Saul

I had a very hard paper round.

Sunny when I left home.

It's just marketing wank. Might sound faster

I slept most of today

Part two We left Penberth Cove with the WI Fete still in full swing. We talked about going to Porthcurno beach to see the cables but the Minack Theatre cafe had a stronger draw. Problem was it was closed to the public unless you had booked ahead. So we followed the coast road around past Porthcapel, Porthgwarra, Nanjizal Bay, Lands End, First and Last House and finally onto stop at Sennen Cove. Gwynver beach in the background. Apparently we can’t park there So we went to for some much needed refreshments Saw this Tripple Black and I thought of @Pedro Sounded great with a full Akrapovic system. Owner was a Sennen local riding around in flip flops. Sennen Beach Lifeboat house and slipway We headed off again withe the old nail riders wanting to stick to the slower B roads for the scenery, apparently. Wasn’t bad at all to be fair. Headed past Land’s End Airport, St Just, Botallack, Pendeen, Zennor all across Tencrom to St Ives. Decided then to head back to Hayle and ultimately back to Hell’s Mouth again for Coffee. While I was getting the drinks some of the lads helped some guy bump start his 1250 Bandit with flat battery. Wish I had some photos of some very comedic antics. How none of the lads had a heart event I will never know. Silly old feckers. Matey who owned the Bandit was just as bad he must have been 70. They got him going and had to have a few quiet minutes drinking their coffee to recover. Now all flagging and miles from home they finally agreed to take the A30 home. I lead them onto Portreath, Redruth and Scorrier before rejoining the A30. Had to keep the pace down to 60/70 so the British Nails didn’t destroy themselves or blind their riders with vibes. Despite that we made it home to Fowey by around 18:00 in time for cocoa and a nap. Twas a bloody good day. We are going up to Dartmoor next time be cooler up there My day stats from leaving work in the morning. The lads did about 145 of those miles. Really enjoyed riding the CBF again after its repairs. Great, capable comfy old bike. And it’s got to be said in good company.

Mate I lived here all my life and I still have much to see. Now we are all at least semi retired it is an excuse to get out on the bikes and look. More to follow later when I get the chance.

I finished my night shift at Lanson Hospital at 08:00 and should have gone home to bed but I got the Bat Signal from from the FOGGs (Fowey Old Grump Git Group) saying a ride out was going to occur at 09:00 4Turnings Garage. Of course there was no choice, I had the call! so I sneaked out of work 15 mins early pinned the throttle for the 35 mile ride back to Fowey. Got home, changed out of my uniform, took my meds and made 4Turnings with 10 minutes to spare. Didn't have time to swap bikes but I filled the CBF600 the day before and it was well up to the task of the old British Bike nails in the group. The Mission for the day was to find Martyn's ancestral home in Mousehole and recreate a photo of his Grandmother. At the meeting point we decided the first order of priority for the day was breakfast So we headed west, through Par, St Austell, Grampound, Tresillian, Scorrier, Portreath across the hayle Towans to Hells Mouth and the excellent Cafe that resides there. The Lads (Ha! that term was only accurate a long time ago in the 1970's) had the obligatory fry up but I, in my quest to be less of a fat cunt and survive past my upcoming 60th birthday, only had a coffee and tears of envy. Suitable vittled we again headed West through Hayle town past the Hayle estuary onto St Erth, Crowlas, Long Rock on to Penzance, Newlyn and finally Mousehole. Of course while we were there Ice Cream was on the cards. The Blackberry and Clotted Cream was particularly nice. Also saw a rat running around thought is was suppose to be the Mousehole Cat that was famous, shame he wasn't on duty today, he would have had some sport. Apparently the oldest house in Mousehole and the only one to Survive the sacking and burning of the village by the Spanish in the 15th century, or so the stone on the wall said. I think the Citroen is more recent. We met the nicest parking guy ever when we stopped who let us all park for free and also let us leave our helmets and jackets in his shed. Good guy, I reckon he liked the Cornish flag stickers on my bike, even though I do believe he was a Cockaneese in origin. We were probably lucky to get our helmets and Jackets back. Martyn majestically recreating the photo of his Grandmother in the exactly same spot a 100 years later. Interesting to note the name of the cottage now given that his family migrated East to Fowey (Foye). Looking out from Mousehole to Prussia Cove on a sunny day could almost be the Med. St Michael's Mount out there in the Blue. After enjoying a mouch around Mousehole on foot we headed off again. We thought about going to Lamorna Cove but decided not to as they have a particularly aggressive ANPR system there that likes to issue parking tickets like confetti if you don't pay quickly enough. Also on top of that there is essentially fuck all there apart from a cafe that is an Emmett honey trap and a disused granite quarry. People only go there because of the song. So we decided to go on to find the Merry Maidens Stone Circle in hope of benefitting from it's pagan fertility endowments. Couldn't fucking find it which was probably just as well given our age and collective health issues. So Penberth Cove was our decided destination given that it was much prettier than Lamorna Cove and free to park. Well I say park I meant abandon our bikes at the side of the road, but it was okay as the locals were all in a field at the WI Fete just up the road. Rather an attractive place. All run by the National Trust now so just an expensive dormitory with don't do this and don't do that signs everywhere. Still free to visit at the moment until the NT work out a way to commercialise the view. Steve having a Reginald Perrin moment, he said he was seal spotting but we know what he was up to, demented old fool. How the used to get the boats up and out of the water. How they do it now with a magic shed. Well not really, just an electrically powered hydraulic winch. Or so the geeks told me whilst on a Man Nip trip high on looking at mechanical things. Martyn testing the bridges capacity. You'll notice not much timber around here. When it all gets a bit to much best to sit and collect your thoughts. Martyn and Bob in crises or possibly just a bit sweaty. Dazed and confused group selfie just to prove I was actually there.

I haven't got a van Dear Boy, That van belonged to the Paramedic I was working with

Now all is good on the CBF I am back to 2 wheel commuting. The ride in is never much but the morning ride home across Bodmin is beautiful. I’ve missed this a lot. .

Been watching Chicargo PD. Bit of a formulaic police drama but my Mrs likes that sort of thing. Soap Copra. Ok though.

I have always thought they look the dogs bollocks.

Yeah that would be a red flag

I would care if she bought me a pre `V-tech VFR

Does look nice, but isn’t your GS heavy enough already.

Any good? Too noisy?

I did it on the 600. I did wait until I had got over the annoyance about it before sharing. I'm over it now I remember those Enfields, I think it was originally a water pump engine.

Not here, you do see project bikes going for that sort of money quite often. The point was this one was just down the road from me. But by the time you did, battery, tyres, forks seals, brakes plus whatever else you can get a tidyish one for £1500. Plus I don't really want a sports bike either.

My Mrs spotted a CBR600RR on FB marketplace nearby yesterday for sale for £450 and offered to buy it for me. I was flabbergasted, she is after something, newer car I reckon It wasn't really the bike for me as it the sort of deal where I would have had to spend £1000 plus sorting it out when I could buy a tidy one ready to go for £1300 to £1500. I do like them but I doubt I would ride such a thing much unless I wanted to tear it up and that isn't really my thing anymore. Plus Shadow would be obsessing over it and make my life a misery. But it was nice of the Mrs to offer though.

Oh dear, I thought you could do better than that. My Mrs was calling me DiseaseSaul for a couple of days.

Remember this post when I was all chuffed with myself for sorting the bike out. It's been long enough now and I have got over what happened on the first run out after the service. Shadow was still off the road so we went up to Damerells for her favourite Sausage sandwich then for a bimble about for 60 miles or so. Ran like a dream but when the fuel light came on I dropped in the garage and filled it up. About a mile later the it conked out. WTF. Anyway turns out I filled it up with diesel. Bloody self inflicted disaster. Only about 3 miles from home so I got the Mrs to collect Shadow and called the AA. I talked to the dispatcher and explained what happened. He said I was in luck as they now offer a refuelling service where they drain the tank and put 10 litres of E10 in. I was interested but not at the £190 they charge for doing it. So I said no thanks and asked to be recovered home. The dispatcher said fine but there maybe a charge for that if the Patrol man has to go and get a trailer to put the bike on. I said there better not be as I already pay for my bikes to be covered. Patrol man turns up after an hour, which I thought was pretty good, and surprisingly he was already equipped with one of those fold out transformer type bike trailers. A fiddle to put together but clever bit of kit. He was a biker, good as gold and offered to drain the tank for me gratis if I signed a disclaimer form. He checked with his control who said he wasn't allowed to do that anymore. Of course not money grabbing B'stards. So he dropped me home and advised me to syphon out the trank, drain the float bowls and let it smoke out with some fresh fuel. Which I did. His off the book advice was that the worse that was going to happen was the carbs/fuel system would have a bit of a flush type passive clean through. Very helpful guy. So now a few weeks later and a fresh tank of fuel and it's running lovely so all ended well. I'm over the embarrassment and annoyance at my stupidity now, enough so to tell you lot about it. Of course my mates haven't mentioned it at every opportunity since. Also still a bit pissed off with the AA's upselling stance when you call them. I pay £20 a month for their service to cover me and the Mrs, bikes included. I expected better. And yes it's the first time I have ever done that

He's alright, just besotted with Shadow. Working and treats her right, all I could ask for at their age.

Pick tells you all. Even has to park his bike behind hers.

That’s probably all you can ever want for your kids really. I have two daughters, I worry about the older one but I worry more about Shadow as she is scary in her focus and singleminded approach. I’m sure she will make a success of whatever she does I just hope it’s not contract killing.

I will talk her into lightening up, just gotta make her think it's her idea.

Fixed it She is only 17, she doesn't know anything about that sort of deviance. She is just an angry little young woman determined to get her own way in everything. He went out with his mates last night and she marched him home, forced him to drink pints of water and take paracetamol then threw him a pillow and blanket and told him to sleep quietly on the sofa. Poor little fucker isn't allowed to breath. And I don't know what she has told him about me cause he wont look and me in the eye.