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It can be summed up quite easily. The region we were due to visit is now a flood disaster zone on an epic scale its also impossible to go to France without an enforced quarantine when we return. And I cannot knowingly do that. It seems just wrong to carry on being in denial or hope there might be a turnaround. The plan for next year is a 2 week trip to the Austrian Alps and Italian Dolomites, same time. The weekend after August Bank Holiday. So will be trying to shift tunnels bookings etc to that date, if a refund isn't possible. And will begin thrashing out the details later this year once we are in the winter blues and need something to look forward to. And hope for better times.

Well dropped my blood level from 11.5 on Saturday down to 6.4 today so on the right track.

@boboneleg The trips I organise are on-tarmac only, the guys I invite are usually inexperienced riders (to begin with) who have never toured before. (usually) So, its generally very relaxed and has to be relatively stress free. Though there have been a few memorable occasions when we 'off roaded' by accident.. I got a shedload of earache. from them all aside from one chap on a TRX850 who thought it was a hoot.

Queuing up for covid test................. The Van Van makes the perfect bike for whizzing around town, bloody hot again so just went with t-shirt and shorts, too hot for wearing the bike gear.

here's one i stole earlier , notice its appropriately parked next to a bin .

The Dolomites are very impressive, if you like a bit of gravel trail riding I have maps

When Buckster got the wrong memo on freedom day....

She may be an OAP now.....but her voice hasn't aged one bit!

Have you seen the price of raZer blades lately!? I;ll trim when it starts to itchwich is soon butt i thought the white hair went nicely against my tan skin so i left it a few days.

Every year except this year. the door has been slammed. Luckily, last year the door was partially ajar although I was forced to be very careful about where I stayed. Germany, Italy and most unlikely of all Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein. a place that will go down in memory. A campsite with its own restaurant, where a starter cost (minimum) €25 and a bottle of Erdinger €7 Less said about that the better. Highlight.. was the most banal thing. Though a first for me. Crossing the Danube by ferry. and then looking back at the Bavarian mountains that border the Czech republic. sad git me.

Rent a mob, got nothing better to do with their time . Get Tym over here and shoot the fuckers

Saturday, club run up Angeles Crest Highway (look it up - local squid run for Los Angeles) to Lake Arrowhead for lunch. First thing we saw was a body on the highway, covered and surrounded by Highway Patrol. Found out later a bicyclist climbing up the mountain must have expired. Makes for a sober ride. some fine classics at the meetup spot. After lunch, a spirited ride back over the Crest, and down Upper Big Tjunga (one of my favorites in that area) and out and down to civilization. Trying to find the most curves we could. Then, Sunday, another friend was leading a group ride for Aether Apparel and back up the Crest we went: Newcomb's Ranch was busy. Still trying to figure out why it closed and the land is up for sale. Trying to get the club to chip in $6k each to buy it! Would make for a great clubhouse, BNB, restaurant, shop, etc! Sunday's ride included some offroading along the myriad of forest service roads in the area. Kind of hard to grasp that we are about 15 miles from around 12 million people! It was a long, hot day on the trails. But lots of fun riding new roads and finding new camping options. Woke up this a.m. to proof its Monday: Couldnt run over that with the old tire. had to pick it up with the one that has just 50 miles on it!

@XTreme will be taking this thread to the bathroom with him.

Last day tomorrow so i'm out on the bike all day the heat will probably kill me but needs must, Back to work Wednesday got a feeling i'm going to be asked to work weekends as the job i was doing has fallen behind hence the reason for going out tomorrow

Yes portion size plus sugar and carbs intake.

Those are really cool colours on that Va;an @boboneleg

It was the 'and that' on the end of a sentence that piqued by suspicions...

What I find fascinating about this kind of attitude is that the very first mobile phone I ever saw, late 80s was powered by two lead acid batteries and was the size of a pull-along suitcase. Wholly impractical, but paved the way for a brief foray into alkaline and then once phones became truly pocket sized, Lithium. As with everything, new tech is going to be expensive due to set-up costs plus a relatively small market. But as with all tech that will change. As the switchover continues prices will fall. And eventually lead acid will be relegated to older machines for a time, until the tech can deal with them too. Ive been very lucky, the lithium battery in my own bike has been completely reliable and in the almost 3 years of ownership I have seen 3rd party replacements appear 1/4 the price of the OEM... which has forced the price of the OEM down to a degree. A 1000cc bike with a battery little bigger than a packet of 20 cigarettes - 4" wide, that when standing unused will lose 1% of its charge per month. so not much need for a charger/maintainer. Quite amazing. Lithium battery tech for motorbikes and other vehicles is based entirely on the tech used in mobile phones, and we dont give that a seconds thought. I never see phone owners wishing we could go back to the good old days of lead acid.. or even Duracell type alkalines in their phones... its all about longer usage times and shorter charge times. More from less and as cheap as possible. Safe obviously as its often kept in a pocket.

Greetings from the Grasshopper!

Beach ride report, my third most favorite parking spot, makes for a dramatic entrance in front of all the soccer momming mini vanners. Artsy fartsy beach pic ATGATT? right, if you;re a squidly Shirley.

Some pictures for Six to steal.

Yes.. everyone else. (I normally take a small group) had to drop out, mostly due to paranoia about possible enforced quarantine on return. In the event that never happened. I was totally honest. I crossed countries that were 'on the list' like Austria. And although I went into the Czech republic, briefly. I didn't stop anywhere public. and after a couple of hours was back in Germany. It was nice, after so many years taking groups to be on my tod. off the leash (so to speak) nice.. but not the same. I used the time to reccy for next year.. when we will be heading down to Austria and into the Dolomites.

probably.

Yeah, they weren't all that crazy. These connect the various camp grounds in the area, so are pretty well maintained. We only had four go down, but that was due to the high speeds more than the conditions.

Nice work Swagman, can't be easy but like you say, needs must

Yeah i know how you feel I’m not a healthy food or small portion person either, that’s just what I’ve been eating bland food yuck, but needs must I guess.

“methinks the lady doth protest too much“

Good news @Swagman My blood glucose was up to 78 in February and the last test i got it down to 43 eating the most bland diet ever because i just don't like healthy food, my next test is in 2 months don't know what that's going to be like after working away for a week and 10 days isolating as i cant seem to stick to any diet when i'm not in work as sad as it is work gives me a routine that i can stick to

ok Village...

We know it isn't yours, there is no van.

I have a Covid test (wife too) next Saturday,as I have my hospital appointment on Thursday.......1st time I have had to do one. Daughter tests us on Mondays &Fridays.

I have no idea until I get there.

My issue with lithium batteries is when people fit them to bikes that were not designed to use them, yes they work when everything on the bike works 100% but when things are not quite right with the bike is when the problems start. I recently read about someone who had fitted a Lithium battery to a 2017 Africa Twin which didn't come fitted with one from new. He said he was riding along and the bike just died not a single light on the dash and he had to get it recovered. When looking into the problem he found the battery had gone into safe mode and was unrecoverable so a new battery was needed, once fitted he then found his bike wasn't charging the battery because his reg/rec had failed and in his mind that was why the battery failed but in reality it was the other way around the reg/rec had failed because his battery had switched off while the engine was running. Lithium batteries are fantastic when used on what their designed for but i wont be changing the lead acid for lithium on any of my bikes. my 2016 Africa Twin is still on the original battery and when that fails which could be any day now i will be replacing it with the same one.

There’s only one your not in plague island, thank fook.

Yes, Thursday afternoon.

I have to go for a Covid test tomorrow then me and Ersilia have to isolate until Thursday.

How lovely to see you here. What with you being an intelligent man you may find it difficult to sink low enough to enjoy yourself though, try a large glug of whisky and letting rip, seems to work for everyone else So it’s all off for this year then? Ive been checking in every week or so but have been a bit busy so don’t know what the score is. I’ll have a look later. Nice avi, nice panniers, nice bike, great pics.

Let's call in a Medical professional to get some assistance! @Slowlycatchymonkey.........can you give Bob's stump a good going over?

Being beaten to death is to good for some people.

This is almost as bad as @XTreme's pubes photo i mean socks and sandals ffs

Riding, castles and trail braking on Sunday no doubt accompanied by the sounds of knicker elastic snapping in every populated area between here and possibly Loch Lomond.

Just got a text from the doctor he’s put up my blood pressure tablet as I have high blood pressure, yeah I have nigh blood pressure because they decided to lower the normal 140 over 90 to 120 over 80.

I came across this, a very popular biker hotel/Meeting place, 18 miles north of the Nurburgring.. but just look at whats happened to it. My photos were taken with my old iPhone SE, now traded in.