Pedro

You bike whore

Would you be able to start it in somewhere rocky or muddy by yourself with no battery? The lithium battery on my bike died overnight from being fine to being the same as having no battery at all. The Exide shop that I went to after had their full range in stock, but told me that they'd never advise someone on a lithium battery if you go places away from home and want to be sure your bike restarts after an overnight stay or even a long enough stop for lunch

Is there a kick start on it too?

I was thinking exactly of that when I wrote it

You ruined @Clive’s excitement!

We have our top men on it

Me too

this is similar but huge, enough for 5 or 6 people to eat as a proper meal.

Chorizo and cabbage rice Sofia's Gravlax: @Sofia went very English in the kitchen this last Christmas, some sort of pie with turkey and mushrooms inside. Plus some weird cake that was fed spirits for 2 months before being eaten. I did the artwork! Portuguese "king cake", traditional Christmas cake here. It's store bought, though. I don´t get pies, the whole thing of eating bread in a plate is a mystery to me. However, as far as pies goes this one was as perfect as can be. It had some sort of beef stew inside. And back to normal, a proper beef stew: The traditional peas, with chorizo and poached eggs inside:

I'll start it off, the weather's gone ugly now so doubt I'll get a better one until the end of the month.

It's not horizontal, nor on a ride. You're killing me here!

Did you use a discount coupon?

Is it a surprise that every month ends?

To give all these bots something to look at, I've decided to open this a little earlier than normal. This is the picture submission for January Bike Of The Month. You get one entry, consisting of a horizontal picture of a bike you currently own, taken in January during a ride. You can post multiple pictures, I will consider the last one you post as final submission. By 29th January evening time, submissions will be closed and the poll started. For "anyone" that has a special picture taken on the last two days of December that they wish to submit, they're welcomed to it, although it is the lame move

Are you going somewhere Clive?

He had one, 3 years ago.

I hear she’s spamming Elon about a ferry over to Mars

Done, thank you for the warning. I was riding through a monsoon of epic proportions!

We woke up with a clear plan, to show Sofia a part of Portugal she really didn't know and that I quite like, the coast between Tavira and Spain. We hopped on the motorway and went straight to Cancela Vella, a small village on top of an old fort overlooking the ocean. It's a very busy beach in the summer, but great in the winter. A short 5 minute ride away was an ideal spot for what would be a supreme lunch stop. We took our time and enjoyed the warm sun. Very typically, for the region, we had clams and sauteed cuttlefish. From there, we were almost too lazy to get back on the bikes as the location was so great. We went past Manta Rota and Monte Gordo, both locations that get flooded by thousands of families that take advantage of more or less reasonable prices and safe beaches for the kids. The sea here is usually warm and very quiet, not Mediterranean but very close, and since it takes forever the walk into it to get to a dangerous depth it's nice for families. We didn't stop until Vila Real de Santo António, where the Guadiana river serves as a natural border to Spain. That's Spain on the other side. And that's Portugal on the other side now: From there, we got back on the motorway and rode straight back home, about 1 hour or so, making it with plenty of time to relax before dinner. All this taking short trips and having lunch in the sun is very exhausting Next day, we rode a short 40 or 45 minutes to Silves, to visit the Algarve's most important castle. Al Gharb is the muslim name for this region of Southern Portugal, it went from that to Al Garbe, to modern Algarve. It was obviously moor and it's own kingdom right until the Silves castle was taken over by D. Sancho in 1189 and thus established the Portuguese mainland territory and borders that last until today. It's a region where Jews, Arabs and Christians used to live peacefully together, and sadly it's not very often that happens. This Arab influence is felt to this day in the Algarve, their food, their slight differences in mood and ways of being, etc. It's a well preserved castle, and it was cool to walk around it. The Arab influences were very obvious. Oranges are the main culture in this region, and Silves oranges are the sweetest there are. Here extra sweet in the form of cake , with a crumb being shared with a little friend. Lunch was a split portion of bbq pork slices, it was a lovely little trip with not much motorcycling involved but it was still a pleasure to be out on the bike in the sunshine. Sofia obviously took today off from the Speed Triple and rode pillion, seems it's much more practical to have a chauffeur on a GS to deal with mundane urban traffic, boring little streets, and going to the supermarket, and the Triumph is better enjoyed as a proper bike on nice roads with no traffic! That night we had João over for dinner, and many laughs were had, stories were told and wine was consumed. We had some grilled chicken take away which was terribly dry and a big disappointment, touristy shit, but we soldiered on. A big rain storm was supposed to arrive in two days, so the next morning was probably going to be the last sunny day for a week or two, we took that hint and headed back home, packed the bikes and said goodbye to our lovely home for a few days, very kindly lent to us by a friend. We left a little late to sort the place up and leave it tidied up and clean. First hour or so got us up high in the Algarve hills, where we stopped for the traditional morning espresso on a café frequently visited by bikers and cyclists as it's on the end of a lovely road with a nice view. Crossing over from the Algarve to Alentejo: the weather was great, the fields were green, storks everywhere, and spirits were high so i stopped for pictures An hour or two later, and we stopped at a café to eat something as Sofia was freezing as the weather was beautiful but cold. We had a couple of nice sandwiches, juice and water, two espressos, and warmed up in the sun. Total was 7,5€: it was good to find a little bit of old school Portugal As always, cats or dogs come to Sofia for pets And we're off: We got home just a little bit before sunset, it was an amazing day to be out on the bikes, low traffic, just the right amount of bikes out on a sunny saturday, warm sun but low temperatures, just nice. Yesterday the rains arrived, which proves we made the right choice, and today it's absolutely pouring down, it was nice to have spent those few days leisurely enjoying the Algarve at a slower pace than what I usually do.

Next day we went for a walk. Had a nice breakfast outside and left on foot, after an hour or so made it to the beach for a cold refreshment. It's a very cool bar / restaurant with a great view of the ocean. We booked a table for dinner and walked off back home. Sofia went for a rest and I took the GS out for a wash that ended up making it look almost worse, and the Triumph for fueling up because I'm such a great guy. It was a lazy day, which is exactly what Sofia was looking for. The next day we went for lunch with João, he would take us to a very typical Algarvian restaurant, first meeting him in Faro by the market with a brief stop by the marina. We spotted a little 125cc Suzuki that looked very similar to Niel's 1000cc beast, this one even had a similarly slick looking front tire: Parked my bike next to the market side by side with a neglected looking but strong running Famel, fully made in Portugal with an engine built under license from Zundapp. Stickers were Faro MC, arguably Portugal's most important MC. Lunch took forever in true Portuguese style, coal grilled fish under some vines, I loved it! Sunset was watched by the sea, and it was very nice. Got back home in the cold, as temperatures plummet when the sky is this clear, minimum that night was 3 or 4ºC. It was very romantic. Next day, typical Portuguese motorcycling.