Pedro

I'm not bothered to assume I am the casual ...

I never ride with anyone else, and don't think I'm that above average to judge anyway. There have been a few encounters with motorcycle club patch wearing dudes, but that has been after lunch and probably alcohol induced ... not much of an excuse for them

That's true, what is really the point of investing in armor after 60? All that money for a couple more years? Shit, the bruise alone of a stopped bullet is likely to make you want to go

... The devil you know, @Tym

I came to my place for the weekend today, nice cool 23 or 24 for most of the trip, got home, got Maria's car warmed up and went for fruit on it, fixed the toilet, washed my summer jacket, nice day today. Just had dinner, a little bit of goat's cheese, a simple pea sort of curry dish, and too much white wine, got a buzz going and feeling fine. Tomorrow, I'll ride to the hills, and maybe even go to lunch on my favourite restaurant. This area is Portugal's Covid hotspot, so won't go near town.

Well, we’re in 2020, your “friend” can be whichever gender you want

I had a girlfriend like that once and we made up a story to tell people

Agreed, although I don't even care if people ride bikes or not. It's the passion, can be cars, boats, running, cycling, chess playing, if you don't have something that touches you you're not an interesting person. And bikes aren't even a passion for me, just something that makes me feel good.

Great scenery, that's what I expect to see when thinking of mountains and the US. Good stuff! More of the XR650 in the desert as well!

The above, except women with a nice smile who like motorcycles, I assume I like them. There you go, sexism, guilty

Great quote, Goucho Marx was also an american so you can get away with it. Regarding this whole biker / non biker nonsense, I think you're all getting a little bit of cabin fever. I, for one, refuse to see myself as a biker. I just like riding bikes and what they do for me, not really into the whole kindred spirit thing connecting me to every twat on two wheels, except if she's got a nice smile and clever humor. I enjoy riding my bikes, more so if I'm by myself since that is what I'm looking for, time alone. I wave to other people on bikes, and stop if someone is stranded on the side of the road, but don't pretend I have any sort of connection to them, and in fact usually assume I don't. Having said that, I have a couple of friends who also ride bikes and I spend some time with them, usually over a meal and plenty of wine instead of riding bikes, couldn't care less if that takes away from me being considered a biker since I am just a guy who enjoys riding and traveling on bikes. Whenever people assume I would like to hang around someone else just because they also ride a bike, I am the first to correct them saying they can annoy me as much as anyone else, if not more

Jesus wept, Fred! Maybe it's an ugly tax.

I hate this thread!

Enough of the old ones, plenty of girls joining in and that kind of talk just ruins everything for whoever ... Welcome Earache!

Good stuff, us old world people sometimes like to see americans exploring their own history like it’s our own, just on account of all the cinema we see in our living rooms making it feel like our own. Your scenery is better than most of us dream off, so do carry on and post pictures!

Averaging 55kmh in 6 hours of country roads is good going, you're stopping and enjoying the place a lot so it's hard to go faster than that. 340 for an afternoon ride is also quite a distance! Nice pictures, pretty area you live in.

I am curious, as I see a lot of people doing the same thing around here, why carrying so much luggage weight for a short ride?

Here's to it (no toast smilie)

I like your taste, replace a glass of red with two or five, and cognac (I can't savour something that strong) with fragrant rum ?

This is a great thread to have next to the woman riders one, mostly because of the wanking banana

Nice, but coming from the UK don't you miss greener sceneries?

Does the red gate close a private property? Surely that's not closed due to weather! Nice video, great dirt road, marvelous for a proper blast in the dry.

Like a KTM Freeride but 2 stroke?

I really rate the Continental TKC70s I have now on road, both dry and wet, and they give plenty of confidence in the kind of dry hard packed dirt I see in your dirt road reports.