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After 5 yrs. of not seeing my son...(he's a PMC in Israel) I got wind that he's here in OR currently!....just talked to him for the 1st time in a coupla years...he's in Portland to get his beat-up shoulder operated on (injury from Iraq back in 2011) & process a load of paperwork to get his Top Secret security clearance for a new contract in Germany after he finishes the remaining contract in Israel. Gonna relieve my anxiety a bit as a parent to know he'll be moving up the food chain & outta the field....probably gonna go see him next week...pretty stoked about that!

At least this Walking Scar is still 2-Wheelin'...

So on Sunday afternoon I decided to take a run out as the temperature was up to a near Caribbean level of 12c. I headed south into the Scottish Borders to the popular spot of Moffat but other than a sprinkling of power rangers and a few born agains it was quiet. My new exhausts were attracting a lot of admiring looks from the ladies. From there I headed to St Mary's Loch for a bit of cottaging. I was alone in the toilets though so I just took a piss instead. Again there weren't a lot of bikes, I did speak to a Polish couple who were on a Harley Electra Glide and I had a cigar break. Then I headed back using a single track road I wanted to explore. This took me past Megget Reservoir.

I saw a few of Fred's girlfriends, it is lambing season to if Fred had been here he would have gone full nonce. I then headed to Talla Reservoir, as usual the scenery was okay. Going off the side of the road would give you a bad day here. I eventually rejoined the main road and headed back to Edinburgh.

Good day out with some mates doing a Geand tour of Devon. Trip Stats. Other stuff

First win in my life more like

My hero I really want a cub and joing the "Grandad Gang"

Took the Donk out this arvo

Had a few hours out on the XR tonight pretty much the same route i done on the X Trainer a few weeks ago. People locking gates on the highway again i dropped into the drainage ditch further over to the right to get around as the horse access is a nightmare to get over, the sleepers are placed so when the front wheel hits the furthest one, the rear wheel hits the near one. Easy to wheelie over but i'm not good enough for that. Had a little incident on the lane in Abercynon, I normally go down the elbow which is the correct route but is quite rocky and hard work, so decided to cut the corner but forgot it was pissing down all night which made everything slippery, lost the front end done a lovely forward roll followed by a few barrel rolls, didn't think i was going to stop at one point. Plenty of young ladies about caring for their offspring, i had to kill the ones that looked like me Look at those wind turbine spoiling the horizon

Go on then, burn those retinas.

Even though I'm apparently unqualified due to not having foot pegs ...& yet @boboneleg has won w/ his f*ckin' cool Vespa....& @Clive doesn't catch much flack with his scoot entry, which both are pegless... I'm throwing my motorized 2-wheeler in the mix this month regardless of its pedals...

So, two days ago, woke up and swiftly headed out before it got too warm. As I got just down the road I stopped to check I hadn't forgotten my laptop, stopped by the lake and the water level was maxed out, good! Alentejo is the Spring: Alqueva lake on a clear warm spring day. I took my usual dirt road detour next to the lake to check if I could spot Malaquias, the older gentleman I met here last time. His car wasn't in his property but his two big guard dogs were, so I carried on. A couple of hours later, and I'm getting to the Algarvian hills, on the other side is the ocean and my desired lunch destination. I love these roads but sometimes the tarmac is very rough, being municipal managed roads they vary a lot in quality from one spot to the other. My destination, for a plate of clams. Lunch was my only plan, I didn't feel like waiting around a long time to then get into an overpriced hotel in the touristy Algarve, the 25th April is a holiday in Portugal so along with the previous weekend's Easter holiday it was bound to be seen as high season. I pondered riding back home but and rang a friend in Faro and he had no plans for that night, so I took advantage of his hospitality and headed over. On the way to Faro I found this amazing minuscule road that for 7 or 8km is probably the best road in the region: Faro was warm, it got to 29º that afternoon making it the first warm day of the year. The night was pure Algarve in the way the it was very warm with no wind, we went out to dinner and drinks in the town, and got to bed by 4am. In the morning, we rode up to the hills for a goodbye espresso, and we parted ways. Stop to put on my sweater as the temperatures were definitely cooler today, and those clouds were low and no longer felt like summer. Didn't stop until I got to a usual dirt road shortcut, it's very pretty country there so worthy of a scenic stop. And that's it. Hadn't been on the bike for what felt like ages, I was really missing it so these 4 days felt very nice.

cant go then , im getting married that day.... sorry @Sofia

Dirty yellow on clean yellow.

Found a small oldschool inn to stay in, in a castle town, and went on a walk before dinner: Now waiting for a table. Tomorrow, heading South via the Serra da Estrela.

I've been back up north, Mrs not been great, but now she is pretty well OK I now have time to myself

A38...M1 junction 23a..... passed East Mids Airport, country road to Donington Park...... just a reverse journey back home, nothing exciting was encountered on the journey there and back, did have a short shower on the way there. Took a few photos, phone camera is crap.

How to turn a two hour motorway ride into a two or three day ride. Left late in the morning, maybe past 11, first stop well into the Douro, for a midday snack with a view and company. A bird checking out the GS Little dude ate most of my ham, but I’m fine with cheese. a detour to check out a cliff with some nice views and a very impressive boulder. The heavy rains over the last few weeks have saturated the last with water, it’s sprouting from everywhere. Back to some more familiar views:

Timing seem'd good for the weather there @Pedro....some great pics... This one would be a good BOTM entry...

After saying goodbye to the cyclists, I head out to a very pretty part of Serra da Estrela, often ignored by biker tourists. The weather is great and the roads are empty. Stop by a castle and have s look around searching for an espresso, with no luck. It’s a very pretty well fixed up village though. take an unnecessary dirtroad detour, with what turned out to be a nice road just next to it Got up to the peak with very little traffic and didn’t even stop. It snowed last weekend, plus a national holiday on Friday so lots of people up there, I carried on. Going down the mountain I didn’t feel like stopping at all now, it had been a long time off the bike and I was loving it. Carried on south and into the Alentejo always on small roads. Temperatures got high, at over 25, and Spring is springing. From boulders and rock mountains to rolling hills feels like heading South for sure. Found a deal on a room and stopped for the day after a good day on the bike. In time to freshen up and watch the sunset while searching for dinner. Braised pork cheeks with oven cooked rice, it was fantastic.

Yes. I was up there last week and didn't see one that was standing.

Nope...just an update on what my boy's been doing for the last 5 years....he KNOWS what info to tell me & when....had that "Need To Know" basis since he was in Iraq.

There is a strong effort being made to make it look nice, but it is countryside and most urban problems are being kept away. Inside the village at 19:30 all you heard was swallows or nothing at all, I love it! On the other hand, while the seaside was getting rain storms lat saturday, these guys were getting proper snow! My dinner table was taking forever as the tiny restaurant was backed up because the waiter called in sick, so a cycling team who are also my neighbours invited me to sit with them. I had a great time, way better than sitting by myself. Eventually the cyclists finished eating and went to rest, and me and management stayed finishing off some wine. Picture taken with a full table, except myself taking the picture and another two people as the room was tiny and I couldn’t get farther enough : Walking back to the hotel, I was shown around their very impressive van complete with washer and dryer, freezer, 8 bicycle garage and shop, and two seating rows. The GS is cozy in the garage as well, which is nice as it’s cold out. I am a fan of this place, now, and will return. Tomorrow: mountain and heading South.

Rained today , jumped in the van went to the potteries motorcycles for a look round .,, just been for a little walk .. lovely derelict old house … had a sold board up , wonder what that went for

Suns out … Matlock packed .. found a car show up the road

Yeah I still have the busa, who in the right mind would swap a busa for a scooter.....

@Six30 is in a lesbian relationship

A young couple were walking down Lovers Lane, When suddenly she said Darling I NEED A WEE and the chap said go behind that hedge, which she did, He couldn't resist it he put his hand through the hedge for a little grope, When he felt something long and warm hanging there and he said BABE have you changed your sex, and the girl said I've changed my mind you silly boy I'm having a shit.

Well that's day one overBut it's for my precious things Anyway I think I do a lot worse in the woods

Look at that tawt , even the artic wants to overtake him ...............

Blimey , does that look like anyone we know ..........

Gonna be 72+f here today.... the Mrs. & I went to Emmett ID yesterday to retrieve the rest of her stuff in storage...collected a $120 deposit which paid for a pizza lunch & made a dent in her income tax bill. Emptying the car out today...mowing the front yard lawn & hopefully getting her out on the Etrike.

I had a 20 mile round trip, very nice out there, but I was slightly over dressed Not many bikes here considering the nice weather, the traffic was crap.

I went to view a house today, it was advertised as having a double garage which it had but the photos cleverly hid the fact that there was no driveway, the garage was at the back of the garden with about 60 feet of lawn in front of it. They just used it for storage and a gym, there was no vehicular access.