Pedro

After a light breakfast, I headed out on a really cold sunny morning. By 10 it was only just 3,5ºC, but felt fine because these are country roads so speeds were kept low and I had all my available layers under my new jacket. I was great being in the Alentejo though, pictures don't show how green it was. This place was loving the abundance of water after almost getting used to extreme dryness. I had been warned about not being able to ride over that bridge on the hotel, but decided to check it out anyway. That road is a main road, trucks cross that bridge every day, they put some concrete and then tarmac on top of a Roman bridge and it has been handling traffic for quite some time. However, this year the water level got so high and the current so violent that it went over the bridge and washed away some of it. It's quite something to see what it took for that to happen. Also, the Romans really knew how to make a proper bridge. Hope they can fix it. At 10:15 there was still frost, I'm not used to this: Rode past Estremoz and took a picture of a sign warning of deer with skinny necks for @yen_powell I had a couple of work calls to make and emails to answer, so stopped on the entry to Monsaraz, overlooking the biggest manmade lake in Europe, and sat down to do 10 minutes of work. Not a bad office view: My plan was to have a snack for lunch at the marina by the lake but it was closed for boat maintenance, how boat maintenance interferes with a cafe I do not know, but it turned out for the best because as I was going back to the road I decided to use my newly found time and go explore a little dirt road. This turned out to be very scenic and pretty great, it's a shame it only went about 10 or 12km and ended up in a small village right where I would have gone past if on the road. The track is perfectly maintained and services a few small patches of land used for farming, and the pastures are perfectly green, the water is as high as ever, it's great. Toast was an example of cheesy goodness, it was just the thing. The locals were inside the cafe and only came out for smoking, you can't see the cold wind in the pictures. And off I went: The GSs odometer gained another digit in the middle of some rolling hills: I had planned on staying very close by for the night, but it was still early. The place I planned on staying has use of an observatory, and this is one of the best places in Europe for sky watching, so I have been looking forward to it. Nobody was at the reception, and it was still 15:30, no way I felt like hanging around for hours waiting for night time, jumped back on the bike and headed towards some of my favourite twisty roads in Portugal. Through Mertola without stopping, and into the Algarve on the opposite direction I was headed because there's these bits of road I just can't say no to. Eventually got on the right road heading the right direction and stopped to make a call and arrange a place to sleep, this time a small mountain rural restaurant with a few rooms attached to it, as long as they're clean you can't go far wrong for 35€ a night right next to my favourite stretch of the N2. This little bit of the 124, around 20 or 30km, is the best twisty road I know, this is how it looks on google maps when I stopped to see an ETA on the restaurant. That ETA was very pessimistic, even with photo stops I stopped for a moment to allow the sun to go a little lower and hide behind the trees as it was blinding me. Pretty road on magic hour. And stayed out watching the sun go down before going the last 3km to the hotel. The bike tucked in under the sky but away from prying eyes behind the restaurant, and I had a tempering hot shower, something about the entry to the place told me I'd like this dinner At dinner I had a Dutch couple for conversation about farming and the restaurant owner to talk wines, food was delicious, traditional and comforting. During my meal a two girls walked in and sat for dinner too, they said they didn't eat meat to which the man kindly offered octopus rice commenting that "it's very nice", they were offended and rudely stated they ate NO MEAT. He was puzzled at first but overcame it and said that he could bring them a vegetable soup, and after maybe some Algarvian salad and a cheese plater or sandwich, they simply stood up and walked out into the cold. I was amazed and the guy really didn't get what all the fuss was about. The chorizos for sale right by the door they walked through to the restaurant should have provided them with a clue I had a very nice night's sleep. Shutters closed 100% of light, I like that.

Portugal ended summer in a profound draught, water levels all across the country were at warring levels, rain had been very scarce for over a year and while in previous years we had a nice winter but water flowed from Spain, this year Spain was suffering too so most of the main rivers entering Portugal were a very sorry sight. The day in which I returned from Morocco, though, started a spell of very heavy and intense rain. I don't remember so much water coming down over a sustained period as December and early January. We went from worrying about not having enough water for people to use at home to seeing all the major reservoirs at their peak capacity in 1 month, obviously there were floods and other problems but a few days ago rain stopped for the foreseeable couple of weeks and I decided to take the chance to go south and take the bike for a little ride. When the forecasts turned from heavy rain to very cold the sky opened and I took this chance to go on a little ride to the south of Portugal. My original idea was to start with the Serra da Estrela, it's great to go there with clear skies, but the previous days saw heavy snow fall there, coupled with the first sunny weekend in weeks this would mean thousands of people going up there to "see the snow", and I wasn't keen on traffic jams. On sunday, I left sort of early for a sunny but cold winter day and by 08:30 I was leaving the door. Got on the motorway heading south for an hour or so, then said goodbye to the A1 and headed to the inland, small roads from now all the way down! By 10:15 I was cold, the 3,5 and 4ºC on the motorway wasn't pleasant, so I stopped for breakfast since something in your belly is the first way to not shiver. The plan was to not even take any pictures of roads and views or anything like that, I wasn't even going to post a ride report since most of these places are already on previous ones, but by 11:20 I got out of the main road and climbed a hill for a scenic pee, and the habit of starting to take pictures of pretty scenery creeped in. 5,5ºC at 11:30 is a cold day in Portugal! Headed south and southeast, through lovely clean recently washed twisty roads. The N2 is Portugal's longest road, at 742km, it starts in Chaves on the North border, and goes all the way to Faro through the center of the country. They're trying to make it a tourist attraction, like Portugal's Route66 of sorts, but for the most part it's not the best road or the most scenic, in some parts it is though, like here around Gois. Gois is the second most important motorcycle rally in Portugal, less of an international even than Faro. Here you are at the heart of the country, it's a proudly portuguese event. Gois' motorcycle club headquarters had about 50 bikes up for a casual sunday morning get together, and on these parts you saw bikes everywhere, the roads are great and twisty, and the midday sun brought temperatures a little closer to 10ºC so people were coming out. Didn't take a picture of anything like that, though, but even saw sports bikes being ridden like they're meant to on roads that could have been meant for it too. Most bikes were sports bikes or fast nakeds, a contrast to city life where big trails are much more the norm. Stopping and looking back on Pampilhosa da Serra, you could hear bikes in the distance: Brief encounter with the Zezere river, one of the most important ones in Portugal, down there in the valley. The Zezere at full capacity almost coming up to this road, this is the highest it's ever been according to a local fisherman that saw me take this picture below and contributed the information. Brief stop in Oleiros to get my bearings, Oleiros is a very nice small town with a charming center. Unfortunately it lacked a place where I could seat outside for a snack, so carried on. Didn't leave without checking out the riverside camping. I'll probably go back and stay a day or two on one of those cabins, the river below with that clear water makes for an amazing location. Little dude was soaking in the sunshine. A few kms after, and the mountain range is crossed: Center Portugal quaintness, lush green and wavy narrow roads: I had already decided where to sleep for the night, and was in no rush to get there with plenty of daylight to go. Saw on google maps that there was a smaller crossing of the Tejo and decided to take that. It's not a bridge, but I hadn't put the bike on a barge yet, so was looking forward to it. I hanged around for a little: There was a flaw in my plans, though, which became clear when I saw the barge on dry land. There's a dam a couple of kms upstream, and I suppose that they don't use the barge when it's big discharge season. Heading back on the road, I made a stop just for @XTreme: My lunch was the cheese sandwich I had for breakfast, so now starting to feel like something else to warm me up, and stopped for an expresso. The day had started really cold and my energy was now starting to drop. Stopped and spent a few moments in Crato, typical Alentejo town on a slow sunday afternoon, the only thing moving fast there was this puppy trying to catch sparrows while his owner was inside the cafe. On I went, I was about 20 or something kms from my destination for the night, not without a last stop to look at some cool olive trees and breathe in the Alentejo country vibe. Rode into Alter do Chão and into one of my favourite hotels, a refurbished and converted convent. They're cool guys and I park the GS safe inside a warehouse, away from the night frost, it's supposed to go to -1º that night. After a properly hot shower, I watched the sunset and went out for a pre dinner walk. I'll take you on a walk around Alter do Chão on a very cold sunday evening. After it was an appropriate time for dinner, I went into a small rural cafe and ate. Portugal lost to Sweden on handball, much to the local fans dislike, I had never been in a cafe / bar where people were so into handball Doesn't look like much, and it isn't much, but I like it. A little wine was consumed, and a long conversation was had on the many different kinds of bread based cookings in Portugal along with how tall was the Swedish goalkeeper. Somehow this had gone from a "not a ride report", to full ride report mode. The next day will be epic so stay tuned.

It's not so much the bear, but the state of that cabin's carpet!

I used to know a guy named Dave that was a very tall policeman from Yorkshire. Haven't seen in in years but they look the same to me.

Spoilsport

Thank you for the comment. I'm also flattered about it being inspirational.

This is a ride report how?

Is the guy with the orange scarf named Dave?

I want a heated seat

I think I registered there, but seems not anymore.

I want one, because they’re made almost by hand in Japan, but they don’t make helmets that open and then I couldn’t smile at people when saying hello. And then there’s that weird visor attachment method.

Well, it’s not a taxi

Yes, have it from new. The button used to switch information on the dash started to stick sometimes, and you’d have to press it on the other side to make it pop back up. It was a known issue so they changed that, and the controls on the other grip as well even though they were fine. That was a few months from new. It had a new clutch fitted at around 60 or 70000km, not a warranty thing as it wasn’t even slipping, but worn clutches affect gearchange quite a lot. It would still ride on that clutch today had it not been changed. I had the rocker arms replaced with upgraded ones, faulty coating on the stock ones. It’s a common problem with this generation BMWs, KTMs and Ducatis. I replaced the shocks with aftermarket, but the original ones still worked in their own way, and didn’t leak. BMW replaced the driveshaft even though it was ok, at around 93 or 94000kms. I would have changed it at 100.000kms so it was a nice surprise that they had that recall. Next will be the grips, they’re worn. It’s not the cheapest bike to have, but I am quite happy with it so far. Never used any oil or dripped anything apart from the filler cap sealant, that for whatever reason drips a while after having the oil done sometimes.

Not the greatest choice of brand name to sell in the UK

Picked a nice location too:

One of the prettiest motorcycling days I’ve ever done, there might be a ride report once I’m home.

The drawing on the traffic signs matches that neck, too:

It’s as old as time in golf courses. I Espinho, mainland Europe’s oldest golf course has a road going through it. Perfect for kids to hide in those bushes prowling for golf balls before their owners make it to cross the road.

20 minutes ago

I did like the ones Derbi did a few years ago, the Mulhacen 659, using a Yamaha designed 660 single. They tried to make it look less classic scrambler and more modern dirt track, I once tried one out but ended up not buying, Maria was the prospective owner and she found the whole thing a little intimidating. It was a fun bike to ride around town, though. If it was for me alone I would probably ended up buying a XTZ660 Tenere with that same engine, even though it probably felt slower.

Beta used to make a similar bike using the Yamaha 660 single. That always looked better in my eyes.

Afternoon naps when you’re feeling tired are good.