Pedro

Maybe it's worth considering changing the car instead of the perfectly functioning Honda, then.

Not a ride report full of novelty as I've posted about most of the areas I've been through over the last couple of days. I also didn´t stop a lot for pictures as I really felt on being on the bike for the riding itself. However, here's it goes. Portugal has been enjoying a mild summer so far, the extreme temperatures affecting Spain and other eastern countries has so far been sparing us courtesy of out Atlantic climate, this is about to change. I took the chance to go for a little ride that would surely face the beginning of the heat, but not wanting to go to the South as I did that a few weeks ago plus the Algarve in August is something to be enjoyed on the beach if it's warm. I headed straight north to the border with Spain to explore somewhere I hadn't been to in years. Minho, the region on the far north and west of Portugal is known for being plentiful of rain and very challenging topography, as such it is very green and it seems like all little nooks have some sort of vegetable cultures striving. It's also home to Vinho Verde, which is a very unique type of young whine, usually of some acidity and sharpness with some mild sparkling to it (non added, if it's proper). It is usually consumed within months of bottling, and it's refreshing character masks the potential for a massive hangover if abused. After Minho I headed east to Tras os Montes, which is a land of extremes, it's terrain is no longer green like Minho and people there endure harsh winters. What both these lands have in common is that both of them used to be very poor, so a culture of emigration evolved and a lot of young very hardworking people there go to France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, etc, in search of better wages. August is the month when most of these people return to their home towns and villages after a year of hard work. You'll see a lot of very polished and tarted up BMWs and Mercedes on foreign plates, and August is also party month for these small towns, in August they're booming with activity while the rest of the year except maybe a week at christmas, they're deserted and lonely. I took almost no pictures of that because I didn't feel like hanging around village parties and crowds, so you'll have to take my word for it Big bonus, too, the north was still very much temperate so very pleasant to ride through. Left the house at a civilized time, not too early, did about 50 or 60km on the motorway getting north of Porto, and took a small road, getting into it I first stopped in Ponte da Barca for what turned out to be a pretty shitty espresso. The town is dressed up for the evening parties. Small town street scene for @yen_powell An old roman bridge is what gives "Ponte" da Barca it's name, this isn't it though: I took a little stroll Visited a souvenir shop, with some stuff that links the Minho sense of humor with this forum: Anyway, got back on the bike and up to Monção. It didn't take long, and roads weren´t very interesting either. I got a little chilly now with just my summer jacket on and no mid layer, at 20 to 23º it was just ideal temperature, thank you Minho! Monção it by the River Minho, Spain is on the other side, it's got a pretty castle and everything but the place was chaotic with a street market and hundreds of people enjoying a slow morning before a big feast somewhere, living large in August. The chaos made me not even stop so there's no pictures. I headed up the river to Melgaço instead, now in the heart of Vinho Verde region, there's big competitiveness between both towns to claim who makes the best one. At Melgaço there was no market, just a few tourists about. I stopped for a walk around to visit the historic centre and the castle. I'm not one for museums but the inside of the tower is interesting. Some artifacts from the Castro pre-roman times, which is 7 centuries before Christ, pretty old stuff. What was really interesting to me was the story of Inês Negra, (Dark/Black Inês), and how the despume over Melgaço between Portugal and Galicia was settled by combat (a bloody catfight, really) between two women. Inês won and kicked the Galician's ass, so Melgaço got back to Portuguese control. It's depicted through a few paintings, I liked it. View from the top of the tower: The mountains in the far end on the picture below, that's where I'm headed. Visited an old house that now works as an exhibit for the local DOC Alvarinho wines, previously it's been used through the times as an administrative building, court house, etc, I love cold Alvarinho on a summer's day, the ground floor had a bar serving prosciutto and samples of all of them, it took some willpower to not stay but I think a big intake of Vinho Verde and motorcycling doesn´t go well together. Got back on the bike and headed to the mountains, to go over the top near Castro Laboreiro, and onto the Peneda Gerês National Park. Got lost on a small village looking for a place to have lunch, doing a U turn on a very narrow downhill dead end took some effort, here I am trying to figure out how to get out after ending up on the same place twice. It was 13:10, by the time I circled the village twice the sound of my motorcycle had interrupted 3 or 4 holiday lunches and there were people outside with wine glasses waving goodbyes as I rode off and returned their piece and quiet to them This area is known for cows and wild horses that roam the hills, the roads aren't very wide so maybe treat them with respect at night. Sadly focus is a little wonky as the bike was moving. They're gentle friendly animals though, not like the crazy aggressive cows in the Alentejo, do not approach those unless you want to be chased by 600kg of mean. Roads are turning to my liking, and the one from Melgaço up the mountain was a good one and I had fun. Just a few kms and I reached the peak at Castro Laboreiro, it's a very old place, and curiously known for Inverneiras, which are winter villages where the locals would migrate to lower in the mountain to survive the winter with their cattle. It's a place full of history and very cool very old stone villages. They started a dog breed named after the place, of loyal and fierce cattle guard dogs, just let them be and don't mess with the cows and all's ok, otherwise things go bad: I had high expectations for lunch, but was bitterly disappointed, the potatoes were half done and the meat was greasy, it's a sad thing when the redeeming part of a meat sandwich is when you get plenty of tomato inside , The very cold non alcoholic beer hit the spot, though. I was disappointed by the food, but the location was great, and being in altitude with some wind I enjoyed eating outside out of the shade with no heat. Temperatures up there maybe around 18 to 20º but feeling colder than that, ideal for motorcycling, which is rare in August. Back on the bike and I was diverted off the small road descending the mountain by some signs indicating some sort of chapel or church down a dirt road. Off I went for a few kms to find a lovely spot, the small chapel wedged between big boulders, plenty of cool mountain water flowing through the place, next time I'll pack a snack and go there for a picnic. Going back to the road, made a brief and rare stop purposely for a picture, but sadly I couldn't translate the size of that rock into the picture. Going down the mountain and heading East, I cross into Spain briefly, and back down through maybe one of the prettiest ways to enter Portugal, though a protected forrest through Geres, you pay a 1,5€ toll that goes straight to preserving it. It's not a place for riding fast as the roads are narrow and most motorists going through there aren't petrolhead, you'll get the caravans, teslas stopping bid corner because owners don't know how to cope with tight spaces, etc, but done out of August it is a pretty great location. No vehicle stopping allowed either, so took these on the move: Out of the lovely woods and onto Geres and the tourist's destination. There's nice clear waters in those rivers and the place was packed with tourists, cars parked on the side of the roads for miles, I guess it's a long walk to the river beach for them. 15 or 20 minutes to go through the touristy hell hole masked at riverside perfection, and I'm back onto tight twisty roads over the mountains. It's now around 16:00 and I decide where to go, I give a dude a call and fix a room for the night in the old rural manor I stayed before, the promise of a home like feeling and a place to enjoy an authentic dinner. I called the restaurant too, August being August the would surely be packed by the time I arrive a little later than normal. This also gives me another 200km to go through twisty country roads to go, I point the GS East and go. Quick proper espresso stop an hour later, on a local firefighters' fund raiser café by a lovely riverside beach. I stayed for a while there in Montalegre enjoying the lazy life around me. You could feel the enjoyment of some of the people taking some time off back home. Classic cars that only go out in august, brought in from France, cruise around, I notice an old 70s Corvette, an old Cherokee, they seem to have an American theme, I guess it's the big engines that weren´t available back then over here. By 19:30, not far from my destination, now starting to get a little bit tired but enjoying covering ground at slow speeds, I stop to enjoy the beginning of the sunset over the hills Riding through the Parque Nacional de Montesinho, a very old chestnut forest, I notice that all the trees that seemed dead and long petrified are now back alive and full of heavy lush leaves and fruit. After a quick shower to feel like a proper person, it's now 20:30 as I enjoy the 20 minute walk to the restaurant from one village to the other. It´s a big contrast to the time I was here in Winter, every culture is booming, not just the chestnuts, there's pears, apples, plums, grapes are going too, plus every bit of ground as something going that will be eaten in winter, cabbages, onions, it's lovely to see food growing everywhere. At my hotel I notice three bikes with german plates, I figured I'd meet them at the restaurant but all tables are full so there's no way to know, as I'm walking to my table there's a guy putting so much mayonnaise on his fried potatoes that people are looking, even the chinese guy on the table next to him can't help but admire in shock. There are the germans! I think to myself Food treated me right at the end of what were around 500km of mostly small roads. Nothing complicated, but a feel of home with the unique local lettuce salad that's typical to this area and lovely coal grilled beef, I really enjoyed dinner. Didn't talk to the germans, I was confused because they weren´t speaking german to themselves but there's no way they're portuguese eating mayo like that. Turns out they're second generation portuguese emigrants in Germany touring the home country. Walk back to the hotel was nice, it was a cool night as nights should be for proper rest, the breeze made the 8 or 9ºC feel colder, that's fine by me. The bright full moon showed clear skies, it would make for a pleasant cool morning too. The Falco is not a common sight in Portugal: I went to bed tired and well fed, slept deeply like I rarely do. Woke up lazily, and had a delicious simple breakfast of just a slice of bread with olive oil and plenty of plums. The germans were leaving as I sat down, they'll probably struggle with the heat if going back to germany now. The feeling of setting off from somewhere where you've slept well, on a nice crisp morning with the bike running well and wide spaces in front of you is my favourite feeling in the world, this felt like it 10 minutes after the hotel: I rode roads I went through before with @Sofia, but now enjoying them in a different way and covering ground enjoying the pace through twisty sections without stopping. First stop was at Castelo do Algoso, it's so pretty I couldn't not stop to see the view. Climbed the castle to take a BOTM picture, see the two nice ones below: Algoso town centre below, I think nothing much happens at the same time here, sadly. People had figs drying on the sun outside front doors in several houses, proper grandmother stuff. From there I rode straight to Freixo de Espada à Cinta, getting there I passed a few bikes coming the opposite way, this is a pretty well know good road and destination for motorcyclists but it's a friday, on the weekend there must really be lots of them. I get to town with 130 or 150km on my tank, but the good gas station had a group of 8 or 10 bikes waiting to fill in. People were taking helmets of and preparing to make an event of it so I rode on by. I had decided on making it a stretch and getting home this same day but not before a stop in Penedo Durão for the big views. By the normal viewpoint I also didn't stop, a couple of motorhomes and people being loud means there's no buzzards to watch so moved on and stopped in the middle of my one of my favourite dirt road short cuts, this one's view beats most others. I stopped, took a few pictures, took off the mid layer and did a few work calls to get them off my mind. A client could overhear the bugs through the phone in our conversation, they were that loud: I think they might be surfacing this bit of road soon, it's been widened and the machines tending to the vines nearby turned some of it to fine dust, almost desert level silt and It´ll be slippery as hell once it rains. some guys that didn't pick up the phone earlier were now calling back while going through that, I didn't stop because of the dust but right after. Can't get tired of the view. This was at 11:45, from then on I rode south-west. First stop at a more or less small town was at a closed for lunch gas station , I make it a point of only putting Galp or Repsol good fuel in her so carried on and didn't use supermarket pumps. By the time I stopped and got fuel it took 28 liters, which is almost as much as I ever put in. I love the feeling of fueling it right to the brim and then riding for a while with 700km on the range indicator, it's like you can just point and go anywhere at all. Went through the East side of Serra da Estrela without climbing to the top, this part was victim to a very big fire last year, some portions of forrest have completely carbonized dead trees, while some are starting to come alive again with flashes of green, it's sad and sobering. Took no pictures of that. As I rode south it got hotter and hotter, a brief stop for navigation and a drink of now pretty warm water with a view of the heartland of Portugal. This is big areas of nothing but pine and eucalyptus forests, it gets very hot here and those trees with that temperature and high winds is a very dangerous combination. I have to figure out how to take pictures with my phone, big views don't look so big after I take pictures of them By now I had gone for most of the day, temperatures now reaching 38º made me take a cheater and save an hour by getting on the motorway for 40 or 50km, didn't feel like enduring that heat and end of day traffic going through a couple of uninteresting places. Got home after another 550km done mostly on small roads, and the hitch to get on the bike scratched.

Is it an option to lend the car for the mechanic to use for a few days doing his daily thing and hope it happens with him?

And that is how they stay in business and don’t bother with complicated stuff via email and messages.

Can a bike be 110% perfect for one's needs?

It’s almost as if they’re tired of a certain brit pestering about crf300 …

The neighbour to your kids’ uni flat drives a McLaren

There’s a ride report incoming if I survive the next couple of day’s heat, you might need to learn Portuguese to read the culture parts but here’s today’s pictures for this thread and the one for @yen_powell

Just don’t get a dog, do some research. Weight keeps you healthy

Same way as a Porsche’s brakes couldn’t stop an HGV… GHV? VGH? A heavy vehicle, a truck!

Keep it, @Marcel, it’s only money… 0s and 1s on a computer somewhere. You may use it to scratch that performance / small road itch sometimes.

Can you not have a sexy curvy italian brunette as an Uccio?

Today I escaped and rode maybe 500km, mostly twisty mountain roads. Now finishing a long day having a proper meal and drinking red wine served on a clay jar! Two clay jars!

Plus every ride report is about how it’s perfect 100% for his riding!!??!! You’ll never be happy unless you get another GS, @XTreme, it’s the danger element of maybe getting stranded and dying that’s so addictive!

Maybe consider getting a heavy motorcycle. Something tall too, so that you drop it when off tarmac and then takes some effort to lift up. Now that’s a man’s workout.

They’re similar to motorcycles, except really slow and you get to places exhausted. Is there nothing you do daily on the car that you can do on an easy 20 minute stroll? Going to the bakery or something like that. I think gently walking is a lot easier on the knees than bicycles, plus you’ll hate getting on a bicycle until it gets cooler.

Starting to ride a bicycle at 70 is going to properly hurt!

Rewatching Game of Thrones, it got better the second time!

Nope, I prefer the one with the oak tree

Interested to know how it is compared to the Suzuki

Beautiful sky!

Thanks, I knew that would be a more likely to win choice

Took some with lovely views earlier in the month but this next one is the one closer to my heart and my choice for BOTM. Just love the colours, the oak, and the grass along with the dusty bike

Dubbed isn’t sophistication, it’s for morons who can’t read subtitles.