Adventure in the Pyrenees - Part 5 - A free day option

 Santuario de Torreciudad

Wednesday morning both a bit bleary eyed and tired we discussed todays plans over breakfast. I fancied a ride south to visit some lakes/reservoirs I'd spotted on the map but didn't fancy a full day so explained to Rob this option of returning sometime early afternoon. Since Rob had issues with his visor breaking on both sides he opted to have a day off the bike do some bike maintenance e.g. oil the chain and try and make a more secure visor fix and rest up a bit. A wise choice I thought, considering his first long bike tour for a long while it would set him up for the remaining days riding further into Spain. Just before leaving I noticed a tower and cathedral marked on the map in the hotel lobby that looked interesting, so by 10am I was heading south in bright sunshine along the A-138 (the A being Aragon) with large bodies of azure blue water of the Mediano and El Grado reservoirs to on my left both connected by the Rio Cinca and a huge dam at one end near the town Ligüerre de Cinca. 

The land around the reservoirs seemed quite barren and dry almost desert like and I soon saw a sign directing me to 'Santuario de Torreciudad' inviting me to take a twisty road up over a high headland overlooking El Grado. Parking up in a covered bay I changed into shorts and left my bike gear secured to the bike and wandered over to look look at the huge modern brick built building. What immediately caught my eye was the magnificent view across the reservoir and snow capped mountain peaks on the horizon.

As I walked a man said hello and I assumed he was British but it turned out he was from Belgium on a visit with his wife. He explained he had a holiday home in the area and was a regular visitor to the Sanctuary, built in the 1970's and informed me the mountain peak I could see in the distance was Monte Perdido - the lost mountain. The sanctuary is dedicated to the virgin Mary and represented by a sculpture of Mary and child overlooking the Rio Cinca. As a sickly child aged 2 Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer was taken to the shrine by his mother and was subsequently cured of his illness. In later life as the founder of the controversial Opus Dei sect he built the sanctuary in gratitude to the virgin. 

I found the shrine fascinating being built almost entirely out of 20th century brickwork. The modern style of the pillars and structures were very unusual as I walked around the square. I went down the path at the edge to view the mediaeval tower below that overlooks the El Grado reservoir. On the way back I met up with the Belgian man again who introduced me to his Wife and also a Priest who didn't speak English but the Belgian man translated between us. The priest seemed amazed I had ridden a 'moto' all the way from the UK and after saying goodbye I spent some time sitting inside listening to a serman in Spanish while looking at the huge sculptured alterpiece to reveal different scenes of the Virgin Mary. The inside roof and balcony areas gave the impression of being carved in some way until I realised they were made entirely of brickwork too. 

Later, I wandered back to the bike and changed back into my bike gear where I quickly realised my schoolboy error. I had left my boots under the bike and they were now swarming with small ants. I tried to rid the boots of ants but ended up putting them on and hoping they didn't bite but did feel them itching as I rode off. I returned via the A-139 tracking a river north but soon realised I was running low on fuel. My Navigator found me a solitary petrol pump at a small station near the junction with the N-260 not far from the tunnel that leads up to Campo. As I took off my gloves I turned around and noticed a group of at least 6 Spanish bikers suddenly arrive behind me. I quickly grabbed the fuel nozzle before I'd detached my tank bag because I didn't fancy a long wait in 30 degree heat with itchy feet while they all fuelled up. Further down the road on a fast downhill section they were travelling faster and having fun so I moved over to let them pass easily prompting each one of them to do the right leg wave as a thanks. Later at the bottom of another fast road section near a roundabout I saw some gathered around a Police biker stood there with his notebook. Oh dear, I guess I was lucky travelling alone, he may well have pulled me over instead I thought.

Back in Ainsa around 2.30pm, as I turned on to the roundabout outside Hotel Mesa I saw Rob wave while sat looking all relaxed in the shade drinking beer at the restaurant. By now all I could think of was getting those itchy ant infested boots off, cool down drinking a beer with Rob. He explained he'd had a good morning sorting a few things out including the visor problem and eaten a good lunch. I ordered his recommendation a plate of lamb chops and egg salad with a cool beer. Most enjoyable sitting in the shade people watching. Later in the afternoon I relaxed on the balcony for a while before preparing our bikes for tomorrow's ride. I packed some gear to be ready for an early start before a light meal of Spanish omelette in a baguette over the road at the lively Hotel Sanchez followed by a pleasant walk up the steps to the old town overlooking the river. We called it a day soon after to get some sleep after not before grabbing a a beer from the bar to watch one of the Euro football matches.

Adventure in the Pyrenees - Part 4 - Ainsa Loop

 Ainsa to Ainsa via the Col du Portillon

We were a bit unsure how Rob would be feeling after four days in the saddle so the 3 night stay over in Ainsa was ideal and gave us a few options for the mid-week without luggage and maybe take shorter day rides in the area or have complete days off the bike altogether. I liked the idea of a central location for a change, so prior to leaving I'd researched a few circular routes. It's tempting while on these trips to fill your day with as many miles as possible yet underestimating the impact of the mountain roads on your time can make for a long arduous day and compromise the fun. In the end we decided to go for the shorter circular route that came in at around 170 miles. Experience would say about 150 miles in this kind of terrain but the extra 20 miles wouldn't reduce the enjoyment too much we thought. So a fairly early start today (Tuesday) with a nice buffet breakfast we started on the N-260 east. This legendary road is an amazing mix of fast sweeping bends and tight twisties with amazing views everywhere you look. 

On the outskirts of Bisaurri just as we rounded a bend we were suddenly confronted with a herd of large horned cattle in the middle of the road. The road being narrow we killed our engines as close as we could to the right verge and spent a while waiting for them to pass. Two inquisitive ones came towards my bike to take a look, and I became a bit nervous of those horns so considered jumping off the bike and running for cover or maybe starting the engine to ride through a gap between them if only I could find one. Thankfully the farmer came to get them back in line with a gentle tap of his stick. The first coffee stop followed a fast run down from up high along a straight section to the small village of Laspaules (Les Pauls) made famous for it's 16th century witch hunt and executions. A short walk up to the cafe I recall steel beads across the door with a cosy atmosphere inside. The villages in the Pyrenees are of a similar period and style made of rough stone with cobbles so we sat outside in the shade while the lady served a very nice 'cafe con leche'. It was much cooler this morning we were soon underway again with my Navigator taking us down a lane detour to cut across to meet the N-230 heading north. 

The narrow road started to climb up high and twist into the hills revealing spectacular views across the valley and the village of Montanuy nestled below. We stopped at the Mirador Pau Donés (lookout) just near a sharp bend to enjoy the view across Aragon and take some photos before joining the 230 near Vialler. Our ride North through valleys at speed was fun entering quite a long tunnel just before riding into the lively town of Vielha following along the river valley. Eventually we turned off on to the N-141 twisting up over the Col du Portillon to cross the border back in to France. I'd planned a lunch stop near Bagnères-de-Luchon or 'Bangers for Lunch' as was my literal translation! Just as we arrived in the town of Saint-Mamet we spotted a decent Restaurant/Cafe on the other side of the road near a triangular road layout. We soon found a side-street to park but unfortunately the curse of the late lunch struck again and the French had stopped serving food. It was only 1.30pm and by now we had changed into shorts to cool down so we settled on sitting at the cafe with a group of French bikers on the next table, feeling quite jealous of their meal while we ate our melting Snickers bars saved from the day before along with a cold coke and ice cream from the cafe.

The late afternoon was spent riding up through the valleys and ski-resorts along the French D-618 toward Le Plan with almost zero traffic allowing us to enjoy the road at good speed. As the temperature rose we both started to fade a little in the heat without eating a decent lunch. Soon after I had a 'moment' where a small car in front decided to suddenly turn left into a small driveway just as I was about to overtake. Fortunately I had just moved to the overtake position when I saw the car make a sudden turn and managed to get on the brakes hard. No harm done but we discussed over the intercom how we were both losing concentration now as we climbed up the hairpins to the cafe in the ski resort of Piau Engaly. We never found that elusive cafe but parked up at a large car park to take a break, drink water and admire the mountainous terrain ahead. At this point the other side of Rob's Shark Evo helmet visor became detached with the same broken lug problem. More electrical tape was required to keep the other side attached to the helmet meant Rob was reluctant to open the visor at all in case it became dislodged with insufficient eye protection. 

The ride back across the border through the two mile long Túnel de Bielsa-Aragnouet was a nice relief from the 30 degree heat especially for Rob with his closed visor. We took it steady back to the hotel both of us quite tired by now and arrived back into Ainsa at around 6.30pm. Later after a cool shower I met Rob for a stroll across the road to the Pizzeria de Ainsa dining on large square cut pepperoni pizzas and drinking bottles of beers in the shade like two travel weary gringos! A good day's ride today, some fantastic roads and scenery we both loved the N-260 and N-230 but I guess that extra 20 miles return back did play it's part in the end. A good lesson in distances, riding times and nourishment I thought.  

Adventure in the Pyrenees - Part 3 - Into the Mountains

 Pau to Ainsa

I had created two route options for Monday of various length. One about 150 miles should take us high in to the mountains on the D918 over the Col d'Aubisque before heading on to the famous Col du Tourmalet and across the border into Ainsa via the Bielsa tunnel. The shorter option about 131 miles would ride over the Col d'Aubisque before cutting south on the D934 over the Col du Pourtalet to cross the border into Spain finishing along the N260 south east to Ainsa. After consulting the maps the night before and over breakfast we agreed to load the longer route to ride the Col du Tourmalet.

Our introduction to the mountains started with a fast twisty ride up to the pretty town of Les Eux-Bonnes accompanied by several other bikers following the balcony road passing under a few cliff tunnels before stopping briefly to take a few pictures. On the outskirts of the town Rob came over the intercom to say he needed to stop because his visor had come loose on the one side. I found a large layby in the shade under trees and we soon discovered his visor had actually broken and the plastic nib that locks it in had sheared off. Thankfully good old electrical tape came to the rescue to effect a temporary repair and we were soon underway again with an amazing ride up to the top of the Col d'Aubisque. Rob was caught out by the gravel on the bends and had a 'brown trouser' moment as the back wheel slid out slightly.  Annoyingly for some reason French road maintenance crews often leave loose gravel across the full width of the road. On the top of the pass we met up with some Welsh lads and a Spanish couple as well as a nice couple from New Zealand who owned Open Road NZ Motorcyle Tours. Having been in New Zealand myself back in March with Helen and seeing that amazing scenery and roads first hand I couldn't resist taking their details and hearing how they run tours between the North and South Islands. One for the future maybe? 

While looking out across the views from the Aubisque the Spanish couple pointed to the road that climbs up further across the valley and in broken English said it might be closed due to road works. This was now strangely reminiscent of last year with Mark as we tried to pass over the closed Cormet de Roselend in the French Alps, in the end forcing us to take a huge detour. Rob and I decided to ride on and see if the pass was shut and yes after a few miles the road was blocked off completely yet we found it quite amusing as Rob followed a cyclist up a lane in the hope he found a detour only to find out the cyclist was taking a pee! 

In the end I loaded the alternative route into the Navigator and killed a few waypoints to put us on the alternative route riding over the Col du Pourtalet instead. We stopped off for a shady lunch back in Les Eux-Bonnes at a small restaurant in one of the road bridge arches and both went for the steak and fries a wise choice given the detour and double back would add to the ride time now. Not the best cut of meat there really but the fries (and flies) with cold drink went down well. 

The road over the Pourtalet was superb with wonderful scenery heading south across the border in to Spain and on to Formigal. While having fun in the valley twisties I lost Rob somewhere on the N-260a just after Biescas behind me but we soon joined up again somewhere near Fiscal and in 30 degree heat took a welcome stop for a cool drink and ice-cream at the very nice Hostal Restaurante Río Ara at the junction of the main N-260 that runs straight into Ainsa. We arrived at Hotel Mesa in good time the first of our 3 nights at this popular biker stay with covered parking bays and 6 other bikes already parked up and enough room left for our bikes. We got chatting to a Belgian guy while topping up oil on his old but smart R1150R. He'd ridden two up across the Pyrenees over 14 days and would be starting his return home tomorrow. Nice chap! The riding today being more technical in hotter weather meant we stayed local with only a short walk along the river before returning to the hotel for beers and a meal while trying to stay out of the late evening sun. Another great days ride although a shame we didn't make the Tourmalet, riding the alternative Pourtalet and on to the legendary N-260 more than made up for it though.

Adventure in the Pyrenees - Part 2 - Rochefort to Pau

Rochefort to Pau

Another big day on Sunday, our second leg through the length of France this time we made sure to feed ourselves with a decent breakfast first. We sat outside overlooking the Charente river harbour enjoying the view and the usual croissant with soft cheeses hams and coffee and us both adding plenty of jam to our yoghurt too. It was great to while away an hour or so chatting about our family lives over the years. I did look at route adjustment options to get us on to our next destination hotel in Pau near the Pyrénées but in the end decided to stick to the route as planned rather than a detour east on the boring autoroute. Our ride started around 10am crossing the Charente toward Saujon with some straight roads riding through the province of Aquitane to the east of Bordeaux. 

Soon we were presented with country farm roads and vineyards all around us crossing over the Dordogne a couple of times once at Libourne, and then later on the D670 at Saint Jean de Blaignac both potential coffee or lunch stops but we were enjoying our ride so much we continued on to cross the Garonne river at Langon stopping for fuel there before enjoying the heavily forested roads in the Gascogne national park. We both agreed today was turning into a great ride, we'd covered a lot of ground in good time and the scenery constantly changing with the climate much warmer as we travelled further south. Just as we were starting to feel hungry and in need of a break we stopped at a nice shaded cafe in the little town of Roquefort just before the bridge on the D626. Being a Sunday we saw plenty of bikers passing through in both directions and both agreed we could easily spend the rest of the afternoon there.

The next section took us along the very straight D934 through forests and farmlands and I swear I heard Rob groan politely as I suggested we might meet Carol Decker today since we were heading T'Pau! It was one of those roads that reminded me of driving in the USA and nice to switch to cruise control and enjoy the scenery while chatting away to Rob on the intercom. Riding into the city of Pau was quite uneventful though we did have a few issues going through the one-way system to our small centrally based Ibis hotel where at check-in I chose the hotel breakfast option and paid access to the secure underground car park. We both shared a good size bay for both bikes. Our short walk into town to find a restaurant had us settle for one on the famous Boulevard des Pyrenees seated right near the road with an excellent view of the sunset across the river valley and a spectacular view of the mountains in the distance. A perfect location after our days ride and good food too, Rob enjoyed his Burger and I had the Entrecôte with frites. We both agreed we were now settling in to the tour well, and looking forward to tomorrows ride up into the mountains. 

Adventure in the Pyrenees - Part 1 - Home to Rochefort

Home to Portsmouth

One Friday afternoon in late June saw myself and Rob meet up at the garage on the A449 to pair intercoms for our ride down to Portsmouth on our first motorcycle tour together in 13 years. Rob was keen to go on tour again and ride that shiny new Triumph Tiger on foreign roads, so by the end of April I had worked out an exciting 10 day adventure departing the UK at the end of June. Neither of us fancied a long two way crossing sitting on a boat in the Bay of Biscay or that horrendous ride along the M25,M26 to/from Folekestone either so we settled on getting a ferry to Brittany with a return from Santander instead. This would give us chance to ride in both countries and pick out some interesting routes with the central Pyrénées being the main attraction since i'd never yet ridden there and always wanted to ride that famous N-260. Watch the short video or read on to find out more ..

We were soon up and over Birdlip Hill with a single stop just south of Marlborough at Choppers Cafe for jam on toast followed by a very pleasant Summers ride through Winchester and in to the South Downs countryside. It was good to get some rider observation in on the way too with intercom analysis of hazards and positioning since Rob is looking to take his advanced rider test soon so all good practice. I had prepared the daily routes in advance to suit our choice of navigation e.g. phone based using the MRA navigator app as well as routes downloaded to my trusty BMW Navigator 6. Our Ferry departed heading for St Malo at 8pm we had plenty of time to get there refuel near the port, get through passport control and ride onto the ferry with plenty of other bikers. A bit of an odd bike tie down on the ship 'Bretagne' this time, right next to railings by the ramp which made it quite awkward to get access to my pannier so I had to unload first before pushing the bike close in to the rail and we both cautiously chose to use spare seat pads to protect the panniers in-case the boat rocked the bike on to the rail. We soon found our shared cosy two berth cabin and settled in for the night crossing after a very good evening buffet meal in the a la carte restaurant. At last after all of the planning we were well underway!

St Malo to Rochefort

A calm night aboard the Bretagne and we docked around 8am on Saturday disembarking the ferry around 9.30am with us upsetting the middle-aged men in lycra (MAMIL) cyclists by cutting in front of them before passport control, much to my amusement as you could tell they weren't all that happy. Play 'em at their own game I thought! (he he). We both chose to have breakfast on the road but unfortunately our idea of finding a local patisserie or cafe came unstuck for a while when I got all mixed up with road sign options - was it Dinan or Dinard? It was a while since I'd plotted the route to take us next to the Chateau so I started to question the GPS directions. We took the road to Dinan regardless, but couldn't find a suitable cafe to park so a few laps around the town and losing each other around the one way system.  At least the intercoms were helping us stay in touch. Eventually we parked up on the outskirts and sat outside a nice cafe enjoying our croissant and coffee before taking off in the direction of Paimpont and Pipriac via the department roads. Our plan was to skirt around the big cities avoiding the autoroute until picking it up later in the day south of Nantes.

A nice morning through Brittany and some of its pretty villages before arriving in Couëron around lunchtime just in time to embark the small river ferry that crosses the Loire. Even better it was free and much more interesting than heading inland to cross the big by-pass bridge around Rennes. By now the weather had brightened up warming us up after a cool drizzly start to the day. On the other side of the Loire we stopped to refuel in a nice little riverside town of Le Pellerin but unfortunately with what is the madness that are French Cafes, Bars and Restaurants closing at lunchtime (this caught me and Mark out last year too) we were forced to make do with a Snickers bar and bag of crisps from the local Intermarche (supermarket)! Not ideal given the distances we were covering, and for a while we were concerned we had covered only a third of the days distance until I remembered the afternoon would put us on the autoroute just south of the river. After riding through a very flat nature reserve near Pont-Saint-Martin, and then along narrow farm lanes we joined the A83 slightly north of where I'd originally planned for about 60 miles or so on the toll road and exited near Saint-Jean-de-Beugné.

In the late afternoon we were riding along some of the best roads of the day quietly cruising the D37 crossing rivers and canals in the Charente department and then south via the D112 and D5 before finally rolling in to Rochefort around 6.30pm. Just when you think it’s all gone well yet tired hot and hungry, the road across to our hotel via a lift bridge over the marina basin seemed to be stuck in the up-right position. Somehow we missed the lighted diversion sign and I swear it wasn't lit the first time we arrived in to town so this meant we were riding around in circles trying to figure out how to get across town. In the end we found the diversion but the next challenge was to find the hotel itself. Tonight we were staying at Hotel Residence Arsenal but neither of us could figure out where its entrance was and how to get inside. Being a historical site with limited signage the nearby buildings seemed inaccessible too with heavy iron gates. Rob stayed in a car park with the bikes and in the end after a long walk I discovered how to gain entrance and after a brief tour of the facilities including explanation that we were staying in a one time food store for Louis XIV French Navy I concluded that the high security could only be there to keep English bikers and French peasants from stealing food! We both had a very nice suite each, perfect after the long ride and reasonably priced too. Fortunately for us as it was getting quite late so we soon met and headed to a very nice restaurant set under arches for a few beers and nice bruschetta style pizza to review a long tiring but mostly enjoyable day on our first leg ride through France.

Let’s just go for a Ride!

A long awaited post having been away in the Southern Hemisphere for most of March on an extended Holiday with the Mrs, and catching up with work activities on my return so It’s good to be out and about on the bike again with dry weather after all of that awful rain earlier in the year. It was my second year riding through the Winter months. I usually mothball the bike through each Winter but since being an active member of the local IAM group (KAB) I’ve found myself out most Sunday’s and my GS is holding up well. I do have to keep on top of the cleaning and check for road-salt corrosion though. I’m not a great fan of spending a fortune on cans of ACF and other wax treatments, I just don’t like the ‘faff’ of applying it and then having all of the grime stick to it then trying to get rid of it in the Spring so a good wash after each ride and a good dry using a pet drier is more than sufficient, but I will admit the cleaning ritual does get a bit tedious each week.  

Top Pic .. L to R, Me, Steve and Rob. Bottom Pics .. Steve with his  DB11. 

Ron Brett (2nd) , Gloria (5th), Me (6th), Pogs (7th), Steve (9th), Rob (10th), Gary (12th).

Back in early May myself and Rob arranged a ride down to Burford to meet up with Steve who I hadn’t seen since May 2022 and Rob hadn’t seen since 2011. I arranged Rob’s presence as a surprise for Steve, where we met up in the usual cafe on the High Street. I think Steve was quite shocked and pleased to see Rob, and we were able to reminisce over those HOG Brettours trips meeting up for the first time way back in 2007 (pictured). Recently we learned that Ron Brett has decided that 2024 would be his final year running organised tours and although it’s been a few years since we joined him (Rob sold his Harley and devoted his time to other activities, I traded the Low Rider for my first GS and Steve chose to tour with his BMW instead) we agree we had some great trips with Ron and wish him well in his retirement. Sadly too Steve has sold his BMW K1200GT choosing to focus his passion on his Aston Martin DB11 and other cars in his collection, but I noticed he did arrive wearing a very nice pair of ‘Portillo Trousers’ so maybe ‘Trains’ feature nowadays despite his hellish experience on Scottish rail over Christmas, but fortunately Steve has kept his Harley Softail Deuce, the very bike he was riding back when we all met all those years ago. You never know there maybe one more chance for the ‘Sausage Club’ to ride again if only to commemorate that fateful June day and our final assault of ‘Biffins Bridge’.

Some of the KAB Sunday rides have been fun too, and now I can join them on ‘free rides’, still keeping my hand in riding to the ‘system’ and enjoying the company of others at various cafes and interesting routes out into Hereford and Wales mostly. It’s been fun catching up with Rob as he gets back into biking again who is clearly enjoying the Triumph Tiger and I’m pleased his IAM associate training is of value getting help from other KAB members / Observers too.

Here’s one for the ‘techies’ .. recently I’ve been researching my tour/adventure option for this year and got to wondering how it would be possible to avoid creating pre-planned GPX file routes before setting off from home. I’d like to plot a route on ‘my-route-app’ via my iPhone at any time while away on tour and download the created route to my GPS unit. I’m not so keen on using a phone as a navigation device especially since I have the Garmin based BMW Navigator VI but the one downside is you must use a PC or Laptop to transfer the route file across and since I don’t carry a Laptop or Tablet on tour how could I do this allowing me to create ad-hoc routes while on tour? Since the Navigator won’t allow Bluetooth or WiFi transfers from my phone I came up with an ingenious solution to achieve this using the following:

• A Raspberry Pi 4 configured to use Ethernet over USB C OTG (on the go).
• A USB C Hub connected to the iPhone via a cheap USB C to Lightning adapter.
• USB C to the Pi 4’s USB C combined data and power using a standard USB C cable.
• The Navigator powered and connected to the Pi using standard USB.
• A USB power bank to supply remote power for the Pi and the Navigator via the USB C hub.
• A secure copy (SSH/SCP) client app for the phone (Termius) for GPX file transfer.

I’m now able to transfer the GPX file from the phone across to the Navigators gpx folder without requiring a PC/Laptop or WiFi connection. I did have to buy the USB C to Apple Lightning adapter to connect the hub to the phone, I already have a Pi 4 and a spare USB C hub available to me (the most expensive items). There is a bit of Linux configuration work to set the Raspbian OS (Linux) up for USB C OTG (On the Go) and to auto mount the Navigator file system, but a good explanation of how to configure most of this can be found here or on other sites. I’m sure this setup would work for other GPS units and phone combinations too, and easy enough to pack away in my panniers/tank bag. 

Winter Rides

Into February now and my first post of 2024 with the worst of Winter behind us thankfully and warmer days to look forward to now - can’t wait! That said, I have been out riding most weekends on free rides with Kidderminster Advanced Bikers and with Tim and Chris for a most enjoyable Boxing Day ride in Herefordshire up to Ludlow cafe. A bit chilly and the roads were flooded in parts but good to be out to blow the cobwebs away after the Christmas festivities. 

Tim has one of those Insta 360 cameras with a GPS attachment and I do like the resolution. It fascinates me how the AI stitched video masks out the camera boom, and the clarity of image and sound is far better than my GoPro. Click on these images to run Tim’s videos, a ride around the Alps with this camera set up would be amazing. You can just see Chris as pillion behind him too.

Over the Christmas break I received a surprise message from Rob, my old Harley ‘mukka’ from years ago. We toured together on our Harley Sportsters with HOG Brettours as featured in some of my older blog posts back with Steve and Jeromy too - the old ‘Slipper club’ we had a lot of fun on those trips we both recall with amusement from time to time in messages.  Due to work and family commitments along with other interests Rob sold his Harley back around 2010, so I was bowled over when Rob sent me a picture of his new Triumph Tiger 660 just bought and was awaiting collection. We arranged a meet and ride for last weekend and headed off up to Church Stoke Cafe and later Shobdon Aerodrome for an overdue ride and catch up.  

Rob pictured here with his shiny new Tiger, fitted with panniers wearing his new RST touring suit he’s ready and raring to go for some new adventures it seems. We had a nice Sunday ride, despite the cold weather it was great to catch up at last and chat about our families and how our kids have grown up now and what they are doing with their lives. That Tiger is a real nice bike, the build quality and lines of the sporty 660 triple make it a great package and Rob was having a lot of fun and looked comfortable riding it. I have to say you wouldn’t know he hasn’t owned a bike in 12 or 13 years it was a pleasure to ride with him again, I look forward to meeting up again soon in warmer weather and I must take him down in to the Cotsowlds for a meet up with Steve, thats going to be a lot of fun!  

My other bike related activities this Winter include attending the Kidderminster Advanced Bikers AGM where I’ve decided to get a bit involved in some of the activities going on and attempt to spread the word of the good work they and IAM are doing in helping bikers improve their riding skills and roadcraft. Such a great friendly club of like-minded people, so if you are local to Kidderminster and fancy learning some new skills drop in on KAB and request a taster ride via the website here.

Roll on Spring, and warmer rides. In the meantime don’t forget to listen to Adventure Rider Radio podcasts. I really enjoy listening in on some of the episodes where there are some great skills based discussions as well as some guests who have been on some fascinating adventures world wide. Ride Safe !