Pedro

November BOTM hasn't happened yet.

This is going into tomorrow evening, guys, don’t miss out on submitting. There’s only two more this year, after that is 2024 and you know what that means.

Never ridden one, but I’ve got a soft spot for a Dyna Sport, I think it looks right.

I like this ride report as it happens thing, I have no instagram or facebook. The chips are done beautifully, the migas I can’t Explain what it is, but the meat is beautifully done and reminds me of something my grandmother used to make. Anyone who eats meat would love this. Having a nice bottle of wine too, I have to because it’s cold outside …

Maybe you should ask @busabeast how it’s done.

Classy bike outside the restaurant now

I liked this, not pretending to be adventurers, just a good frame of mind I think.

Nice one Fred. Do you over the fallen tree properly riding over it? I’m not going to complain about it being chilly here in the morning anymore.

Here: https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/make-a-complaint#cHnykoiIYZwM They have a special office for internet whining

They're the rock in my shoe

Spanish?

I think women here tend to do more horseback riding in proper stables where they jump over stuff, or around the beach. The countryside in center and south Portugal has a lot of tradition for men to ride horses around though, comes from the culture with the bulls and cattle, so I think here there are mostly men riding around towns and fields than women, but I might be wrong. We do have a big thing with breeding Lusitanos, our very Portuguese horses, similar to the Spanish ones but more friendly and easier. I think around those kinds of places you do see women and girls riding around too, but those are maybe rich people buying horses, not really a countryside thing. Edit: I forgot that was in Andaluzia, so there IS a lot of bull culture there.

I had a great night's sleep, ate and drank very well, and then shut down the fridge and air-conditioning in the room so all there was was complete silence in the Alentejo countryside. Woke up quite late to a very foggy chilly morning. After a quick breakfast, things were looking a lot better. The plan was to get a little bit of an off-road fix around the Alqueva lake, and then head home or at least a little bit north. It was around 10AM when I left the hotel and 10 minutes later set wheels on some very nice gravel roads. @boboneleg, the Desert Sled would love it here: Old crumbling church in need of a fix up And a little bit of exploring dirt roads around the lake. Found an ideal spot for a picnic in the future, which turns out to also be accessible by a very nice tarmac road: Some pretty colours for the season: 3 hours into it, I stopped by the lake to eat my sandwich previously bought from a small cafe. I did give it a few moments before making myself comfortable there because there were a few sheep around, and although the typical Alentejo cattle guard dog doesn't care if you're traveling and are usually pretty chill, when you stand between them and whatever they're protecting they turn into a fierce thing, they're big, fast, and don't bark or give you any warning. After a minute I got my sandwich out, a very simple ham and cheese but the homemade bread made it marvelous. After eating, I sat there for a while contemplating, you heard a few of the sheep, the cranes, and even the odd fish jumping out and making a splash. After a bit, someone drove over, I knew I was trespassing but the nice man wasn't bothered at all. He came to check on the sheep and came by to say hello. We ended up chatting for a almost an hour and a half, Joaquim Santos, nicknamed Malaquias is 85 years old, and lives alone after having lost his wife and son. We got along well and he ended up telling me all about his life, since going there at 18 months old after his mother passing and living with his aunt and grandparents, having had planted 1300 olive trees when he was 13 to have them all submerged by the current water level, to going to war at 18 years old to Africa, to them building the dam that created this huge lake on land that looked very different before, emigrating to France to work on farming beetroot, to his current life and current ailments. After a while he drove off and went to search for the sheep who by that time had half wandered back home by themselves. I promised to return, and will do so for sure, a friend has been made. On the picture below you can see him near the water to the left, 85 and walking around like that seems very impressive to me. By this time it was now 14:30, I had at least 3,5 hours to make it home if riding properly non stop, today is Saturday and as such all the other places I usually end up in are a little busy and loud, so I called my previous nights accommodation and bargained the same low price for today as well. I was now glad I wouldn't have a long ride after all these dirt roads, and instead did a little more exploring reasured to have another great dinner tonight and a good night's sleep. After loosening up a little on the bike, I was now a lot more comfortable than in the morning. Trails weaving through trees and hills were now being done more a lot more relaxed than before, in third and fourth gear with ease, and I found out how lovely it is to slightly jump out of drainage ditches. They do these concave concrete paths so that water can overflow from one side of the road to the other between fields, and if you time it right you get a little air coming out the other side, makes me feel like a hero but more importantly helps the bike glide over the bumps usually present on the other side of those ditches. Another stop trying to get the elusive BOTM picture, my phone and my picture taking didn't make the light justice, it was gorgeous out there: I went up to the castle to get a nice scenic view of the sunset over the big lake, didn't even take pictures except of a nice couple who showed up on another GS and helped them take a proper picture instead of a selfie. Then, as I was enjoying peace and quiet and the view, spaniards showed up and fucked everything up for me with their incessant clucking, really, have a listen: I gave up on the quiet sunset view and went to the hotel to have a warm shower, and am now sitting comfortable posting this after a hot coffee. It was a lovely sunset, too Basically today I rode around all day with my luggage on and went nowhere

but it did, it was all quiet when they arrived and when I started it they weren't happy for a moment.

Agreed completely. Your ride report names baffle me, seems like half are medicine names and the other half come if you type randomly with your eyes closed. Cool stuff though, and you're putting the new bike to good use.

I think it’s a 50cc.

Preliminary change of submission

15 beers, for a group of people?

The space and desolation that he finds comforting, that’s my favourite thing about that as well, along with the mountain and sandy desert roads.

A flouncer sounds like something you usually catch fishing.

From Boumalne, if he goes north to Imilchil it’s a great road with some nice offroad. Then from Imilchil go East all the way on the mountains to Midelt or Zaida, again very cool. Then North to Tangiers, that’s a way to enjoy coming back North if there are still no snow on the tallest bits. You have to respect those roads, after October you don’t know what the rains and floods did to them, though, and to push when you’re clearly struggling isn’t smart, having said that those places are less deserted than they look, 20 minutes and there’s always someone around to help. Don’t film your bike when down, it’s disrespectful to it, and mainly you’re wasting the adrenaline from the crash, it will help you pick it up but wears down fast.

It's vintage, the Z250 is collectable, it's got period patina, it's two stroke and oldschool. Each one of these terms brings in an extra 5 to 10% more in value.

The other side had bad road rash visible through the paint. It was a teenager's bike, maybe he just felt like updating it from teenager Rossi to adult Rossi and had a couple of cans of spray paint and a mate with a sticker printer. I found it funny as hell after my initial "weird Yamaha" when it firstly ring-a-ding-dinged from a distance. My GS got a thumbs up from him after noticing the non gay tires, so the dude's ok with me!