bonio

I've found this web site useful: https://roadcurvature.com/map. It's not a route planner, but it shows you a map where the curvy roads are highlighted. I prefer it to apps like kurviger, as it doesn't try to plan your route; it just offers you suggestions which you're free to take or leave. Of course it's not as good a local knowledge, but for places you've never been to, it looks like another source of helpful information when planning routes that are interesting to ride. And, unlike Google streetview, even Germany is covered.

We've found a way to fix that for you

So sorry @Trooper74 They have a way of getting under your skin.

After 5 years on the GS, to be honest, I got a bit bored of it. Sure, it could do loads more than I was capable of getting it do... but the things I wanted it to do - get me home from work, take me off for a week here or a weekend there - it could do all that without really breaking into a sweat. The DRZ is raw by comparison, and absurdly light - and huge fun. But 400 is too small an engine to do large miles comfortably, and it doesn't have anything like the presence of a GS on the motorway - nor the power on tap to warp yourself out of potential trouble. I always imagined there should be a bike - an 800 or a 900 perhaps - that falls smack in that sweet spot between light and raw on one side and heavy and refined on the other. So I got a Tiger and it was fine, although it never felt like it really wanted to come out to play. Only just got the current one, I know it comes with compromises, but hoping that it's closer to the magic spot.

Nice road, @onesea.

The DRZ is used to mud. It'll get a wash in April. It's the other one that has a delicate Italian soul.

I think there's something to said for a bike that gives you relaxed sofa-level comfort while you munch up the miles on the autoroute and then will ride as crazy as you wish on twisty roads when you get to the hills. And, whatever's said against them, most adv bikes do that really well. You can do the same thing on other bikes, but few others offer that same effortlessness on the motorway combined with the action the other end.

I rode it! A hospital appointment coincided with a sunny, calm, mild day in January - who'd have thought it possible?? So, on the bike. Felt wonderful to be out on two wheels again . 60 miles round trip. The roads were fairly empty, good and dry in most parts, slidey and muddy in some parts, gravelly in a few parts, badly flooded here and there. Cracking ride. The after-effects

Hi Ant. Welcome in

I need a _______

Guess I'm, lucky... I'm still working my socks off!

I'll get the music of the Orthodox Funeral Service, ending with "Vyechnaya Pamyat", just like at the beginning of Doctor Zhivago. https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/7KtnptpqVeDUj4mTlDC8Bx

Crazy price. Looks bit commercialised . Back then the only company I had were some ospreys and a million mozzies.

I used to go to Miami for work. One visit, I took a day out and I went canoeing in the Everglades. Before setting off in the canoe, I asked the guy in charge what to do should I fall in. He advised me to "Get out quick". Good advice; fortunately, didn't need to take it.

Think I'm going to fit a tuturo oiler when the weather gets warmer. Way too nesh to fettle around in the garage at the mo.

Nope, you're right. Like a fantasy world. A fitting destination for a fantasy trip.

TL;DR; Nice interview, but they steered away from the difficult issues. Wow, I listened to the whole thing. I liked all the comments - they were really positive. And the two guys can certainly talk well and sound intelligent. I'm not sure I was completely convinced by the conversation, though. They spent a lot of time talking about recharging, but this is the easy bit - you just the plug the thing in and make enough charging stations available. Batteries are more interesting, so it was a bit sad when the the guy just said they were doing "clever things" and moved on. Generating the electricity is another interesting area - we know how to generate the amount of electricity we need using offshore wind, but we're at least 20 or 25 years away from having enough nuclear in the mix to solve the problem, and we don't have a plan B that is non-nuclear. But the really tough problem is balancing the grid. When I hear from people who are actually working on solving this, they're very upbeat about it all, but they don't have a solution that is carbon zero. Wind generation is very peaky. Right now, when the wind starts to die down, we fire up the gas generators and in half an hour we've got another few GW on line. Nuclear generators don't do that; you have to start them up weeks before they reach full power, and they run best when they're always on. So we have nuclear + wind + what else can we add in to make up the deficit when we have a week of calm weather in December? I just can't see how everyone having an old battery from a car under the stairs (as the guy suggested) is going to keep all the lights on and all the traffic still running across the country for a week. Perhaps we need vast battery warehouses connected to the grid (I think they're doing this in the US?) or have carbon capture plants built next to the gas generators, and use overproduction from wind to synthesize fuel which the generator can burn when needed. Perhaps we need both.

Oh my, that hurts my eyes it's so beautiful. 2022? Please.

Dream trips for me would be * Down through the Black Forest, over the Alps into the Italian Lakes, keep going east to the Dolomites, Slovenia and Austria. * Romania, Brasov, Sibiu, painted monasteries, the Transfaraggraragaran, perhaps a bit of Serbia too, see what's left of the Iron Gates but in reality, I wouldn't mind a few days in the Pennines and the Lowlands. Great roads, not too far for a short trip.

... about to plunge in

This is correct. A year ago I filed a complaint to the ASA about an advert that claimed driving EV cars produced 60% less CO2. I sent in a set of calculations based on current electricity generation stats and standard figures for mpg vs miles per kWh, allowing for charging losses, showing that the two produced roughly the same amount of CO2 per mile. I got a quick response from the ASA that talked entirely about smart meters. So I wrote them this letter Dear Ms Scarpati, Thank you so much for taking the time to read my concerns and to write me a reply. I read with interest the rulings you referenced regarding advertisements about smart meters, but I can't make the connection between these and my complaint, which was solely about electric cars and electricity generation. When a company claims that an electric car will lead to reductions of 60% of CO2 emissions against a petrol car, it isn't making a claim about the effects of smart meters. And when its claims fail to stack up against independent analysis, it should be made to withdraw them. Please could you let me know at what point my thinking differs from yours. Kind regards, and of course never got a reply I should say here I am all in favour of electric cars - and electric motorbikes (I've tried one, it was a real blast). I'm just not in favour of false advertising and fake figures. As far as I can see, given a bit more time, wind generation will continue to grow, mainly because it's cheaper than gas or oil, and the emissions argument will tilt increasingly in favour of electric cars. But anyone who's seriously concerned about CO2 emissions should probably be hanging out a bit longer before getting themselves one. Oh no.... I've completely derailed the thread.

...on a bike of course. So it seems I'm not the only one coming up with plans for trips I'll never do... but what's yours? Post it here for advice on how to make it a better fantasy, roads you mustn't miss etc. etc. But first some rules, or next thing someone will be off with Elon to the moon and back * Got to start and end at home, using bike, ferries, tunnel. No planes. * No more than 14 nights away * No more than 7.5 hours actually on the bike each day

That's me... planning trips that I probably won't ever make... but if the chance comes, then the plan will be ready.

It was back in the '70s, pretty hardcore in those days. He did three 8-hour nights of haemodialysis at home every week on a machine the size of a public phone box. After his transplant, they put the machine into a museum - it was so out of date.

My Dad had kidney transplant. Gave him a complete new lease of life after 10 years of dialysing.