Gerontious

Many schools offer the kind of refresher training you might need. Or think you need. I passed my test in 1980 and my first bike was actually manufactured during the long hot summer of 1976, a 2 stroke triple 250. Things have come a long way since then. Bikes are generally reliable. Brakes actually work. And so on. So throw away any expectations you have based on memory. Give your local schools a call and see what they can offer you.

I can't work out what that part might be, but, theres usually an overflow hose.. which appears to be missing. this guides any overflow well below the bike. once the dripping stops. it'll be fine. but I would definitely replace the hose as soon as you can.

Last day of 'summer' on Saturday, if, like me, you measure summer by the clocks changing, so... im going to try to get out on Saturday and head over to Wales.

Im sure all those beta testers out there are excited.

Always the first thing I do, as mostly modern grips are like holding a pencil in each hand. for the Africa Twin I had to trim them a little at one end as they were too long, be sure to do this first before attempting to fit them as they can be very difficult to get off - once on, without damaging them. Fitting them is fairly straightforward. I use the wet method. washing up liquid with a little water inside and on the grip itself then slide it on. once its in position leave it alone to dry. preferably overnight or a couple of days if its cold and wet and you don't have a dry garage.

Indeed. onward and upward. looking back isn't for me, except immediately - talking about the previous week or fortnight. I'm already looking forward to next year. Germany or France in June. 34 weeks away. and then the Eifel/Luxmbourg in September soon after that. Just need to be better prepared for this excessive heat that seems to be the new normal. Fortunately the winter sales are just around the corner so Im poised to leap into action when the summer gear gets reduced.. even further than it is already. My one abiding memory of last year was a campsite on the RDGA. Just north of Sospel. A warm night sitting outside and surrounded by a lot of flying fireflies that were flashing as the flew. Ive never seen that before, though I have seen fireflies and glowworms. these little winking green lights dancing in the air was truly magical.

Aftermarket pipes are likely to be stainless steel. Unless the person who did this was a complete muppet. Wraps serve no purpose except to disguise damage. But there are people who for reasons I can’t fathom think they look cool. Personally I would take them off and get busy cleaning the pipes, you will soon know if they are stainless steel or not. If they are in a rubbish state (because they were cheap mild steel with bad chrome) replace them. Not difficult. Not particularly expensive.

Im going to Spend. Spend. Spend!! Acsherley. here is an interesting contrast. a 1/2d from 1788 and not even real money, produced by the works (Anglesey Mines) for its employees to spend in its own shop. compared to a modern 10p. A fairly common practice at that time. 235 years ago as there was a shortage of small coins. Which weren't particularly small.

what is cheaper than completely free and gift wrapped. My little tool kit. thanks mum. largely pointless but thank you anyway.

I remember one night in the south of France, returning to our campsite. we saw moths all right, a blizzard of them. isn't that right @bonio

sadly its in the wrong Birmingham and I have to work. what a shame.

Ive made a start on planning routes for next June. starting with my plan B. South of France, in case the weather over in Germany looks iffy. South of Paris to the Auvergne. based at Issoire for 3 days. galumphing around the volcanoes of Puy de Dome. Before continuing south and likely west into the Grands Causses and Languedoc. probably onwards from there to the foothills of the Pyrenees and then see how much time I have left to play with. Im hoping that if I can jig the annual leave it will give me a little over 2 weeks. Ive only seen the Volcanoes from a distance, ridden through the Grande Causses once heading down to the coast to see the sea. seems a lifetime ago. So hills rather than alpine mountains next year

Those photographers were everywhere this year, over on the route des grande alpes and really got on my nerves. final ascent and then the descent, seemed like virtually every corner. flash flash. bloody flash. distracting and extremely irritating. Only using the flash to attract attention as it was in brilliant sunshine so it made zero difference to the actual photo.

Ive only ever owned one Rev'It suit and this was probably around 2010, maybe earlier than that. Great when I bought it. but after a year or two and a few washes (following the label - obviously) it started to come apart at the seams. I then bought Rukka. still have it. Oddly enough I had a Gericke jacket that lasted for donkeys years.. old because it predated the addition of Heine. Bought it from their very first store that opened with a huge splash in York. (of all places) in 1990, I think. I also bought a Kushitani leather jacket there too. but anyway, my bad experience with Rev 'it, is probably useless nowadays. Gore don't allow their products to be used unless the manufacturer demonstrates that their Q/C is top notch. one reason why its so expensive and why they are happy to go one step further and warrant anything using their fabrics past the manufacturers warranty.. long past. other brands produce GTX copies, but its a case of toss a coin, you might get something that's waterproof for years or you might get something that fails at the first hurdle, there's no impetus to keep the supplier of the fabric happy and why spend more on skilled crafters.

We went to Mont Ventoux and it was definitely worthwhile. Just incredible how many cyclists there were despite it being a working weekday. I hate to think what it’s like at weekends or during the holidays. The view south across Provence was stunning. Tried it again last year but was defeated by low cloud. Reached that and it rapidly became a pea soup, so gave up and turned around.

our timing was unfortunate re. Combe Laval being closed, plus the rivers of gravel on some of the roads we tried. Loose chippings from hell. One road in particular with the unlikely but entirely appropriate name “pass of death or the dead” still it was a great week. With the daily excitement of the wooden bridge to our camp ground. I do not like wooden bridges.

Combe Laval and Col de la Machine are essentially the same road. And well worth visiting, just include it as part of a longer route. It’s quite incredible especially when you consider how it was built. Men hanging from higher up the cliff and basically chipping away a groove and for what? All that effort to get at some trees. A road that goes effectively from nowhere to nowhere, though as it’s linked at both ends that’s selling it short. The best part is probably not much more than a 1/4 mile long. Grand Goulets sounds incredible but is so dangerous they eventually closed it completely. Dangerous mostly because if something goes wrong the chances of survival are small and the chances of a mishap are high. It’s constantly damp gets no sun at all and so is covered in algae and slime moulds, so very slippy. Narrow. Precipitous and impossible to be airlifted from. Great eh? Balcony roads are as likely to be at the bottom of a cliff as near the top, built in the same way. Some of the longest run along the bottom of a cleft, these are just as incredible an experience. if I do end up in the south of France next June then I’ll definitely be adding more to the itinerary.

That’s a shame, I wasn’t 100% satisfied with it but confident that it would be fine for the rest of our week and get you home too. I do disagree with some of the comments made in this thread. But. I don’t bother with arguing my case anymore. The fact is you had a choice. Take the risk of leaving the nail in place. Or lose almost a full day trying to track down a professional repair. That might have meant Bitburg if you’re lucky or Trier or even Aachen if you weren’t. Or let me fix it.

I’ve got two distinct plans in the works. Germany and the South of France. With the final decision not being made until the last minute based solely on the weather. If it turns out to be France then I’m going to be starting in the Auvergne. as for Balcony roads I’ve used 4 or 5 of them and they were all worthwhile as an experience. That’s what they are about really - the experience as they are effectively unique to France. I looked at the dangerous roads list and was amused to see that they listed the same road twice under different names and another that’s been closed for years - the reason it’s closed is hysterical when you think about it. I was there last year. The daddy of them is Machine. Which runs above Combe Laval. They are both the same road. Combe Laval is the valley below but for some reason Machine gets named that too. It’s a blink and you miss it so worth stopping and walking. To take in the views. Photos do it no justice whatsoever. I would suggest you pin these roads down on a map and link them up with other interesting roads. Some are quite short. Balcony road is mostly about how they were built. They can be high up or low down. But worth seeing as they’re so different. if you do return to the Verdon. Do ride the route de cretes that is there it’s stunning. If a little nerve racking at times. Vertiginous in the extreme. And definitely a place I want to return to. Though next time better prepared. Last time the heat was brutal and I wasn’t really dressed for it. This winter I’m mostly looking for sale vented gear with the past few tours in mind this has become an imperative. I was lucky to escape heat stroke in the Eifel though my brain was definitely addled.

Days of future past. your comment made me think of a photo from a local history FB group centred on what I consider my home town. The photo was taken in (around) 1935. Difficult to make out, but to the right of the door is a speed limit sign. 12mph

I asked my Brother who lives near Capel Curig to read this thread. And his reply was LOL. and "Who are these people?" "what ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? They need to get a grip" And.. wittily: "point out to them that after a night at the theatre Abraham Lincoln told the Daily Mail that you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet." He then sent me a link to this tweet/photo. My brother is not a biker. he is a car salesman and imports classic American cars that he buys in the desert states. He does a lot of driving in and out of north Wales.

I think you should take wifey on holiday somewhere lovely hilly and bendy fall in love with the place, (check there’s a Waitrose - obviously) and relocate on a whim. you know.. like what you did last time.

I can’t remember how long it took. I just started it updating and left it alone. Next time I looked at it, it had finished. Might be different because I had it plugged into the Mac and used Garmin Express, rather than doing it wirelessly. i hardly do anything with the XT wirelessly.

It was our first full day. for a change from the Eifel, we had instead gone to the Black Forest and were staying at Pension Williams at Seebach. This happened within an hour of leaving on the first day there. I left the guys to do their own thing and went off to the BMW dealership. Hired an F800GS. They told me the cost of a repair would be €4000. I laughed. The actual cost was £900. the front wishbone had to be replaced as well as the front forks needed to be straightened and rechromed. the pointless 'beak' was never replaced. The bike hire was €400. The old fella claimed in his Christmas card that the repair to his car was €20,000 seemed excessive to me, but it was a very nice car. A Merc I think. Every year since Pension Williams send me an email with an offer. But, I have no desire to ever stay there again. The place is cursed. The ride back was interesting. not really a problem having no front suspension on the French Toll. but once I left the tunnel for the ride up the M20/M25/M1. our cruddy roads took their toll. That last part was an absolute nightmare. I was so glad to get home. Theres a reason why we only go to the Eifel now. And if I want to go elsewhere.. its never with the group. just one of the guys or alone.

This is almost exactly what happened to me in the Black Forest. old fella looked directly at me as I was approaching and pulled out. I hit the side of his car and did an artistic somersault over his bonnet. The police attended and put the blame squarely on him. he told them I was speeding but the evidence of their own eyes told a very different story. Now.. something might have been lost in translation. The police weren't brilliant at English. (why should they be?) but they asked me if I wanted to prosecute the driver for "Attempted Murder" - They repeated this to the old fella and he looked like he was going to collapse. I declined. the bike was a mess but I still managed to ride it home. And had the bike repaired. Sent a photo of the receipt to the old fellas insurance and the money was in my bank account 30 minutes later. (for the repair and bike hire) The old fella sent me a Christmas card