Pedro

Sofia's very best friend came over from England to visit, and rented a bike for four days to go and see some of Southern Portugal. Sofia was going to take her on a short tour around Alentejo, there was warning of really bad weather, but still I decided to join for one day before going back up for work. Ended up aborting that plan and we spent a nice three days riding around. Screw work and long live motorcycles and good times! On a sunny but cold Sunday morning I set off from my place on my own, stopping for a breakfast expresso on my favourite place, Then rode into Alentejo on nice and empty roads, touring gently and enjoying the place, I had missed these more open spaces We were meeting up an hour's ride ahead, and I had some time to kill while the girls where picking up the rental bike and making their way to the meeting point, so I got off the main road and explored a little Found an amazing dirt road leading up to a small hotel and farm, I got a little excited and the day's top speed was certainly achieved on a straight dusty dirt road, that makes me quite happy These flowing corners made me wish for more aggressive tires, so that I could probably properly throw myself onto a tree playing Malcolm Smith Got to the agreed meeting point, had a snack consisting of a local typical chicken pastry and waited, and waited, and an hour later my company arrived: Barbara, used to Ducatis, quite enjoying the NC750's ease of ride and promptly declaring it the ideal rental bike for touring! I sat on it and think it's too low (as she does), it might have been a little lowered, I have no idea. After their midday snack, we rode off with the two best friends catching up ... on and on, relentlessly ... on the intercoms ... I took us to the castle at Arraiolos, which to me is one of the nicest views in the Alentejo region We then proceeded to Estremoz, our stay for the night, and I amused myself taking pictures of my rear view mirror, most of them out of focus but a couple of usable ones A stop to show Barbara a local winery, where a very small taste was had just before reaching the hotel A nice scenic road and we made it to the convent where we'd stay for the night The next day we had something to sort in Estremoz and that took all morning, which meant we left late. A stop for lunch near the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa was not avoided, though Quick stop by a famous dolmen... And then visiting the Castle of Monsaraz, which is nearby to where we'd stop for the day, didn't ride much at all that day but spirits were high: An aperitif was had at sunset while temperatures dropped, the cool fresh air had really opened my apetite. Showered and warm I fetched a little local cheese and wine, all they had in a period where tourists don't really pass here, and it was a result as we settled to see a cold Alentejo sunset before dinner We walked to a nice restaurant, converted from an old olive oil press room, and the food was amazing. I had (and shared) the octopus, it was declared unanimously delicious: The next day started with a cold morning. Stopping by a lookout of the Alqueva lake, here I am pondering my need to have brought proper touring pants as I was expecting lots of rain and cold, but happy for the sun. Quick stop in Mertola and I'm grinning at the prospect of the roads ahead of us. After the road crosses that river behind me in the picture it gets nice and fast, in my opinion you won't find a nicer 200km of tiny roads than what's ahead. Tarmac is dry, tires are good, sun is shining, prospect of being let lose on a nice road before a nice dinner and wines with a few laughs, etc... all that made for a happy Pedro I only stopped a couple of times, I have plenty of pictures of these roads from previous rides so only took a couple to catch the girls passing by. Barbara, being English and clearly used to a less brute civilization was pretty happy with the nice road surface, particularly the road markings (!!!), unlike my other favourite roads which lack these refinements and apparently are like farmers' track to a foreigner. Quick stop for water and deciding where to point our steeds for the night. A decision was made for Beja, trying to be within easy reach of Lisbon for the next early afternoon ... we did enjoy ourselves at dinner and Beja is a charming town to walk around searching for a restaurant. Sofia wanted to show off her favourite old bridge and again ride over something built more than 2000 years ago, so we did. It's still there and probably still will be long after electric motorcycles are finished when we'll all be riding martian plutonium powered bikes, those Romans and their slaves knew how to make a bridge: Here I am, acting as a guide and probably explaining the intricacies of roman ancient history and building bridges with rocks ... A german tourist was leaving just as we were arriving this place, and took our only group picture Couldn´t help but stop to check this out, someone converted an old dolmen and adapted it into the entrance of a chapel, I can't get mad at it although not the best conservationist effort ... Crossing the Ponte Vasco da Gama´s 12km length is a fine way to enter Lisbon, sadly, this meant returning the rental bike thus ending the trip. It had been a fun three days. After Barbara returned the Honda, I gave her a ride to Sofia's and proceeded to cook a nice dinner after going grocery shopping, it was a bit of a flop but out of sympathy and love they declared it a win. A lot of wine was consumed and a lot of reminiscing was done, I was amused with the realization of how small the world is when I spotted Barbara wearing a Luigi Moto jumper, isn't that where you work part time, @boboneleg? Earlier today I made my way north, by myself, and caught the only serious rain in the entire trip on the last 45 minutes before getting home. Here stopping to put winter gloves on in a rare moment of proficient motorcycling.

Is it on purpose that there are crosses on her boobs? I used to have a friend who did one of those semesters away in university, in Edinburgh, he absolutely loved it.

Bet they don’t feel like 50/50 on wet roundabouts either, sometimes they feel ok if you’re just touring along happy as can be, other times they feel like they do everything poorly

It's no choice for a sane person given a choice!

Coca Cola? Smart choice High on sugars, though...

That Japan can mind their own business , UK and US political hypocrites of the highest order, for Switzerland it's just another business day, and for UAE it's just another day in paradise!

What a couple of boring resentful anti Rossi old bastards, you two are!

That's just lovely! Road tires? I'd ride * through those puddles on my TKC70s's. Those tires look like proper 50/50! *not on my own GS though, got to keep those shaft splines nice and dry except if crossing a flood to save my life

I’ll use that next time I see a castle, will sound proper smart! Cool ride report!

That is very civilized

Rode home, from the grey moody north where my phone took this weird focus picture And got home in sunny Ribetejo, in time for a late lunch, was very happy to find my almond tree in full bloom

I'd listen to Slowly, @Richzx6r, or maybe even better your doctor after a checkup, a permanent concussion isn´t exactly ideal if you take up racing either.

I almost voted for @Tango, because of the purple (is that purple?) gas tank and the pretty bike, but voted for @Sofia because of the Alentejo hills and trees and sunshine and because it´s an amazing place to ride. And the Speed Triple too

I bet he took it out for the picture. Which is double the risk, as he might not be able to put it back on!

And our weather is quite different, I can’t stand hot bikes in the summer, the GS is my limit.

Southern Portugal at it’s best!

Not what I meant

You would think horse riders would prefer not to have those thicker branches on a muddy trail. For mud and an easy trail like that, would you still prefer the new 2 stroke to the XR?

Is that two pictures put together? Looks like a line down the middle

I love how the Mulstistrada looks, to be honest. But two things make me not even want to try one, the first being how hot they supposedly run, I like to spend time on country roads in the summer, both these and the KTMs supposedly pump quite a lot of heat to your inner thighs. The other is the portuguese dealerships, I don't care for them, shit service, they pretend like they're a Ferrari dealership and it's your privilege that they let you buy a bike But I do like them, on theory.

Fucks sake, Pete, is that a real painted building in the background instead of a crumbling half built mess? Trying new things!

Do driving schools use auto boxes in the UK?

No, please, there's no need for extremisms! I'll remember @Sofia about this, she must have a couple of nice ones.

Only couple of pictures of my bike this month were next to some unexpected early spring flowers

My girl and I always laugh at how competitive we are. But I laugh more!