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As we are all coming from different directions we met at a Greene King pub near Portsmouth Port on Sunday evening. There was a lot excitement, roast dinners and chat. We board seamlessly at 23.00, exchange cabin numbers in case of emergency (no mobile reception) and get straight into our cabins, we dock at 6.30am french time (5.30am uk time), my alarm goes off at 4.30am and I instantly think - who’s stupid idea was this South West Caen (Ouistreham) Port obviously not in 7hrs 33 mins as it was an overnight ferry. Off the ferry and five mins to a cafe right next to the port for a quick croissant, a chat about the route, riding in France and to allow the ferry traffic to dissipate. Glad I had my ipad on hand to show the priorite a driote signage as only one person was familiar with it and they appeared often on our ‘no-motorway’ cross country route! It’s grey, rainy, not the most fun for riding and no matter how hard I try the pace is a bit too slow to be fun but it takes folk time to warm up to riding on the other side of the road when you’re not familiar with it and I’m kind of glad I’m not dealing with any kamikaze riders. Quirky little house over three floors, surrounded by grape vines, as you’d expect in the Loire Valley. We arrive in Sancerre far too late to tour the vineyard which is a bit of a shame but after so little sleep on the ferry everyone is exhausted. The day has stretched out far beyond all comprehension and with a supermarket stop to pick up some steaks we only make it to the house after 7pm. Another friend joins us at this point ready to party and finds us all in zombie mode I may have avoided taking everyone into Paris but the cross country route was not without a price to pay!

Some fine wine, hot food, good sleep and by the next morning most were raring to ride over the border to the Swiss part of Lake Genèva for a bit of lunch and snap a pic with Mont Blanc in the background. Of course it’s end of the ski season so a lot is shut and lunch turned into a vending machine affair Whilst enjoying the lake our ‘on the spectrum’ friend (there’s always at least one in every group isn’t there ) whacked out three different water colour paintings of my mates house in under two hours! It was gorgeous out there Still a bit chilly from the mountain air we opted for quick showers, warm jackets and Kir Royals to warm the cockles. This was followed by far too much wine, we were still laughing about what we couldn’t remember the next morning

Enjoying it band is playing freebird as I type so what’s not to like

The next day I realised why I'd heard a few sirens during the night. Hotel was opposite the fire station. Then it was south again, on the motorways. We stopped for coffee and fuel, and for Titus to look for insects. Another bit of motorway to Plasencia where I had read of an aqueduct that was supposed to be worth seeing. By the time that we got there my brain was nicely cooked so after grabbing some photos and slurping water it was back onto the motorway heading for Caceres where we were to camp for the night. We arrived, with my brain cooked a bit more, at the campsite and before even going to the pitch it was beer time. Back on the bikes and up to the pitch. All a bit strange having out own toilet and shower! A guy rocked up, barney who was a few pitches down from us. He was in the queue in Millay behind us. Small world. Anyway it was time for more beer and tapas so that was it for the night. A very pleasant evening after all the motorway riding.

I’ve got a new project

One more evening of multiple courses, fine wines, cheeses and lots of laughing, the next day we start the journey back to the ferry. This was a tough day. We had stayed up late, used up all our fun tokens and were tired before we even headed off to our first stopover approx 6 hours away (at thats without adding in any breaks n fuelling). Cue the one person who ignored the request to make sure you have a phone with plenty of data that works in France and Switzerland or some sort of sat nav getting split up from the group and completely lost. This led to 1-2 hours circling back and fourth in the shittiest section of the journey in very jammed traffic trying to find them. It was hot, everyones clutch’s were having a good ol’ workout in the stop, start and stop traffic and the frustration of finally getting to the guessed location and not seeing the missing person was starting to get the best of everyone. After a very broken call and a dropped pin being sent by nabbing some free wifi we were reunited. On the left - Miss Lost n Clueless in Geneva and at the very back a rider about to pelt accross the car park and throttle the guilty party With some whip cracking we made it to the only supermarket in Gien still open on a Saturday evening with just 10 mins to spare (who knew a lot of France shuts at Saturday lunch time ) then over to ‘Villa Hotel’ which was in the style of a Spanish Motel, cheap at £33 a person, with parking right outside your door, very clean, smelling of fresh linen with copious amounts of very hot water and decent water pressure Everyone collapsed into bed after an 11 hour day but they were all up ready to go early. Which is good as this is ferry day and so far we’ve missed all our daily eta’s by hours! The next day we make good time. The slower group member has sped up, no one gets lost, everyone follows the instructions to fuel up at each stop regardless of whether they think they should or not, everyone DID pick up ambient food at the supermarket to speed things up and everyone is getting back on their bikes quickly after stops - miracle! We get one stopping point away from the port and have made such good time there’s hours to spare! As it’s Sunday afternoon and the supermarket’s shut, we decide to take a longer break and a classy style impromptu late lunch sitting on the car park floor. The tarmac is warm, the food and sun is having a very soporific effect. One by one in this warm deserted spot everyone succumbs to a snooze in the sun, who knew the a car park could be so comfortable. Someone kindly took a pic of me with my waterproofs round my knee’s dozing like a hobo waiting for an ambulance, friends ay We arrive at the ferry fairly happy. One of the group has spent the whole week saying they’d like a smoke while waiting for the ferry (even though they gave up 20 years ago), some snacking saucisson sec was handed around to see if that would fit the bill.. although nowadays it’s classed as being as carcinogenic as smoking I then realise we all left reality behind long ago As usual we can’t go to our cabins as the turnaround is so fast they are still being cleaned.. but the bars open.. what a brilliant last night on the ferry together. Usually at the end of a group trip everyone is a bit tired of each others company and just want to get home but there was something in the air and the announcement of a silent disco in the bar had two of the less inhibited in the group up and dancing in an instant. It was so very funny to watch their moves on a silent dance floor, soon others were joining in and a bit of vino later the silent disco wasn’t quite so silent anymore with raucous singing and even some of an initially rather sneery group of men unable to hold back getting headphones on and joining in, sometimes people just about manage to get out of their own way and have a good time The next morning we aren’t so chipper. We say goodbye on the vehicle deck as there’s not really a pulling over point after security. Little did we know as we trickled off in different directions all focused on getting ourselves home that one group member had been detained by counter-terrorism who wanted to know why she had been near the Afghan border last year, fortunately he had just obtained his full bike license so the conversation was mostly taken up with what his first big bike should be Fini.

The next day as my nervous friend has now warmed up about the whole road riding abroad thing we planned a mix of motorway and a beautiful gorge to ride through. However this was not to be, an accomplished enduro rider she is but looking down fumbling for your card at the motorway toll booth meant a quick slap down and a broken clutch lever. A side of the road bodge with some epoxy resin and duct tape and eventually we were away again, but we had lost a lot of time and the dodgy clutch lever meant a change from the scenic route to the most direct that required the least number of gear changes was needed. It was an odd ride and was a mix of these two routes which look similar but there’s quite a time difference so with the unscheduled break and fuel stops we again arrive much later than anticipated after a fairly uninspiring ride. We arrive on the French Swiss border in the Alps next to Lake Geneva as late as can be (although still daylight so thats a bonus) fortunately to a great host who’s wisely greeted us with beer and a slow cooked delight able to withstand random acts of extreme lateness He also has a workshop and ta da daa a spare lever

Nice one … thanks

Dusty day, crap phone signal but a great laugh

Hopefully collecting Mandi from the hospital in time for the F1 qually which will be more entertaining than the race. She was in last week expecting the normal treatment, IV steroids, that sorts out her "flair up", but for whatever reason they didn't do that. Instead she got some IV paracetamol and fluids and sent her home. Back in yesterday and got said norm and she's bouncing back big time. Don't tell her I said bouncing.

Thought this would happen , had a few pm’s asking me for photos , now I do t want to let you people down , so.

All packed and ready to go Left about 09:30 had a good ride home with no traffic even if i was squaring my tyres off on the motorway. The tent is on the line drying a bit damp from the ground so got to make sure its 100% dry before packing it away for any length of time Here's some bike photo's i thought i had already posted but cant seem to find them

De-stressing down by the river

In Marbella I was so overcome by the heat and the beer that I failed to take many photos. Also I had a lot on my mind as I was suffering from what I thought was vertigo, and I was increasingly concerned about how I wasn't adapting to the heat. I hadn't realised at the time but there was an unseasonal heat wave going on at the time that didn't exactly ease my suffering. Thoughts about 'letting the team down' and the reality that I could become a liability had to be taken into consideration. Did we all want the same thing out of the journey? All this was going through my mind and despite copious amounts of beer kept me awake at night. Eventually I decided on giving up on the African adventure with something in mind about trying again maybe, when it wasn't as hot. Decision made I felt better but still have niggling concerns about letting Titus down. Titus and Omar are now in Senegal and are talking about heading back as the political climate isn't great in some of the countries that they'd have to cross if they tried to get further south. A stroll between sessions in the pub! The sailing ship was supposedly a replica of the Santa Maria, maybe. We decided on not going aboard as the price was rather steep and the money would be better spent on beer. View from Carmel's appartment.

It was decided after a phone call that we would make it to Marbella in a day. It would be across country as well without as many motorways, a plus. The negative was that it was getting hotter! We went to Italia just north of Seville to look at some stuck together stones. I would normally have enjoyed exploring the remains of one of the Romans' largest amphitheatres, but by the time we got there I was running hot, and thought that sheltering under the trees by the entrance was more attractive. Anyway we didn't have a lot of time so Omar and I went for a wander while Titus kept an eye on the bikes. Italica Amphitheatre Then we joined the gridlock that was Seville. I was fuming at this point as my GPS was offering a route avoiding the city. It was generally all that I dislike about cities, heat and traffic, all to save 20 miles. We followed some pleasant enough roads towards Ronda and I was looking forward to a coffee or beer in the shade somewhere when I realised that we were heading towards the town centre. Great I thought - beer. Anyway I was wrong. We went down some cobbled goat path that led to a viewpoint of the bridge above the gorge where apparently people were thrown out of the door to their deaths. It was all that I could do to grab my hat and water and then shelter under a bush until it was time to move! Had it been cooler I'm sure that it would have been a wonderful place to visit. Ronda. The track that we came down was to the right out of shot. I enjoyed the ride down from Ronda to the coast, a tarmac ribbon of bends, bends and more bends. It would have been more fun with less traffic in cooler weather but I still enjoyed it really. It was beer on arrival and more tapas. It was very good of Carmel to put us up for three nights. Lots of beer consumed! Local poster that caught my eye.

Today i had a few things to test out on the XR, one was to see if i fixed a small oil leak on the rocker shafts and the other was the gearing, i wasn't happy with the gearing on my ride last weekend, on a few lanes i was giving my new clutch more abuse than i liked as the gearing was too high. So before my ride today i needed to change the rear sprocket from the 40 tooth i have fitted to the standard 45 tooth. First sprocket bolt i tried to remove i rounded the Allen key head of the bolt because i got carried away with the lock tight when fitting them last time, i had it all up the shaft as well as the threads Anyhow after trying to bang a torx bit into the bolt head and failing i remembered the easy out set i have and it worked a treat all i needed it to do was to hold the bolt and undo the nut the other side After fitting the 45 tooth sprocket i found the chain was too short so i got pissed off and ended up fitting the off road wheel instead which has a 42 tooth sprocket fitted, after heading up over my mountain i decided the gearing was far better and will be fitting this sprocket to the road wheel and getting a larger one for this wheel. The lane up over to the wylie was nice i hadn't really noticed until today how green everything is and it is bloody hot as well. The woodland over the wall on the right is a carpet of Bluebells. The familiar smells of dope and cow shit as you ride through the countryside are replaced this time of the year with flowers and blossom Considering how hot it is this lane was still quite slippery as were others with a lot of water on some. I have passed this old mill hundreds of times and didn't realised until today it has a bit of fame attached to it When i took this photo i noticed the plaque above the door When i had a closer look it said this this is his story if you want to be edumacated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artie_Moore On the way to the next lane you have the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread as you pass the Braces Bread Bakery in Oakdale It's getting hot so i stop to take the chin piece off my helmet to go open face from here and these guys come over to see what i'm up to Poor buggers were covered with fly's Glad i went down the next lane from manmoel as the storms has washed it out a bit and had me in a bit of a sweat will have to revisit on the X trainer i think There was a nice stream to cool of in at the bottom, it's all slippery rock in there and a horrible crossing After i took this photo someone dropped out of the woods on the left a bit further down on a bike took me by surprise, we had a little chat and went on our way he was living not far from me and was on his way home from work now thats a ride home from work LOL I wanted to have a look in the old railway tunnel from here to see how it's getting on but there's a tree down blocking the entrance so i just headed home via a couple more lanes. When i got in i ordered front and rear sprockets and a new rear tyre for the road wheel. I also ordered new sprocket bolts which cost £8 for the bolts washers and nuts on line, from Honda they would cost £120 Couldn't see no oil misting on the rocker cover so hoping my fix has worked hopefully.

Still at my place, was planning to go north a couple of days ago but somehow couldn’t drag myself away. Just came up to the hills for lunch at the usual spot, the ride here was just perfect, 30 or 40 minutes of perfect not slow not fast pace, with a dirtroad shortcut with a rocky uphill section, then the hill and onto the cafe. No pictures because I enjoyed not putting a foot down the whole way.

Another four course meal and a good nights sleep meant the next day everyones up for a ride over to a different side of Lake Genveva where three of the crazier in the group who are into open water swimming can freeze their tits off in 11 degree water! I had a nice cup of tea at the cafe and watched from the sidelines Nut jobs Then back for a warm up, pick up the minibus over to Yvoire. A beautiful place with a 14th century medival town. Of course a lot of parts are far more modern.. as recent as the 17th century Saw this tree and immediately thought of Michelle The clear water and bright greens and blues there were beautiful. Even if the sunlight made me squint hard

Little ride around Utah, Nevada and California with the incontinent bunch (BMW Club of Southern California). Chilly temps, little rain, some snow. Death Valley was a perfect ending to warm us all back up.

Took a run up to the top part of Negratin......hadn't been there for some years. Unfortunately being a Bank Holiday the traffic was bad.....not something you hear me say very often. And when I got to the top of the reservoir there were people everywhere getting in my way when I tried to get pics. Turned out that most of the Cam footage was ruined by splattered flies as well.....so all in all, nothing went right. Apart from the bike of course. I did get some nice pics though........ Yes I know you don't like the Top Box......but once again it came in handy today as I was able to switch jackets when it got warmer. Read it and weep you Casuals!

Quite liked it, pretty cool bike. Could see how fun one is as a commuter if you get a faster one. This wasn’t fast at all, it topped at 100kmh on a downhill but struggled to get past 80kmh on the flat. No idea what engine it has, but on these the rear brake is plenty enough as long as you don’t confuse it for the clutch. Special picture just for you: Dropped that for a service as a favour for Sofia’s flatmate, and jumped on the Speed Triple going for lunch, quite a change.

Do keep up updated on everything, Pete. Please don't let anything go. Good on groceries too, or are you running low on tea bags? Horses fed today? How is the weather there today? How much is a Transalp in south Spain? They'll sell loads of them. Retirement age is going up, they´ll try to kill everyone off!

You mean fat with one leg

Get back in your garden shed!!

My mum left me a few gold sovereigns, Victorian, Edwardian and George 5th ones. I went through them spread out on the kitchen work top and selected a few to give to my son to sell as he was having a bit of trouble money wise at the time. I couldn't remember how many there were exactly, but I was sure I was missing one, gave up worrying about and put them away in a hidey place. This was about 5 years ago. Last month my dish washer finally expired after 20 years of faithful service. When I pulled it out from under the kitchen unit to replace it with a new one there was a gold sovereign sitting on top in the centre.

I've just been to Bike Torque to get some parts for a Panigale . There was another customer in there who was being served , after a while he turned around and saw me. I had my shorts on and he looked at me and said 'what's the chances of that then' , with that he pullled up his trouser to reveal a prosthetic leg !! I had a chat with him and it it truns out he does bike tours, this is the guy ..............

Faversham In the town center ,classic car show , bikes as well

My mate Titus and I had decided that as we weren't able to do a circumnavigation due to the odd conflict here and there that a trip to Dakar would have to do as a poor substitute. Beer was involved in arriving at this decision. On the morning of 16th March, in drizzle and 11degC, I set off for Plymouth where I was to meet Titus and his son Omar, who'd decided to come along for some father son bonding, and sharing his father's love of travel. Loaded up ready to leave. Sainsbury's Plymouth for breakfast, meet-up and fuel. Then on to Millbay for the ferry. It took an eternity to get through checkin as Omar, late to the party, had booked as a foot passenger, whilst Titus and I plus bikes were on another booking. Computer couldn't cope and there must have been about fifty people involved in sorting it out. Then it was the same again at the customs check. Nightmare. Then I got mugged in the bar. Just leaving Millbay.The bogs where I used to sleep when I missed the liberty boat back to the ship has long gone. I think it was about £6 for a Murphy's. I'd booked a cabin for the night as I knew I'd be knackered but the other two decided to sleep on the deck somewhere. Apparently not very well as they were knackered in the morning. Waiting to escape at Santander. Loads of bikes on there. Then it was on the bikes heading south for Palencia. A bit further than we'd liked to have done, but it was cheap. At one point Titus veered to the left then caught it and carried on pulling over for a coffee break - he'd fallen asleep. Bloody scary. Nice enough through the mountains but not what I'd have liked to have done. Needs must I suppose. Parked up for the night. We wandered off up the road to try and find beer and food and ended up in a small tapas bar. They weren't hungry having devoured about six chickens between them that they'd got in Sainsbury's.

Evening. Rough week for me, heyho, its mostly over now. Thought best not turn up on whinymotorcycleriders.net without a pic. Pete and anyone else unable to adapt to modern life or consider things may have altered since the 60’s best look away Got the 9T out for Mr Slowly realised it wasn’t insured, I won’t say how far we got before I remembered that Got the Livewire out instead. No this is not our yard. Rode out to Mendip Auction Rooms together and cut Mr Slowly loose because these bikes are chalk n cheese and don’t really fit together, different types of fun. I deliberately went along Weston seafront to take pics for you minger losers so suck it up! and from the other side with the sun on it Somewhere on the Mendips on my way back from Shepton Mallet. Time to find another patsy!

OMG one of Yen’s crowd has turned up or is it one of Bucksters

I think it was round about this day or the next that Pedro contacted me and very kindly offered accommodation and a meal, but I was going in the wrong direction but it would have been good to meet up. He suggested some roads and it transpired that I was just off the one and would be going on another as the "Adventurous Routing" seemed to suggest the same route. Result. The roads in this part of the world are amazing. Surfaces generally excellent, low traffic density and splendid scenery. I will definitely be returning. Just had to stop and take in the scenery. Once again beginning to overheat, it must have been 25degC + as this seemed to be my comfort point. Water and shade. I think that the town was Mirandella. I missed most of it. It was getting hotter so I stopped for a break next to this place. Church? I'd just passed the local baker's van so took a walk back to get some bread, but it drove past. Too late to the party. Anyway could hear hooting so assumed it had stopped up the road and it had. I got some lovely fresh bread to go with my water. Really pushing the boat out! Some of the stonework here looked really old. Clouding over. Mackerel sky. A change of weather coming. Having crossed the border to Spain it wasn't getting any cooler. Another water and bread stop. The river here was typical of most that I'd seen, heavily overgrown due to drought conditions. Arrived at the hotel to be greeted with this note. I have a video that I took of the room but I'll have to figure out how to load it! Chance of showers for the next day and a bit cooler.

Went to bed early last night with a pounding headache not like me to have them at all but up early this morning getting ready for a weekend in cider country on the bike with the wife. Going to a motorcycle rally near Banwell, hopefully not as sick and twisted as the ones Yen goes to and not as gay as the ones Buckster attends

One for @yen_powell

I headed north towards Careres where we'd camped on the way down. A longish ride but I chose a route avoiding Seville passing to the east then through some interesting areas of hills before getting on the motorway for the last bit to the campsite. Slight hitch when I tried to book. They were full up. I checked booking.com for a nearby hotel and it transpired that a room was available at the campsite. I hadn't realised that they had rooms there, next door to reception, which was next door to the bar. Sorted! Some photos of the run there before I got too hot and lost the will to stop. Really enjoyed the ride except for the last bit. I visited the one made famous in WW2 back in 1980 if I remember correctly. Apparently an arab fort/castle. A snack after arriving. I had more of the same later. A change from soaps at home.

Today it was time to head for Portugal where Titus wanted to show us some stones. It was quite a pleasant ride through villages once we'd left the motorway. We found a campsite at Evora that was ok, it had internet, but the pitches left something to be desired. It was getting hot. Time for some laundry. Then it was time to look for stones. By the time we set off it was bloody baking. Interesting ride ending up along some dirt track. Then it was a hike down a footpath broiling in the sun, where we saw a stone. Great. After hiking up a mountain to get back to the bikes I was bushed! More water then another couple of miles to look at more stones. I thought that the mound of earth was for burying people who'd cooked for long enough. Lots of stones. I had a lie down on this one until I realised that I was cooking from it's heat. A new one for me. Bark taken for cork I assume. Then I thought it would be nice to photograph some flowers. I might have been hallucinating in the heat. It looks as if the bark has been taken off a lot of these trees. I remember this as being more colourful, man! This was the highlight of the day. Shade and beer! Unfortunately the food left something to be desired. All to be expected in the local football club bar.

Never been there before.....it's down in Almeria! It's some well known religious place of worship and people come from all over the place to visit it! As always, the Catholic Church explores all avenues of cashing in somehow.......so they've built a Hotel and Restaurant there as well! All the people going in were dressed up to fuck.......whereas I looked like a vagrant, and then I had a piss in their rock garden! Had to.....I was fucking busting! So here we go! Very rural roads to get there......in most places the surface was pretty rough. Eventually found the access road for the place....... We're quite high up here and very windy! Got as near to the building as possible cos I don't like walking! And I'm suffering with a Hernia FFS! They should have brought out the Pope mobile for me really. Life is so much easier with a nice Shad Top Box! Despite my physical limitations I walked around the place! Had a look inside..... Internal courtyard! And one area that's kept behind bars! Fuck knows what goes on in there! Back outside....... So I had a decent run out, though surprisingly it was a bit on the chilly side......about 17C. Made worse by very strong winds. Done enough miles to take the bike in for an oil and filter change now.......but rain is coming in on Wednesday so not sure whether it'll be this week. Bike went great......I can't fault the thing. You lot can of course......but when did your opinions ever count?

I put the CRF back on the road tonight and had a little run to blow the cobwebs off, usual evening ride to Brecon and back was a bit cold on the hands forgot how cold things get on the bike when you go over 60mph LOL Talybont Reservoir Pontsticill Reservoir looking back to where i came from. Look at the dust on the front mudguard Pete that was there when i left the garage might have to clean it What Pete still thinks the whole of south wales looks like Some of the spoil from Merthyr open cast soon to be closed. And Gelligaer mountain road heading home

Went on a bimble to Colin Flashman Motorcycles near Gunnislake in the Tamar Valley this afternoon. Stunning day to be out there. I went to Flashmans on the recommendation of a work mate who praises them very highly. Came across as bleddy nice people, very busy to which is normally a good sign. Proper old school bike shop, I loved it. Several bikes caught my eye but didn’t take to many photos but did find out that the owners cousin married my cousin thirty years ago . There is a reason we all have webbed feet . I left Flashmans and ventured across the Tamar into Devonshire and rode on to Tavistock, a lovely scenic old market town. Should have stopped and took some photos I thought after I was 10 miles down the road After I left Tavistock I popped over to Kitt Hill which was near for a mooch. Today you could see Plymouth Sound, Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor and miles of stunning countryside. Great place. On the way back I popped into Trago Mills Liskeard to get some summer gloves. Some where during the day I managed to knock one of my panniers lose. Reckon I kicked it and it sagged onto the exhaust. FFS it’s fucked. Anyway pissed off and made the decision I can either look at it and be sad or buy a new one and move on Expensive lesson. New one winging its way from Germany as I write this. Filled up on the way back today and saw I did the whole trip in less than a gallon of fuel. .

I love that the State of Colorado doesn't waste money on superfluous items like guardrails on their roads. If you plunge to your death then it's your own fault....

This is the Colorado that no one ever hears about - it's not just all mountains. We have lots of desert, too ...

Not a lot happened as I dropped out of the mountains and into the flats of the Western Slope. Temps steadily increased and topped out at about 76F / 25C near Grand Junction. It felt like heaven to me as I finally escaped cold weather on a bike for the first time in a long time. Got to GJ too early to check in to my hotel so I cruised around a bit. Cool to see the ground change to sandstone from the granite and schists like we have at home...

Getting bummed by a giant beach ball? It’s always bumming with you.

You should make them the mods and see what sort of person(s) it attracts ..................

After a restorative breakfast and to blow the cobwebs away a mountain walk seemed in order (transported by mini bus as who knows what everyones blood alcohol level was at that point). I dipped out of this walk as I’d accumulated too much work that wouldn’t wait and there was a mild threat of losing the flat in Bristol if I didnt act quickly - that just couldn’t happen! So these are not my pics. Knew I was missing out but damn! A vertiginous walk not for the faint hearted On a bear hunt, but they left no clues..

Finished now. Next job, get in the loft and chuck out some of the tons of shit up there while she's not looking . Anyone want a nice top, the label inside says 'Harley Davidson '

Picked a car up from Blackbush, stopped at the airport cafe … Vickers Viking .. derived from the Wellington bomber , think they just brought this one here to restore …they was made just up the road from Blackbush

Soz been absent, busy riding a bike - for more than an hour to an unabandoned spot on more than the odd occasion it doesn't rain and isnt too hot or too cold..