Loz has been at it again and welded together his finest Givi mounting rack so far.
Neatly fitted to the back of Matt's Tedium (TDM) Oi Stop that (Joey)
***IMPORTANT NEWS***
Today is Jimmy Savilles 80th Birthday!!
Happy Birthday Jimbo, may you keep on jangling for a good many more years to come.
Posted by Mike
Yesterday morning saw Matt, Dean, Tim, Tim's father-in-law Derek and myself meeting up at Loz's house for 9 o'clock for a ride out to Aberystwyth. Unfortunately Derek and Tim were limited on time so had to turn around just west of Newtown. We took the A5, M54, A458 to Welshpool, A483 to Newtown, A470 to Llangurig and the A44 to Aberystwyth deviating off onto the A4120 passing through Devil's Bridge.
Tim's 2004 GS1200 BMW which he's now clocked up just over 20,000 miles on!
Tim (left) and Derek with his BMW R75/6
My grubby looking Blackbird
This is where we say our goodbyes to Tim and Derek
Once arriving in Aber, first things first, it's time for some refuelling at the first chippy we came to. To be honest it was a bit of a mistake as we all spent the next two hours feeling bloated and sorry for ourselves (apart from monster muncher Dean who could probably have eaten the same again). Matt wouldn't shut up harping on about how he never wanted pie and chips in the first place and why couldn't we all have eaten a nice healthy baguette instead.
Oi, yer thieving little weasel
After the grease fest it was decided to take a look around the castle ruins which is free by the way.
A view south from the castle looking towards the harbour
After strolling around a pile of old rubble for half an hour it was decided to loiter on the seafront for an hour as we were waiting for Gaz and Cara to arrive. They couldn't make it in the morning as they were attending Karate which they'd missed for the previous few weeks.
The seafront by the bandstand where everyone parks their bikes
Hasn't anyone told him the tide's gone out????
On the beach, and it's almost November, who'd have thought it
ahhhh at long last they've arrived
After allowing Gaz and Cara all of 10 minutes to rest and get themselves a drink (sorry about that) it was time to head home. Gaz had this brilliant idea of heading back a different way in the direcection of Craven Arms but turning off the main road to ride across the Long Mynd and through Much Wenlock. If you've never been across the Mynd let me tell you, it's a bit hair raising at the best of times without trying to do it in almost pitch black!!
Unfortunately we couldn't get any photos (I've stolen this one unashamedly from the internet) due to it being dark but you can see the steep drop off on the side of the road and there's no hedges, fences, no nothing between you and god only knows how many feet to the bottom of the valley.
A layby on the excellent A489 from Newtown to Craven Arms
All in all I had one of the nicest ride outs of the year if not the nicest. I think I might have said this before but I really like the feeling you get when you arrive back home in the dark after a ride. I don't quite know why, maybe it's something to do with knowing you've had a full days riding.
Posted by Mike
More and more lately I've been thinking about what we're going to do for a weeks biking holiday next year. The highlands of Scotland sounds tempting, but so does the Vendee (west coast of France. I know of a great campsite called Camping Pong, strange but true). JJ has just purchased a new house with a swimming pool in the south of France, that's got my lips drooling! How about the Dordogne or the Rhone Valley? Nearer to home how about Croyde Bay/Woolacombe (my favourite place in the country) where we can get some surfing in? And there's other places to consider, maybe Amsterdam, Berlin or perhaps Prague? The list is endless. We've got to consider what time of year is best suited to us all, I was thinking of May/June sort of time, as you know August is always out for me, but as ever things are flexible. If any of you have any other suggestions, stick them in the comments and let me know who's potentially up for it. If we need a ferry it's usually best to book early to save a bit of cash.
Posted by Mike
Gaz has finally got to the bottom of why his SRAD has been refusing to rev. One new brain later and the bike's running like a treat. All he needs now is a new back tyre!
Glad to see, as always, you're not letting the side down. A jolly splendid quantity of smoke young man. As you'd say yourself..... Marvellous!!!
It's been a while since the last one we did, mainly because we haven't come across a decent picture. But all good things come to those who wait :)
Whilst I was down the pub on Friday I recieved an unusual text message off Trace saying "I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm a bit down this week". I pondered this unusual occurance for a while and decided that a reply of "it's your hormones, go get some pills off the doctor" probably wasn't the best way of dealing with the situation, so I made a couple of phone calls and against my better judgement sent this message back in return.. "Maybe if I tell you I've organised a babysitter and I've booked a table at The Panache (posh Indian restaurant) for tomorrow night, it might cheer you up a bit". Very nice of me don't you think?
Saturday morning came, I rushed in the shower, jumped in my leathers, got on my bike and rode off to meet Matt and Dean.... Two miles down the road I pulled up at a set of traffic lights, looked down at my petrol tank and nearly fell off my bike!! I met up in due course with my mates, appologised for momentarily holding them up as I needed to send a text. The text read as follows... "you being a little bit down wouldn't by any chance have anything to do with the friggin great big dent in my petrol tank would it?"
Not only did it have a dent in it but it also contained a large amount of scratches and scuffs and some damage to my screen. It was obvious what had happened, she'd knocked my paddock stand off the wall which landed straight on top of Winnie.
Now the way I see it, it's like this;
Quote to repair the tank was £150 to £200
I haven't priced the screen up yet but you can bet it's £60 or so. On top of all this I've handed over an additional £58 in the form of ....
this
and this, to the person who tried to kill my Winnie. I reckon now, that the estimated cost to patch my poor bike up is somewhere between £268 and £318!!!! Matt seems to think I should see the funny side of it but he's not paying is he? And Matt, is there any chance of you returning my cement mixer as I've got some unexpected work I need to be getting on with underneath my patio?
Posted by Mike
Matt, Dean and myself headed off to Sherwood Forest on Saturday to errrr, oh I remember, see a big tree and eat the worst bacon and egg butty known to man.
The day started off wet but slowly dried out as the morning progressed. I met up with the others in Rugeley and we headed along the fantastic B5013, over Blithfield reservoir and into Utoxeter. From there we took the B5030 to Ashbourne, then the great A517 to Belper and up some not so interesting roads to Sherwood.
Sherwood Forest visitors centre car park
The worst bacon & egg bap in the world
And a pretty rancid prawn baguette.
Bacon Fat
After all that stodge it was time to burn off some calories with a 10 minute walk to see a large oak tree.
Major Oak (very original name), 800 years old and propped up with scaffolding
Back to the bikes and a quick debate as to which route we were going to take back home led us to the decision to head straight back down the A38.
Well he looks like he knows what he's talking about!
And of course it was the customary after ride pint where we experienced the worst bad luck known to man...
A hailstorm which left us marooned in the pub. Life's such a bitch sometimes!
It's not what it looks like. It's the result of Dean having no waterproofs for when he's riding his bike
Posted by Mike
Friday night as always turned out to be another drunken affair with much of the usual insults, micky taking and a good bit of sillyness...
Matt
Me
Me again
And Ant
But the real purpose of this blog entry is because our mate Dunken reckons he's a good likeness to a well known TV celebrity all be it a bit of a fatter version. So we're putting it to the test and seeing if anybody can work out who he thinks he looks like.
It's all in the angle apparently
Yes yes we know it's going to strangulate them but just get your trousers yanked up as high as they'll go!!!
Anyone worked it out yet?
Posted by Mike
With winter getting ever nearer and the weather slowly but surely getting worse, it's that time of year where if you're anything like me you'll be scanning the internet and studying your map looking for good roads and places of interest to head out to on your bike in the spring. So I'm using this blog entry for everyone who has any suggestions to add your ideas in the comments section, and with a bit of luck by next year we'll have a whole feast of ideas for weekend ride outs.
Posted by Mike
Oh Dear Mick what have you done, this could become competitive:
Very astute young lady!
Tried to beat my score and ended up with this:
Posted by Matt (Joey)
Have you ever arranged to go for a ride out then spent the first hour of the journey thinking "I really don't want to be doing this"? Well that was Matt and myself yesterday morning. It was cold and I don't know which was more foggy, our minds from the previous nights over indulgence or the weather. Anyway, after a truely unpleasant ride through Walsall to get onto the M6/M5 we eventually got ourselves onto the A449 (M5 junction 7) towards Ross-on-Wye, passing Malvern along the way and having a rest in a pub carpark at a place called Much Marcle.
If ever you fancy being taken around in a horse drawn cart Much Marcle seems to be the place.
From Ross-on-Wye it was the A40 to Monmouth stopping at Symonds Yat for a brew and a bite to eat.
▲Rose Cottage, Symonds Yat▼
It's a bacon and brie baguette - Keep a look out for a link on the right, I'm just in the middle of creating the "Beer Sponge League"
Once refuelled with a colesterol overdose, followed by an unloading of excess ballast (sorry, probably a bit too much information there) we were back on the bikes taking the A466 from Monmouth to Chepstow stopping at Tintern Abbey along the way. I'm not sure which was in a state of most disrepair, the road surface or the Abbey but it was a very pleasant road none the less.
Founded in 1131 by the monks of the Cistercian order (the Abbey, not the bikes)
They sure seemed to know how to carve a bit of stone in those days.
I was hoping to see a bit more of the area but Matt needed to get home because he was taking Ellie out, but there's always a next time. On the way home we took the excellent A48 out of Chepstow and joined the M5 at junction 11 and were in our local pub for the customary after ride pint 1 hour & 25 minutes later!!
My eldest daughter Sophie thinks she's being left out and wants her piccy put on our blog....
Two little beauties!!!
Posted by Mike
