Pedro

Tomorrow I will meet my friend Luca, who lives in Milan. Then Sofia and her friend Barbara will arrive, I plan to receive them with glass in hand! We will have an amazing dinner, lots of laughs, and the next day will walk around seeing and looking at things. Will end that day with cocktails too. There’s lots of very tall very gorgeous women here, that’s a big bonus to the place.

Not having heated grips is just not civilised, these days Wait until she tries a heated seat!

Mitas Touring Force! They got a few smiles and were fucking amazing! By amazing, I mean we survived, and I’m glad I took the downhill route Might be a spoiler to my ride report thread but I’m now drinking a dessert in a nice place in Milan so there!

That is a male stripper dressed as a military!!!

You got the villa all to yourselves? You and … the nephews?

I did enjoy that part of France, where I woke up, a lot more than I thought I would. Really very pretty. Now near Nice, after a full day on the bike. weather has improved, and I’m tempted to try and squeeze the Via del Sale in on my way to Milan. Entering Italy via Monaco, to have a wiff of money.

Go along with the joke, maybe it didn't even roll off the sidestand. Maybe someone just sneezed nearby...

And, he did get fooled that one time he told us all about.

What's wrong with your left hand, Marcel? Work injury?

I've got some sweet pictures from the Pyrenees, but a group of french people just tried to murder me with too much food and wine at dinner. I don't think I will eat tomorrow. The weather is shit too, and tomorrow I need to make way towards Italy, I spent all day today meandering around the mountains and only did a total of straight line 100 or 150km, maybe.

Look at my channel, there’s a few videos in which I speak. Pete’s favourite:

Didn't sleep more than one hour last night, was tired and sleepy but went to bed and just had to wait the night to pass. This was hard, but meant that it was easy to get out of bed at 6AM, a little past 6:30 and I was getting on the motorway. Sun rise, it looked like a lovely day but it wasn't to be. A couple of hours after leaving the house, and I'm stopping for breakfast already in Spain. @Earache, your petrol station shops could learn a thing or two from spanish Repsols, generaly you have fresh half decent baguettes and full legs of proper smoked ham My breakfast, by now I was a little surprised it wasn't getting any warmer outside. To warm up a little, a little butter on the hot toast, some fresh orange juice, and an espresso. Theoreticaly, this bike shouldn't be a lot different than mine cruising on motorways, but it is. Mine has the touratech suspension that is always a little too firm for comfort, a short screen, and rough tires. This one, on new 100% road tires, rubber footpegs, stock electronic suspension with soft springs, and a proper screen, rides like a pillow and I listen to music in my helmet at 70% the usual volume. The result is that distance passes by a lot smoother, I WILL look into one of these stock GS screens for mine too, smaller than the massive Adventure screen but they work nicely. The seat is shorter than mine too, maybe that also helps to lower me into the bubble a little more. What this bike seems to do a lot more is use fuel. It does have a substantially smaller tank but felt like I spent all day putting fuel into it. I think it uses more, and I do need a 30 liter tank, this is not funny. Does anyone know if the 1250 uses more fuel than the 1200 just cruising down a motorway? Coming the other way, all bikers were wearing rain suits, I put mine on too to shelter for the cold winds that now were starting to get really strong, and in anticipation of the rain in the distance. I have three days to get to Milan, including today. This is plenty of time, I gave up on doing the Via del Sale because of the weather, I don't fancy going off-road on a rental bike on gay tires after heavy rains. Also, I played with the idea of going all the way to Germany, spending one day stopped on the Nurburgring, and then the 800km to Milan on friday. There's less chance of rain in Germany than in southern France, which sounds ridiculous, but it'll rain there as well and I would like one nice lap of the track with no rain, plus that would be adding some distance to the bike and testing the rental company's goodwill. Gave up on all of that and headed to Pamplona. Got there to find perfectly dry weather, so stopped on a park bench to take all the plastic stuff off and figure out what to do. Pamplona is a very civilized city, huge areas of motorcycle only parking: I gave my friend from Pamplona a surprise call, but turns out he was away. All hotels were either too expensive or full, or in areas where I'm not leaving a bike outside. I found a little place in the hills, one hour away, deep in the Basque hills and got going, but not before fueling up again. The rain did return, and I stopped, once again, to put my rain jacket on. Got to my destination for the night at almost 19:00. Perfect timing to have a nice shower and a walk around town before dinner, it has been a long day. Being lower, with a very much improved gearbox and clutch, this feels like a toy to ride around town compared to my bike. It has less braap thought, it's very smooth but seems like it's half asleep if you blip the throttle. Having said that, it is faster at speed, but not in such a way that makes it a reason for changing. What I don't like about it is all the electronic shit, the screen and you having to navigate menus to see things. I'm always checking my pocket for the keyless key, because it's not where it should be ... I'm staying in a very charming old country house in a very quaint village, so went for a walk: A spot for playing "pelota vasca", but probably "pelota mano" which makes me wince just to contemplate. Look it up if you don't know what it is. I was going to eat beef for dinner, but not after watching a veal scratch her face against a concrete pole: The inside of the place I'm staying almost makes me want proper winter weather, maybe not really though Eating codfish cooked in what must be a very Basque way, with peppers and tomato, the fried egg adds a lot to it. Frankly, I'm not going to miss it. Some cold basque cider to wash it down, and that's the day done. I'm being confident, my rain pants and overboots are inside the pannier that is on the bike, I'm trusting. Let's see how tomorrow goes.

It was a good thing you didn’t have your purse on hand when she gave you lip, Saul!

Weather usually permits, in Portugal. You know where it doesn’t permit? Southern France!!! I’m in the Spanish side of the Basque country now, what the fuck is happening to the weather in Southern France over the next two days?!?!

I’m not, it was quite more expensive. This bike has been a revelation though, it’s incredible how different it is compared to mine, not better, just feels like a completely different thing.

I would rather not say, the guy is giving me a better rate than usual because of a work relationship with Sofia, more so considering the mileage I’ll do. It’s still expensive, though. I do recommend them, if you fly to Portugal, this will give you a hint: https://motorentour.com/aluguer/ They have a very friendly attitude towards slight off tarmac excursions, obviously within reason.

Went to pick up my rental bike today, for tomorrow’s trip. We are going to Italy, and there might be shopping involved. Plus, I am likely to ride through showers quite a bit, so was happy to have a very practical big topbox. Got home, had a good look at the bike and didn’t bring myself to ride all around with that thing in the back, took the box and the mounting plate off and am carrying an almost empty bag instead. Tyres are definitely gay, though.

Fool him once ...

Hang in there, scary moments.

That’s a nice thing, but if I had the choice it would rather be white and red. Or the R80 with the tiny fairing and red seat.