammons again! Our Johnny Foreigner deserves some goddam respect!

Don’t know where I’ll go tomorrow, but it won’t be on a ferry to Africa.

Thank you, but turns out I won't need much luck. A lot of stuff came up today and I will have to dedicate some time to work next week, so Morocco is out. Not much of a bummer because my heart wasn't really in it either, felt like I was going to do it for the sake of it. Regardless, did have a nice ride today leaving home and heading to the Algarve all the way on back roads. Left later than usual, at around 10. Everything was really pretty now that we had some rain, 2 or 3 hours later stopped for lunch by the side of the road next to a pretty field, and had my sandwich. It felt a lot colder than the thermometer showed, so it was a treat to stand under the sunshine. There was absolutely no traffic, three vehicles passed during the entire time, so I had fun taking pictures standing in the middle of the road. 20 minutes later, and I stopped for a post lunch espresso, like you do. Heading South on the N2, this used to be Portugal's main road if you were to drive through this part of the country. Getting to the Algarve, I took to some smaller roads. weather, the twisties and the tarmac were perfect, but I took a detour via some dirt roads with some nice views. The destination would be the same were you to stick to nice tarmac roads, and only a 10 or 15 minute delay by taking these. Below the tarmac bit that will take me the last 10 or 15km to the seaside, which you already see in the distance in the previous pictures. I love this part of the Algarve, riding in hills and mountains but not more than 10 or 15km from the beach and with a clear view to it from above. After a warm shower, I went for a walk. This is the same place I stayed in last year before leaving Portugal, watched the end of the sunset by the water, and started being attacked by mosquitoes, so went for a walk.

Southern Portugal today

I'd prefer before.

Before or after said bumming

He don't look to fussed. Have a great day Phil.

@Slowlycatchymonkey and her mate Lisa https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeemK7W1/

i may get the scoot out tomorrow, think i will have to connect the grips and wrap up.

Have you got a spare room you could put him up in?.............indefinitely.

He's never got over me leaving Britain......he holds me solely responsible for him becoming Billy No Mates!

No, you look like a fat hobbit.

Bumming him ?

Here’s a tip for you. Fix your bike and go out and ride it. That will give you something else to do instead of posting bullshit on here …..

Does this help?

That's pretty tropical @Clive t-shirt and shorts weather, maybe sliders and socks too

A question from Pete, how much weight do the panniers add and does it make it too heavy to push it about, how much wider than the bars are they.... And last but not least how do you ride it in the cold and wet there'd going to be puddles and everything

You're watching Friends That would do my head in. Enjoy your trip.

Dying by hear attacks..... Maybe @Clive could shed some light on these hearing attacks?

And I still found time to buy a CB500X!

Happiest of Birthdays to the Chief Twat who's ahead of Pete into his 7th decade....

A mere strippling youth I say, Happy Birthday Ren.

How did you get a photo of him at 81 ?

That looks pretty damned fine to me @Pedro . I'm a bit envious as I think you'd struggle to take a ride like that over here at this time of the year .

It is lovely, but feels cold.

That my normal riding gear .....any lower and I will wear a fleece.

Would make me pay up.

It may well begin with the letter "f"

Like the native wildlife we northern climate people tend to pack on blubber for the winter...don't worry I'll have my sexy bod by summer time.

Can’t wait to read about it and see the photos. Have a great trip

Bon Voyage @Pedro

It's well known that the common cold is a strain of corona virus. The problem with Covid-19 is that it's a particular mutation that people hadn't encountered before. This caused people's immune systems to overreact when they first encountered it. This is what lead to the high death rate initially. As more people come into contact with it or are vaccinated, the immune systems work out a way to deal with it without the overreaction. It's like the South American tribes that were wiped out or severely reduced by picking up diseases from the conquistadors, which their immune systems had not encountered before, so their immune systems overreacted. Diseases that the those in Europe had already developed an immune response to over time.