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Would love to add loads of pics . . . . . . . . . . . . But ran over me phone and destroyed it ....lost everything...so here's a pic of my feet

I see that you left the best photo until last

I have a pass today but it's too hot to go trail riding so I'll be out on the Vespa

That's the pinnacle of irony right there

and it's still tidy . In UK there would be 20 or so bags of trash around the bins

yeh, thats the one

You have a DS?

You were commenting, the other day, that these places are all clean and tidy with no bins everywhere, and I decided to show you there are bins

Just watched American Manhunt .. Osama Bin Laden … good … worth a watch

Over in Hoo?

you are meant to go on a ride to write a report.. not just make one up

Local car/bike meet..

I did a 150 mile round trip to go see my mum. I was melting on the way back & had to go cool down in a nice air conditioned gas station. I bloody hate the heat. Did see a few people riding in shorts and a tee shirts, no gloves.

Nah , the bike has multi adjustable suspension as standard . Probably the best forks on any trail bike I've had (not including enduro's)

Bloody smashing Pedro

I think you'll find that it's @busabeast who has the bin fetish not me

Fantastic photos, scenery and everything else @Pedro

Ummmmmmmmm, she doesn't look very happy sat on that panzer.......... just saying OMG , my favourite car . I have one of those .......

national holiday today here, so wrote a ride report while sitting in Sofia’s practice.

Should have upgraded to WP.

Breakfast was sadness on a table , I barely survived it, and we moved on. We climbed the Serra da Estrela in the morning, made it there to enjoy the coolness of the mountain air when you get to over 1500m in altitude. Riding down was nice through some twisties, eventually stopping for a sandwich already out of the mountains. The Tower, at 1990 meters. It was by the afternoon well into the Alentejo that I took my first picture of the day, a selfie with Sofia following me into the Alentejo's most typical landscape. It was now getting warm and temperatures went past 35º as soon as we saw yellow grass. After an hour or two at 37º we weren't far from our destination for the night, but I was very keen on stopping somewhere cool for a cold water. Since I had never been inside, we decided to stop at Flor do Crato Monastery, it now works as a tourist attraction and hotel. I suppose it must be quite fancy as the place is gorgeous, but the service is shit. We walked in from the heat to be told the cool inside cafe is closed and that we could sit on the outside one until 19:00, by which time that one closes and we then have the inside one. Now what kind of moron thinks it's nice sit toasting in the sun in 37º during the day to then move inside when it cools down must be a one of a kind moron. We moved on and 30 minutes later made it to our hotel. Bikes safely tucked away and after a nice shower and rest, we enjoyed a very nice typical dinner in Alter do Chão, now cool and pleasant enough outside. Dinner was great, food was amazing, wine was cold, everything was alright, and we had a little stroll walking back to our room. The Alentejo night sky after a hot day is usually amazing, but my phone's camera doesn't make it justice. In the morning, we headed home. Sofia was so happy to see her favourite oak trees I had to stop and take a picture, even though by 10 in the morning it was already quite warm. After the rainy Spring we had, most reservoirs and dams are almost full, we stopped by one to look at it as that's rarely the case. Plenty of mosquitoes though. Just so a certain someone doesn't come out saying she doesn't take her own BOTM pictures: We had a little espresso by a bunch of swallow nests, they were quite busy with all the mosquitoes around. And again, more bins, @boboneleg! Quick dash of fuel, trying to not let the heat get you when stopped: And back on the road, an hour or so later, quick snack stop, then onto the motorway to Lisbon, pass the big bridge: And to Ericeira

We didn't leave very early, but our first stop was close. By 10:30 we were in Trancoso and had a walk around town, mostly inside the old walls with a visit to the castle itself. Hey @boboneleg, more bins: Sofia loves big old trees: We carried on, via small roads to the next castle, this time at Linhares, on the footsteps of the Serra da Estrela: It was with great pride I pointed out to the health and safety present in this castle, like in modern places! Lunch stop, a very forgettable toast in an unfriendly cafe. I love this region of Portugal to ride around in as the roads in the Serra da Estrela are great, but I don't get the people here. A local forestry service team also stopped for their afternoon coffee. It was quite hot, but we didn't plan to go far. Sofia is organizing the next meet for her Triumph club. First stop, a cafe by a river, her ladyship stayed in the cool shade by the flowing waters while I went to do some reconnaissance up a tiny secondary (or tertiary) road. I loved it, poor surface and quite bumpy where the potholes are patched, tight and twisty up a mountain, perfect to race around on big trail bikes! Apparently, that's not what they're looking for Next stop, to meet the lady that runs the cafe where the club will have lunch, very idyllic place, it'll be loud when they're there on a sunday though It was a lazy day and would become even lazier. The stay for the night was just 10 or 20km away, fortunately on a very very nice perfectly twisty road. Sofia had a conference call to do and I planned on enjoying that time, so we made it there early enough to use the swimming pool. We parked by some bins, because I made a point of showing @boboneleg we do have garbage bins in Portugal on this trip And proceeded to the swimming pool. I soaked for a good hour or so, we had the place to ourselves and I enjoyed that very much. The Serra da Estrela, in the background: I didn't take pictures of dinner as I found it very disappointing.

We woke up earlyish and by 8 something we were gone, stopped for a picture on one of my favourite vistas starting to go south from the northern tip of Portugal By 9 we stopped for the morning espresso, but someone can't resist a little bit of regional bread with butter for breakfast... 11:40, we stopped in Freixo de Espada à Cinta for Sofia go so source some sandwiches for the lunch picnic, it'd be a little early but we had a prime spot coming up just a few kms ahead. I stayed by the bikes watching the town's life happening, a little children's school class was walking around town, all in their blue overall things and hats, they were stopping by shops and offices and calling people out to say hello to them. They made such a happy ruckus that everyone in town was smiling! You can barely see them in the pictures below as they're so tiny. Out came Sofia with lunch 12:30, stopped for lunch and enjoyed my cheese sandwich. We then headed to Vilna Nova de Foz Coa, where the river Coa joins the Douro. This is one of my favourite bits of road in Portugal, my little secret biking paradise, that I discovered this time in 2020 and have been returning on purpose ever since. We stopped by the river to put in our destination in Google Maps. Back in 1996, Portugal was going ahead with building a dam here in Vila Nova de Foz Coa. When they started investigating the river they found a very important area containing prehistoric engravings, protests from archeologists with help from university and high school students created started a public movement to protect these engravings. At the time, Antonio Guterres was running for prime minister, and announced he was in favor of protecting these engravings and maintaining the river like it was, he was elected and went through with his promise, cancelling the dam. He went on to have a successful carreer and is currently serving as Secretary General of the United Nations. To create an easy way to appreciate the famous engravings they created a museum in which several objects are exhibited along with replicas of the carvings. It's a famous building and I had never been there, so we went. The building itself is fabulous, but it's pretty hard to explain that there is absolutely no shade to park vehicles under in a place with temperatures frequently well above 35º. Culture: They have some interactive explanations for you to really understand the engravings, I found it interesting. It was getting hot by then, though, and we decided to move on. A guy from Sofia's club had lost his dad after a long battle with cancer, and we moved on quick in order to stop by the wake in the afternoon before getting to our hotel for the night. Being on a timetable, I didn't stop for pictures of the rest of the ride until we stopped. That night we slept in a rural hotel that had been built from a decaying convent in ruins. It was pretty nice and the area around it is great, mostly built in stone, I had visited a few weeks ago and was happy to show Sofia around. After dinner we went for a little walk, and slept well. Next day, into Serra da Estrela.

20c here, expecting 27 tomorrow, gingers will die.

its a big thing here when its hot and sunny.... we cant all live in Mexico where you get lots of sun