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My belly is full of berries. The black berries are everywhere this year and just sweet enough. I think a pie might be in order! If you're in the neighbourhood, stop by for a slice...

I only went out for a little poodle on local roads originally, but whilst out I remembered that I had put a post code into my satnav and saved it a month or so back for one of the places in my Wild Guide book. There were two places I wanted to visit, a hidden quayside with nice views over a river with the best name ever (The Twizzle) and another similar place, but where the quayside stones had originally been part of the medieval London Bridge. I didn't have the book with me and could only find one of the post codes on the satnav, so off to the Twizzle it was, the old bits of London Bridge will be for another day. On the way there I went past a farm entrance with a hedge next to it with a small gateway set into it. Being nosy I stopped and stuck my head through and found a little graveyard, miles from anywhere as far as I could tell, and next door a little church. No idea how they get much of a congregation as no village is close by?? Like most little Essex churches, it is built to look like a wooden rocket ship. I also shot past a tree that to me looked like a giant wooden snail rearing up, so did a u-turn and took some pictures of that. I finally arrived at Quay Lane in a place called Kirby-Le-Soken. The book had said to park in the village and walk up Quay Lane, but I rode up it as far as I could until I met a sign saying any further was private property. The road was very narrow so I plonked the bike into a little concreted entrance to an electrical sub station and after chucking my jacket into the top box I started walking further up the private road (but public footpath). After about 500 yards the narrow lane opened up to reveal a little cottage with its own private bridge. According to the book, it is called Witch's Cottage. A little further along the road ended at a gate into the river. I took a few pictures by the gate then backtracked a few yards and walked along the field footpath which popped out by the river again. A few more snaps and I headed off to Frinton on the coast. It was only 2 miles away, but due to a weird combination of mini roundabout, a railway level crossing and 100 year old drivers it took me 20 minutes to get there. Frinton is the sort of seaside place that doesn't allow pubs, chip shops, fruit machines or ice cream sellers. I plonked my self down on a bench on the cliff top and had a coffee out of my flask. I could see loads of wind turbines out in the channel. They definitely weren't there when I last came here in 1976!

I saw a brand new cottage with a thatched roof today, they still make the odd one. Thatch was banned in London after the Great Fire, but special permission was given for one building to be constructed with one. The replica of The Globe Theatre passed fire safety regulations, partly because the original burnt down and everyone got out safely.

Fred has shown clearly why you shouldn't really go out trail riding on your own, but we've all done it and sometimes you've just got to get yourself out of a situation. Back in 2015 I was riding some new (to me ) lanes in Dorset, the ground underfoot was soft as we'd had a lot of rain but the first set of lanes were uneventful. Then I came to this one, the grass was long (it was July) so it was hard to see what the surface was like . Next minute my front wheel disapearred down a hole , the lane had been undermined by badgers It took me about 45 minutes of sweating to get Doris out , in the photos she's half way out and I'm starting to win. That day was a draw I reckon, Suzuki DR350 1-1 Badgers

Probably not much this weekend, cept for putting crash bars and skid plate on new GS. Oh, and recovering from last weekend's marathon to Idaho, Montana and Bonneville (to see the time trials). Brother's place near Missoula, MT His wife trains Doberman's (they have 3). Here Sofie is saying "hi" to me! That is really her smile as she is a big sweetheart! Brother's garage (14 bikes in there. He has more of a problem than I <G>) Near Stanley, ID Bonneville: SpeedDemon's pits. They run between 400 and 500 mph. Big murican V8, with even bigger turbos The 'salt Random roadster shot on the salt.

Why don’t you have air conditioning at home, @XTreme? That’s just uncomfortable! Just finished dinner in Faro and am drinking my wine outside at 21:40, and it’s 30°c with no wind.

I had to do that with this one bloody farmer covered over the drainage pipe my back wheel found it Looking at these pics of the dog is reminding me of the good times we've had and i'm getting into the frame of mind where i want to start fixing it

hark at Richard Gere and Brad Pitt

Yes the team with the most convincing actors win i think the balls just there as a distraction

Im supposed to post a pic after that great stuff from @alfalfa? Why not. Got out to see what friday nights are all about.

I was supposed to be on this trip with the AGALOS band, but work interfered Continental Divide Ride - New Mexico to Wyoming A very special place to the AGALOS Front and center - Dennis Godwin - US GS Trophy Team / Thailand. Makes a GS look like a 450! Its only flat on one side, right?

@XTreme will you be calling in for a taste of grasshoppers pie

i would sooner watch wire wool go rusty

Is it a sign of mental illness to regret not going on this trip: No gold found, but something twice as heavy....

I am, you tiny prick.

France is just proof of double jab now , no isolation

Drug the old fucker and go to the pub.

That’s an insult to gammon.

Spot on

To be fair, if you were going to steal a picture off the internet then you would find something better than one of some bloke beaten with an ugly stick.

Is that the "sport" where grown men flop on the ground, faking pain?

Yeh.......he's planning to get married soon so he'd like us to be nearer to him in Groningen.

Not one of mine, I'd only have a single arrow in the wrong direction, you get better head-ons that way.

Lunch today, summer style: And dinner, went to the market in the morning and got a nice 2kg Golden Bream, grilled it on coals and had a nice chopped tomato and fresh coriander cold salad as side dish. The fish only takes rough salt as seasoning and a little bit of olive oil after, cannot get more southern portuguese than this. Simple and delicious.

Definitely mate but my team got beat yesterday on the opening game of the Premiership so I’m keeping quiet.

@yen_powell is this your handy work

Now I got a fucking migraine!

you might have to consider changing your screen name.......

It's 9PM.......and 35C! Insane!

No not this week, maybe in a fortnight when I’m m sick of you again.

You're back then you massive cunt!

Oooops shouldn't be in here my mistake .... not old enough for bingo , coffee mornings and trying to chat up the blue rinse brigade...

Since we said good bye to you he hasn't mentioned you.

I'm not keen on the white ones......they always look plasticky! I've always liked the Triple Black models!

I like the colours on the new GS

I was hardly moving luckily. I was somewhere i had not been before and got off the bike to walk what looked like a boggy bit everything was all firm under foot but i had stepped over a bit of running water about a foot wide as i didn't think it opposed a problem and i didn't want to get my boots wet but as you can see it caused if i remember right a two hour inconvenience

That's true.......but if you looked like the Wealdstone Raider then the pic of that Gammon would be a step up!

Still loving my R18, the original model. The full bagger version looks great from the side. It is definitely a direction switch for BMW, looking at their models from the last 30 years or so. But, going back, it fits in their history nicely. Think of it as a Harley that works.

Is there a "Dislike" button on here.?

Do bikes sleep when their upright took me a while to dig this one out on my own

On my way to the beach, this morning, left the fucking car what seemed like 50 miles away from where I should if I had a parking place like Tim’s. Still, gave me the chance to marvel at a quiet morning on the Faro marshes

First Edition ... lets hope its the fucking last.

why do people go trail riding on those humongous things

Its a stretch, but i'm assuming you are at the bottom left quadrant of the picture? no thong pics necessary...

Arriving to Faro by train yesterday night, I caught an Uber across town, and was amazed at the amount of people on the streets. Tens of motorcycles where there’s usually half a duzian, most restaurants have expanded outside because of capacity restrictions inside, every single chair occupied, people eating and drinking and having fun, and lots of people walking around… I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a busier night here except one time there was a concert. It’s nice watching people have fun but I hope it doesn’t blow in our faces.