LazyModernTraveler

Category: Uncategorized

  • Loneliness

    Loneliness

    Some days I don’t just feel it, I bath in it, I dunk my head below the surface and let it soak into my pores until, like your skin pruning I have soaked in it to lone, at this point it doesn’t wash over me like water and leave me feeling clean. Instead it clings to my skin like tar.

    But even then I don’t let myself free, I smear it all over myself making sure there is no chance of escape from the putrid cocoon it creates. Feeling a sick comfort in it’s all encompassing embrace, fulfilling that which I cannot find in the outside world, often I don’t fight it but embrace with open arms almost like it is overdue and after recognizing it and our normal ritual I curl up in bed with it still on my skin and retreat into acceptance under the covers with a hope that in the morning it will be gone, lost to the night like so many things.

    At times it stains me for days on end, I cover it over at work and in the general public but in the moments alone it is there just waiting. I let it rip into the skin and draw blood not physically but emotionally, attacking all my insecurities and drawing them to the surface. Often this is not because it needs to but because I can’t help but flagellate myself with it, to hold it over myself as punishment.

    To the outside world my mustache, jovial nature and smile make it invisible, but it is not a complete camouflage, those who know how to gently peer round the facade see it but quick as a flash it is normally hidden from sight, faster enough least to avoid real suspicion, faster enough to avoid the real questions and for them to just think I am pondering or having a bad day.

    Some days I wonder what it would look and feel like for me to just curl up in the corner and cry, or breakdown in a meeting in front of everyone. I imagine that like a kid feeling guilty for something and getting caught, it would be a welcome release, to rip myself open and throw my loneliness across the room for all to see. However, it wouldn’t change anything it would be a temporary reprieve, I am under no illusion that to change my position in life I have to own the changes in my life that are necessary in there multitude and significance.

    For now I exist in a constant flip flop, between feeling extremely connected to some people and extremely alone. I can stand in a crowd, be surround by friends, chasing a sunrise, crashing through waves on a yacht or doing a million things but at best they are a temporary reprieves. I try at times to stitch the together to extend the reprieve to remind myself what not being lonely looks like in a hope that I will further imitate and in time align with those behaviors but it is exhausting.

    Whats scariest to me is that it didn’t used to be this way, yes I was always different and didn’t quite fit always ahead or behind my peers, depending on perspective. Always slightly strange, always feeling things in a depth that warrants strong actions but when I act on it, it unnerves people, so I don’t I hold back my natural grandiosity and tame myself to just outside accepted norms.

    One area where people do value my time is in council, maybe it is a reflection of who I am and how I act but I find myself asking “Why am I always the council and not the company”, people are comfortable telling me there deepest secrets, of showing me there dark corners, or of wanting my input and advice on there lives on there progression through life, but they don’t want that person to just chill or spend time with, I am always present with a purpose. What happened to the care free fun in me, when did I become so ugly.

    For now I continue to fight, to cling onto the light, tomorrow is a new day and it is mine for the taking, if I can just get myself out of bed dressed and caffeinated anything or so I am told is possible.

    Some days that means stoking the inner viking inside me, of charging myself full or raw survival energy facing the wind, rain and seas. Or setting off to find a new dawn, a new place to see the sunrise a new to feel it’s warmth bath my skin in fresh light, to smell a different fresh sea air or crisp morning dew. Of having that chance warm encounter with a complete stranger in the most unexpected of places.

    Other days it is the simple pleasures, the cosy coffee shop round the corner, where I read about the adventures I dream of whilst watching the weather roll by, or eating out, for whilst I have always been lonely I have never been afraid of doing things alone. Often because finding people who will actually take the leap of joining me is hard, but I keep hope that one day someone will want to join me on all the adventures.

    Here’s to putting the left foot in front of the right no matter how you feel, of continuing in hope to stitch the temporary reprieves together to create a better existence.

    Context

    The above comes from me feeling lonely earlier this week, and the conversations with friends and family that followed it. I realized I had never put to words how I at times feel and it seemed a good descriptive writing exercise.

    I think most people feel lonely at times during there lives, and whilst not aesthetic or nice like my normal traveling posts I think it is important to talk about all parts of life.

    For clarity I am alright, I am standing in a Carbon Kopi a place that serves some of the best over the counter pick me ups in it’s fantastic selection of award winning ever changing filter coffees.

    I am now going to go back to writing up my journey to the Scilly isles, hopefully I will finish and share it soon, with all the amazing photos I have to go with it.

  • Two Bears on Two Bikes | It’s in the condiments drawer – Part 1

    Two Bears on Two Bikes | It’s in the condiments drawer – Part 1

    Riding in Gran Canaria at the start of February had been so warm and refreshing but all the joy of that adventure had worn off by the start of March, the long dark winter days were starting to take their toll. Taking every opportunity to get out on the Goldwing was key to getting some enjoyment, after all, it’s amazing how much a decent coffee and slice of cake can pick up your mood. I was also trying to keep my focus on the busy social calendar I have lined up for the rest of the year, a mix of stag do’s, and weddings acting as suitable excuses to take some holiday and plan some more travel from May through to September.

    It was with this future travel in mind that when later in March a friend invited me last minute to go motorcycle camping even just for a night I agreed, I needed to get my camping setup shaken down anyway with a trip in September planned that involved camping in France and Spain. That is how in late March and in temperatures down to below 5 degrees C I found myself shivering and watching my breath through the middle of the night whilst watching my mate blissfully asleep inside his cozy warm sleeping bag. There was one point where the thought of killing him and stealing his sleeping bag passed through my cold poorly aligned thoughts but It was my own fault, I had forgotten my sleeping bag and was doing my best Viking impression with a blanket and some layers on top of a camp bed. Despite the negatives of the cold and a stranger in another tent howling like a wounded animal in the middle of the night for an extended period, it was an enjoyable trip.

    The small campsite in Stockbridge, Hampshire was pleasant and the meal we had had at the pub before settling down for the night was sublime. The next morning after getting feeling back in my extremities and packing up we had a beautiful ride through the back roads to Salisbury, then down to the coast before coming back through the new forest and washing the bikes. The next day, both back at work, it dawned on us that it was crazy that we hadn’t done more trips like this so we looked at calendars and stuck a pin in for the 19/04. We both booked the Friday afternoon off so that we could have two nights away and left it till later to find a site and a direction.

    On the short trip in March, it had become clear that we had forgotten a few important things, and that some of the items I already had wouldn’t be practical for my trip in September due to needing the rear seat space for a pillion. Therefore in the month we had until our next adventure, I started working on a few optimizations to my setup.

    Starting with the items of highest importance, condiments, sun cream, and washing-up liquid all of which had been distinctly absent in our Stockbridge trip. Finding some small bottles online turned out a great idea, the only challenge being where to put them on the bike. We don’t want to get ketchup on everything nor do I want my sleeping bag covered in extra virgin olive oil. The next item to shrink was my camping chair and to review my tent and sleeping arrangements. Helinox luckily had a sale but it was still painful shelling out over £100 for a lightweight camp chair that would both take my sizable heft and fit neatly in a pannier. I could at least take comfort in the color scheme of the chair being suitably 90’s and therefore matching the retro aesthetic of my GL1500.

    I then started to look at new tent options, I wanted small and lightweight but also practical for me plus another in motorcycle gear to be able to get in and sleep. Whilst my current tent had a sizable headroom and a vestibule you could sit in keeping this just wasn’t practical and I had a tarp and poles if I wanted to create a sheltered area outdoors for cooking etc. I came very close to taking advantage of the AlpKit sales and ordering a Tarpstar 4 and some other bits, however, I was too slow on the draw and they were soon out of stock and back up to higher prices. Therefore wanting to use the trip on the 19th as a shakedown I went forward with my backup route and picked up a Vango Banshee 300 and a new OEX sleeping mat. The 300 is definitely not a 3-person tent, 3 children or three adults if sharing one sleeping bag and playing a game of 696 but definitely not more than 2 burley guys especially if you want somewhere for your clothes. It does have a little trick hatch/zip up the top by your head to a small storage area under the flysheet though. Some of my previous gear including waterproof bags had been on my last bike when it was stolen, I figured it was time to replace them and picked up some fresh Lomo rolltop bags for clothes and other storage.

    My real remaining challenge was my sleeping bag, I had since picked it up from my dad but it is bloody massive and doesn’t pack down very small. It’s massive because I am, having 18 months earlier ordered what was meant to be a reasonably large camping bag and finding myself stuck at the shoulders I had marched back to go outdoors and return it. I then proceeded to try every sleeping bag they had in stock to work out what I could physically fit in, in the end leaving with a Pod ‘The Beast’. Its lining is not particularly plush, it is not down and it is not 4 season but it is the best I could do reasonably at the time, with this in mind I kept looking but reserved myself for the 19th to the idea that it would have to be squeezed on somehow…

    The day came around all so quick, with a little bike-packing practice and a BBQ in between having the trip to look forward to had been a good move and had kept both mine and Owen’s spirits up as the days had started to get longer and notionally warmer. We had decided that given how much both of us had traveled west and how little we had both gone east, we should head east a couple of hours. With a little searching, I managed to find and book a nice campsite a little east called Stud Farm, it was both one of the cheapest and most appealing due to it offering the optional addition of a firepit and logs as well as the farm own produce such as sausages, bacon, burgers, and fresh veg.

    With the bikes loaded we set off, I had looked the night before and roughly memorized a non-motorway / a27 route that would hopefully take us on some nicer roads and avoid the Friday holiday rush that the east and west artery roads of the south can suffer.

    The journey there was extremely pleasant and we managed to avoid most of the Friday traffic and the rain that was due for an hour or so that afternoon, only getting caught as we headed up the A3 from Clanfield to the A272 north of Peterfield. This was enough though to lift the grease on the road and remind me that the tyres on the wing whilst not terribly old (4 Years) seem to really suffer with wet grip. I suspect as a result of the previous owner not doing many miles and sitting in a garage likely wheels losing the natural oils to the cold concrete. In this instance despite significantly reducing my speed as we exited the A3 onto the A272 via the ‘s’ bend exit I found myself with 400kg of Goldwing, 155kg of fat rider and Rukka gear, and probably about another 40-50kg of stuff in panniers and top box, loosing the rear end. I managed to catch it and run the bike wide across the left hand solid white line as I left the ‘S’ bend into the straight in time not to make a full dukes of hazard style jump off a dual carriageway bridge. I thought maybe I had let my nerves get the better of me and I had let the bike run wide premature of losing grip, but a sharp burst of exclamation and praise over the comms made it clear that I had in fact lost the rear end enough to be noticeable from behind.

    This wasn’t my first such experience on the wing, having locked up the rear wheel in the cold about 6 weeks prior on the way into a roundabout, that time had definitely been my fault for using too much rear brake though it had made for a rather impressive drift, whilst I did everything I could to not target fixate on the roundabout curb and force the wee beasty round the bend. Since then I had been further getting acquainted and retuning my barge control skills and finessing my understanding of the balance of the bike, In the dry my confidence and lines had greatly improved from when I first picked the bike up at the start of the year but the wet was still vexed me at times.

    Camp setup with the wind blasting across on 19/04/24

    Luckily downpour was short-lived and as we stitched through Steadham, Midhurst, Petworth and Billinghurst the weather warmed and it turned into a beautiful Friday afternoon ride through the south downs. After a brief snickers and fuel stop we headed down the A23, thoroughly confused by the nature of the junction to get onto the A27 we ended up doing a minor detour a mile or so in the wrong direction before looping round and filtering the barge and the bus through some traffic. The road out towards Telscombe from the A27 is lovely bar a small village section with speed bumps it flow through trees and fields, catching the signage for the camping just before southeast we turned off up a steep single-lane slightly gravelly track. This track opens out over the top of the hill and it’s a beautifully stitched single lane with great visibility over the rolling farmland and any approaching traffic, after a mile or so of undulations, sweeping bends, and beautiful views you head down into Telscombe village it is a classic farm hamlet of only a few houses in the dip of a valley. At the gravel-covered rough road surface ‘Y’ in the basin of the village you go straight over to the left and up another climbing stretch before a gate and steep gravel entrance to a field appear on your left, as soon as you pull into this field you are met with a view across to Peacehaven and Eastbourne. Stud Farm Camping is on a Studland and it is breathtaking, the small collection of reserved signs and around 8 other camps suggest that we are not the only ones that need to be out in the fresh air and weather for a weekend.

  • 12 MoW – A Photo Project for the next year…

    Firstly apologies for the lack of content and thank you for your patience it has been a challenging summer both at work and at home and I have been frazzled. In practice this means I have about 5 partially written articles waiting to be finished for you I will get them out…

    I have now lived in High Wycombe for just over 4 years, when I first started my current job and moved to the area the general consensus was that Wycombe was a ‘grey’ place. To the point that there is an ongoing joke at work that Dulux have a paint shade called Wycombe grey, they don’t but maybe they should as to some extent Wycombe is a grey place. Maybe having grown up in Winchester I am spoilt with it having the beautiful Cathedral, the water meadows and St Catherines Hill, pair this with the cobbled streets, historical architecture and things like the Christmas market and it’s a definitely different from High Wycombe.

    However High Wycombe has started to grow on me, not in quite the same way as I will always love Winchester but I am slowly finding that it does in ways have a fair amount to offer. In fact I think if I were more affluent or could afford to have a house with a garage in High Wycombe I could see no issue with settling here longer. However unless I find a rich partner in crime this is highly unlikely and not being able to properly settle here is the most likely reason at some point for me looking for a new job and lifestyle. One thing that has helped my opinion on High Wycombe is that back in May I moved closer to the town centre, to a point where I have spent more time walking around the centre of the town more than ever.

    The appeal of High Wycombe to most is that it is within a sensible commute to London to it’s east whilst on it’s north and west sides you are minutes from the beautiful Chilterns. A classic London belt town in that sense, with high property prices for poor quality houses, the average house price here being around 14 times the average salary a single above average salaried person here will struggle to be a small 2 bed flat even with a 30% deposit.

    Walking around close to the University it is clear that the town is working to pedestrianise the core areas, there are nice cut throughs, benches and new buildings going up (more up market small flats)that have more colour and character than those around them. There has also been a long standing petition to uncover the river Rye that runs under the town, which I personally think would probably make a massive difference to High Wycombe. I think if you were looking at it from a traffic and planning perspective it would be wise to also establish a ring road. At current the A404 and A40 run right through the centre of the town and trucks on steep hills just splurge out damaging particles into the air.

    The improvements that have been made are having a difference and therefore High Wycombe has grown on me, I don’t think I will ever be at a stage where I am calling it a beautiful town but I can now see more of it’s merits and I think it has more to offer than it may first seem. For this reason as I walked back from the town centre today I came up with an idea, what if I were to try and capture another view of High Wycombe to share with the world over the next year.

    So here is the challenge, over the next year I am going to take photographs around High Wycombe each month I will then pick a favourite from the month. Collating 12 Pictures at the end of the year that I think show the best of High Wycombe. Maybe even make a calendar…

  • Pondering

    Pondering

    After a week of souring temperatures for the UK it is a welcome relief to have had a breeze through the night and a comfortable temperature so far today. To some degree maybe I shouldn’t complain to much as I do have the pleasure of working in a nicely air conditioned office, but it still doesn’t stop the evenings, my time, being a time filled with sloth like movement, humid stickiness and brain fog.

    For those of you here for the travel and motorcycling side of my blog you might as well step away for this one, probably little of this post will interest you. Apologies I know I still owe you a couple of post lock down routes and promise I will get to them.

    So if I am not talking about bike then what am I talking about, in short pondering, reflecting, ruminating, thinking over, deliberating… It’s something I estimate I spend at least 2 hours a day doing and it can be a valuable skill, however over played rapidly becomes over thinking a state I often find my self in. Once there it can be a terribly disruptive state that leads to a stuck thought loop or when severe a positive feedback loop. For me pondering isn’t a skill I have been taught it is something I have always done, ever since I reached my teens the active level of my inner voice and consciousness has been high. I have since then refined my control of it and tried to optimise but it is still very much a work in progress.

    There are days when I know I will likely have a conversation with a certain person or on a certain subject, if it is something difficult or that I am anxious about then I start the conversation before getting there. Despite generally coming across, as passionate, confident and an extrovert I am often anxious or uneasy, I have just got good at covering it up. The preparation for a conversation that I think will likely be difficult is often dry running through various outcomes or directions that conversation could take, if I am anxious about it at the start of the day I normally start this analysis of the possible outcomes in the shower, followed by getting dressed and then as I continue my normal routine. And it is the routine that allow that thought process to be the active part of my brain whilst other tasks are subconsciously completed. Often the my thought process in the dry runs turns to the more aggressive and aggravated responses I could give, I think about it as getting them out now before they are left to linger and come out in the real conversation but like any one I am far from perfect at tailoring my language at times.

    Other times when I didn’t predict a difficult conversation and it hit me unprepared, these are the day where the analysis is after the fact. At times this ties up my ability to move forward or past conflict or difficulty for longer than I would like. Being stuck re-analysing my language choice and the other persons reaction and body language if I can see it in these remote times. If I care about the impact of that conversation enough this can ripple on for days, creating actions and planning changes in my behaviour with that person or scenario for next time trying to account for the emotion that might be behind all parties in the conversation and the factors that are driving there perspectives.

    The difficulty with it is knowing when to think and ponder my situation or a possible up and coming situation and when to let it go, accept that despite my intention and best efforts you can never keep everyone happy and I will continue to make mistakes. Knowing when this past couple of years has been harder than ever, my writing style, directness, dyslexia mean that I don’t always come across best in writing. I am much more comfortable with verbal communication, with reading direct body language and tonal feedback. And whilst video meetings enable some of that it is still different for me, there is still something that is disconnected in my inbuilt communications adjustment. The resultant this year is that in isolation my brain has been filling in more of the opinions and angles than ever, instead of asking it has run with its internal status / decision / predicted viewpoint for people and that has been often to my detriment.

    However the key thing with all of the above is to keep looking forward and establish direction and desires, my ability to ponder when timed correctly and with the correct data fed in is incredible powerful. I just need to learn to use it better, to enable the outcome of it to be more positive and productive.

    I remember reading somewhere that we think that releasing anger reduces the risk of violence or that angered behaviour but that actually the opposite is true and that if you are angry or have pent up aggression actively remaining calm and trying avoid anger over time reduces feeling of anger in those situations and increases peaceful behaviour. Given that this is true for behaviour, it is likely true for thought, maybe I need to think more often of positive possibilities in conversations and situations.

    Some people like to work in active shorts steps starting and then correcting, often doing things that could be easily avoided over and over. Others like to think for significant time before acting, planning and exploring before deciding. I think I fall the majority of the time in the latter camp, after all I have to think about how I am going to tidy up my room or the garage before I even start and sometimes that can take months. Neither approach is necessarily wrong it depends on the task or scenario at hand, for instance long thinking before acting is the complete opposite of advanced riding IPSGA is a continue feedback based system that can be restarted at any point.

    I wonder if there is an IPSGA equivalent for difficult conversations?

    Where was I going with all this, I don’t know, I guess I think that more people would benefit from actively pondering, as long as it is not left to be a solo activity where the only opinion or voice that you are pondering is your own.

  • YBR125 Update… It’s done!

    YBR125 Update… It’s done!

    It has taken me way to long to get another update out on this so apologies, the quick update is that the YBR125 is completed and with it’s new owner. However getting it to that stage didn’t go to plan…

    Getting It Running

    Wind back to the start of April and I had the week off, one of my prime goals for that week was to get the YBR running and ready for an MOT. In my last update I had bolted the shiny bits on and had parts coming to confirm my diagnoses of the Fuel Pressure regulator, it turned out my diagnoses was correct. After draining the tank for what felt like the millionth time I took the fuel pressure regulator off of the donor pump and removed the rust filled one that was on the existing pump assembly. Bolted it all back together and filled it up with some fuel, it immediately sparked into life almost on the first stroke and rev’d cleanly unlike before.

    However all was not well, I immediately rolled it down the drive to test that it would go through the gears and thats when it tried to wheelie on me as I kicked it down into gear with the clutch in. The years of sitting had obviously not been kind to the clutch which was now seized.

    So i tried a couple of quick tricks first, getting the bike properly warm and the oil properly flowing then dumping it into gear. Laying the bike on it’s side for. few hours to try and let the oil soak and loosen up the clutch plates… both to no avail so I set to with probably the most major job I have done on the bike, replacing the clutch. At first it didn’t want to come apart with the kick start level and starter motor live bolt fighting me so I left it soaking in Plus Gas for 48 hours and came back to it.

    A gear puller I had picked up in between made light work of getting the kick start off and despite the starter motor live connection bolt being now made of toffee (the rubber cover acts as a nice water bowl for this to sit in) I managed to work it loose with some mole grips after removing the exhaust for better access. Which for the first time in my lifetime the exhaust head bolts came out as if they had just been put in, I can only assume it was the liberal Plus Gas and patience. Everything now out the way I was able to remove the side cover and slide it off, followed by unbolting the clutch springs. After which the clutch pack came out as one, the friction plates and metal plates all stuck together with rust.

    With them removed I decided it wasn’t worth cleaning them and putting them back in as the friction material was likely compromised and I didn’t want loads of small rusty particles flowing round the engine in the shared oil. A new Gecko set was ordered and a couple of days later with a new gasket and some minor swearing after sheering a bolt and having to drill it out and replace it was back together with a new fresh clutch.

    MOT Day

    Once some insurance and tax had been sorted I got an MOT booked and that is when I realised I was missing a few things I needed to put it back together, a little rifling through the spares draws later and some suitable bolts and fasteners were found to get it looking back like a bike.

    I had also after getting the clutch done managed to do a better job of refitting the screen, engine bars and fitted the new Chinese chain oiler which fits and works a treat. Unfortunately I didn’t get round to fitting the hand guards because they didn’t quite clear the levels or so I thought.

    Anyway it went in for the MOT, riding it up the step hill to the estate was fun and took me back to being a kid again. I laughed my ass off all the way up the hill… After Failing initially on headlight aim, the local garage are excellent and they just got on and corrected it for me for no charge and put it back through passing with two minor advisories. 1. corrosion on the front forks (I knew about this but it wasn’t effecting performance or leaking dangerously). 2. Bent front brake lever, it’s obvious when you look at it and explains why the hand guards wouldn’t fit but somehow my brain had just chalked it down to a weird shape lever…

    Finally it was ready to go to it’s new home, now I just had to get it there.

    New Home Day

    It’s new home in the New Forest is about 80 odd miles away from mine, so I made a day of it and gave the bike a proper shake down in the process. I started with a ride from High Wycombe to Winchester for 9AM to meet a biking buddy for breakfast, I actually got there decidedly early the bike not missing a beat and managing to carry my heft up to 55mph on the flat.

    YBR in the centre of Winchester

    Following breakfast it was on to meet another mate in Chandlers Ford and take a ride with him upto Portsdown hill on the back roads like we did when we were first biking as teenagers most nights… Then back down from Portsdown to the New Forest to pick up a tent before heading to it’s final destination.

    Surprisingly capable bike luggage wise..

    Just before this my mate had point out the tyres looked a little low, I hadn’t checked them as they had new rubber and had been inflated when fitted. Although they weren’t dangerously low they were not at the recommended pressure for the load so I cranked them up to the correct pressures. What a difference, the bike suddenly was more eager with my weight on hitting 65MPH on the flat and no doubt capable of reaching 70MPH with a longer run.

    The new owner was most pleased with her new bike and putting her CBT to practice, here are some photo’s I took before the ride down. There are a couple of minor finishing touches that needed doing, the L plates needed fitting, the under tank plastic air trim things needed fitting and the hand guards that are still in my garage will be fitted at a later date after the level has been straightened.

    YBR before the long ride down south…

    Overall the bike did about 150 miles that day with my rather heavy body on and some bits in the top box / on the rear seat for sections it didn’t miss a beat and the chain oiler worked a charm. I am looking forward to joining it and it’s new owner on some rides hopefully in the not to distant future.

    What did it cost in the end…

    With purchasing for £150 I was hopeful that it would work out around the £500 on the road but with the extra issues and sprinkling a few accessories for better comfort and for the bikes long term betterment it came out at just under £800 and thats not accounting for fuel to get it down to it’s new home.

    Overall this is still a good preposition as it has new brakes, tyres, chain and sprocket. Thus everything it should need general wear and tear wise for the next couple of years is covered. With a clean and a few finishing touches I reckon I could easily sell this for £900 and more likely get 1100-1300 for it on the current market. So although I was never in it for the profit, it at least is never going to be a loss if I were to need to sell it. However it just goes to show that even a 125 with cheap parts and that has low miles and should be a gem of a project can still rapidly rack up a hefty parts bill. If I had paid more than £150 I would be in the red…

  • Castle Combe Skills Day 25/5

    Castle Combe Skills Day 25/5

    At the start of March with the route out of lockdown having been announce a friend and fellow TVAM member gave me a heads up… “A skills day at Castle Combe has gone up on the web shop for the 25/5”, I immediately went online and got myself booked in, I was desperate after all to start planning biking activities for post lock down and this is a perfect activity to have in the calendar lined up.

    It’s called a Skills Day because this isn’t a generic track day, in the words of the TVAM…

    Due to our size, TVAM is able to hire the Castle Combe track for the day to enable members to develop their road riding skills in the safety and security of a track environment. These are not track days but an opportunity to hone your road riding skills.

    taken from https://www.tvam.org/training/

    it’s a private event for club members only, where we are split into groups based on experience. With experienced instructors for each group. The aim of the day is to improve your overall riding and get to know your machine better.

    Castle Combe 09/09/2020

    Last year I had one booked on the 5th May but we were in lockdown so it got moved and ended up being the 9th September. I was originally down to be in one of the novice groups, having not done a one before, but when I got there, the organiser of the event having seen my riding elsewhere before suggested that I moved up to the Intermediate group. He had someone in the intermediate group that also wanted to move down into novice so it worked out well.

    Castle Combe 09/09/2020

    I have always considered myself a quick rider, and I enjoy using my physical size to throw the large Versys into a corner whole heartedly. However it is some much fun to have the space and the safety to really start to push it, to find where the ground clearance really runs out when you lean over and when the braking is at it’s limit. It gives you an upper marker for your’s and the bikes ability, when you are riding on the road you have so many more variable to take in that finding the upper limit tends to only happen by mistake. That corner you went into a little hot and somehow made it out of or that distance that you got wrong and are now having to stop in… in those situations although you learn it is difficult to take in all the additional information and know how close you really were and whether actually you tensing up made it worse. On a track you can take variables out and focus on feeling the bike and yourself.

    Castle Combe 09/09/2020

    With this in mind I think the one in May is perfectly timed, by the time I sit back on my bike it will be April. I won’t of ridden since the start of December the best part 4 months, one of the things in advanced riding is about knowing yourself. I know it won’t take me long to start getting comfortable on my bike again and get back into the advanced flow or mindset, but I also know that not having ridden at all in that time period has sent me backwards in skill.

    My feel for the bike won’t be there like it was before and although I will have got some of it back before May this Skills Day will be a perfect oppertunity to recalibrate and get back into the swing of things. It will also be a lot of fun, regardless of the weather, back in September we were lucky it was the perfect day sunny and dry but not too warm. In the end I did 100 miles on Castle Combe in I think what was 5 roughly 15 minute sessions, and I was knackered, by the time we got back to High Wycombe I was ready for bed!

    One thing that is different for this one is that I am now booked into Intermediate group from the off, meaning that they would prefer I were wearing leather instead of textiles. Cue the laughter…

    They Fit…

    Back in 2013 I was displaying my Imp at the 50th anniversary display at the Beaulieu July auto jumble for a weekend, whilst taking a wander round and a look at the stalls on the last day for any closing bargains I got accosted. This man looked at me and he said I have the perfect thing for you… He had ordered it a few years before from a custom leathers company and being a portly fellow himself needed large leathers, however he was not tall and for some reason they had not done the adjustments for his height. Before he could send it back the company went bust and closed down and he was stuck with leathers that were way to big for him, they then sat in the cupboard for a while…

    This worked out to be my gain as I bought the set which is heavy good leather and well stitched as far as I can tell for £85, I have worn it a couple of times before but never more than a couple of short rides. So I thought I best try it on again especially with lockdown weight gains…

    It fits me relatively well however the sleeves and legs are two long, meaning that whilst I can do the sleeves fully up it bunches on my forearms a bit. The legs because of my fat calfs can only do up just down to the above the ankle there I end up with about 2 inches unzipped. I think I will be able to tuck the legs into my boots and get my gloves on possibly under the sleeves, I may try and get it adjusted and also to get some leather gloves and sports style boots before May so that I don’t scrape my nice suede finished Daytona waterproof boots. But we will see…

    Hopefully this one in May has good weather and goes just as well… some pics below from September…

  • General Update

    General Update

    Hey all, when I started this blog properly over the Christmas break I had intended to try and do one post a week, something that I have been failing at… There are several reason’s why but one of them is that I have been trying to organise and plan some more long term content and work towards getting the podcast side of things off the ground.

    Over the next few weeks there should be some more posts including the rest of the 5 routes post lockdown, with the government giving an update on the road out of lockdown my calendar is rapidly starting to fill up with exciting bike related activities. Which I am hoping to share with you in both written and vocal form possibly even some video clips.

    The other reason things at least for the past month haven’t move forward as rapidly as I would’ve liked was due to getting COVID-19 and the starting up of a new and exciting project at work. I can multitask as long as the tasks are in the same vain or area as soon as there are multiple exciting things it get’s a little difficult to focus. The COVID passed over a 2 week period and I was lucky the most severe symptom I had was the loss of taste and smell, which is now back thank goodness. One morning it was so bad that I couldn’t feel / taste mouthwash…

    However that came with the challenge of working from home and after another housemate getting a positive test, spending even longer in isolation. My focus was just shot and my brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders but I am back now!

    Expect a more consistent flow of posts over the coming weeks, thanks for reading and coming along for the journeys!

  • Normally I drive for the Dawn

    Normally I drive for the Dawn

    I sit here in my Mum and Stepdads lounge in front of the fire drinking a bailey’s over ice, coming to a strange realisation as I glance up at the time 01:00. This is the first time I have been in a house at this time on a new years eve for a couple of years. You might assume that is because normally I am out getting drunk in a pub or club but you’d be wrong, although I have nothing against those activities they are just not my scene.

    I, every once in a while really enjoy just dancing to the early hours but most of the time I am more of a scotch and dark corners with easy going piano music or jazz sort of guy. Though I don’t find a good location for that much these days, thus scotch and a decent BBQ at a mates house is definitely my scene, sitting by the grill smoking cigars talking serious till the early hours… However I am also a restless soul and so more so than not at this time on a new years eve I have been in the car heading towards Cornwall to catch the dawn.

    I know that the sun rises in the east and thus Cornwall being to the west would not be the normal place to catch a sunrise. Especially when you consider that normally on new years day the weather isn’t that good, often overcast and grey. However, I don’t care, North Cornwall between St Ives and Portreath is a special place to me and always will be.

    This sort of unconventional journey is something I have been doing for about 10 years, and was a natural progression in a way. When I was 17 and had my first bike I would often after babysitting on a Friday or Saturday night just take roads I didn’t know and head roughly in a given direction till I read a road sign name I recognised. This often was in inclement weather and was about freedom and pushing myself, I had a vehicle there was nothing stopping me so why not. I had nothing urgently waiting for me at home after all.

    When I passed my driving test at 19 this developed to further distances, it wasn’t uncommon for me to go out and do 60-100 miles of an evening just to find new roads, listen to a cd and work on my driving.

    For my 21st Birthday I had nothing planned, other than to hop in my 1972 hillman imp and take myself down to Gwithian to sit on the coast, maybe fly a kite. When a friend found this out he asked if he and a couple of mates could join, before I knew it there was 4 of us on route to Cornwall for the day. We flew kites got a nice lunch and then headed back up, it was a mini adventure and I loved it, I remember listening to Weezer from a minidisk player on the way back reflecting on turning 21. (Note the MiniDisc was old tech then it’s just my iPod was broken at the time, I’m not that old).

    We went in two cars, note I had no front passenger seat in at the time (it had been removed to measure up for a bucket seat replacements) so Bob had to sit in the back with no seat belt and had to brace himself every time we entered a roundabout…

    Around November that same year one night I had been out in the car to the normal hang outs with other friends, nothing much was going on so I headed home but having split up with my girlfriend about a year before and still thinking about her, I was restless and didn’t feel like sleeping. So I started heading west, deciding I wanted to wake up somewhere else and see the dawn no matter what it looked like, just somewhere other than home. I awoke in the car park at Gwithian to a cold November morning but to about 40 surfers taking advantage of a good morning’s surf.

    I remember writing a poem as I sat taking in the scene I think I titled it “230 miles for a smile”, I still have it or a digital copy somewhere I will have to dig it out… since this I have done it many times, at different points in the year, as well as to other locations.

    The tradition for me of doing it on New Years Eve started as we went form 2015 to 2016, once again I had split with my girlfriend, this time gradually between that summer and Christmas.

    She had gone off to do what she loved (acting) at uni in London and I had stayed doing the commute from the New Forest up to work in Wokingham, things hadn’t been perfect for the few months before she went but I still had hope. She however had a new direction and I didn’t fit with it, so after a particularly awkward night at my works Christmas party in a hotel things were clear and we parted ways.

    A month later a friend was throwing a New Years Eve party at his parents with his brother and bunch of friends, it looked like it could be a good laugh. Having not had dinner I turned up with both dinner for myself and desert, everyone loves a chocolate gateau. Whilst shopping for these on route I had decided that not knowing half the people there and being a little in my own head I didn’t want to get drunk and to serious for the crowd.

    You know that feeling when everyone else has there respective places at a party, beds and partners etc and then theres you the odd guy who is just a little too intense for most people.

    So I decided that at 13:00 I wanted to head off and wake up somewhere else. So I thought about the time scales and chose Gwithian as an easy target, I was mildly hoping that I could enchant with the spur of the moment adventure nature of it a nice your female or a couple of friends to join me. However that was unsuccessful so off I went to catch the dawn in Cornwall driving solo.

    The joke being that a couple of friends said the next day they had wished they had joined me as two young ladies had got well out of hand, trashed the bathroom before refusing to leave and causing a ruckus. They said they could have done with my help and that I got out at the right time…

    Although since then there have been years where I have stayed at the house party or the LAN party at home, more of them have been spent the same, driving to around Hayle to catch the dawn. The last couple of years friends have joined me realising that it’s an easy going night / early morning of music choices, sweets / snacks and chatting as the mile role by.

    I find you get the most honest and fruitful conversations when your in a car with someone for a few hours or more, all that stuff that there was never space for before in your friendship comes up. You get to the bottom of those missed communications and understandings of the passed and find a clear way forward.

    If it weren’t for COVID and the importance of keeping everyone safe I would be doing the same again. There will certainly be more dawn rides and drives to come both at new years and at other times, there are just some nights where I get home and you don’t want to be there or my mind needs more time on the road. These are the nights I look at the time and pick a place on the map and a route, go inside shower/take a nap and pack a bag and start heading in that direction.

    So although it’s a strange New Years Eve sitting in front of the fire as it dies down and my glass has run dry, not seeing my friends or getting to be on the road, I am looking forward to the year ahead. I am already in my head thinking about how I can get more out of the time I will have where I will be to travel this year. Whether that be to work on the Hillman Imp or to clock up the miles on two or four wheels.

    Happy New Year! below is my favourite dawn run from this passed year, that I managed to squeeze in when we came out of lockdown earlier this year, I suspect I will do this one again at some point this year…

    July 2020

    I know some of you already think I am crazy but what a wonderful way to feel alive…I didn’t feel like sleeping Friday night and had to be in the New Forest for 9am Saturday to give my brother a hand, so I thought where could I go in between.

    So I took the long way from High Wycombe to Margate got there about 4am leaving me enough time to find a nice spot before the sunrise at 5am. After that, I hopped back on the bike and rode across country to the new forest not a motorway on either journey. Arriving for 9am…

    It was a beautiful morning and lovely scenery to ride through as the sun continued to come up. I was lucky to arrive at a nice cooked breakfast and a fresh coffee.

    Following that, after an early night, I started early on Sunday, meeting a friend at Loomies, before taking a nice winding route around Hampshire and clocking up some more miles over Sunday.

    All in all clocking up around 280 miles Friday night / Saturday and a further 200 on Sunday for a total of about 16 hours in the saddle. Definitely worth it!

  • A Week Exploring West Wales in December

    A Week Exploring West Wales in December

    Earlier in the summer, when we came out of the first lockdown being in a particularly positive mood, I took the opportunity with my then girlfriend to book a beautiful holiday cottage in West Wales. The plan was to take the car and have a cosy cwtch getaway in November, avoiding the rain by spending time with coffee and books watching the weather roll in…

    Unfortunately time has a way of changing plans by the time I was actually able to get away for the week three key things had changed, it was not December, I was now single and thus decided to take the bike in place of the car.

    I was incredibly lucky as 48 hours before I was due to head to Wales the Welsh government updated there restrictions re-opening the border, if it hadn’t of been for this my first week off of the entire year would have been the week before Christmas. I was determined to make the most of the week away as it was duly needed and thats what led the decision to the last minute decision to take the bike.

    The night before I umm’d and ahh’d as I hadn’t ridden since the end of September, making me a little apprehensive especially as there had been some snow across some parts of the route and the temperatures were likely to remain at levels where ice is a concern.

    Intending to take the above route was a minor failure on my part in route planning selecting leave now at 22:00 the night before failed to how the fact that the A465 was closed. After ignoring the diversion, turning off, riding about 20 minutes out of the way to Crickhowell I did the sensible thing and stopped to have a drink and something to eat and look at the TomTom.

    View from Crickhowell of the hill I was about to traverse
    Lay-by just outside Crickhowel – perfect place to stop have a drink from the thermos, a sarny and some Pringles

    Looking at the TomTom there was a white road over the hill that I could take… this was maybe less sensible as 45 minutes later I was surprised after making a wrong turn to arrive back at Gilwern and the same junction where I had come off the closed A465. The white road had turned out to be a refresher in just how good the Versys is as a bike and how helpful traction control is, making me very glad I had thrown it on 3 (full intervention) at the start of the day.

    Following the diversion this time I went back towards Abergavenny and then down towards Newport and took the M4, A40 route across. The whole way chasing the sun, unfortunately there is nowhere to stop as you pass Port Talbot in the average 50 as the sun and low-lying light fog over the town looked beautiful.

    I arrived at Chapel House in the dark, a little cold and ready for a nice warm bath a glass of wine and a movie. Waking the next day I wake to a view of the sea out the front window of the chapel.

    View from Chapel House, Penycwn

    Following this wonderful dawn I spent the week trying to clock up the miles and explore the hidden coastline of the south west of Wales, so here are some of my favourite little finds…

    Abercastle, Pembrokeshire

    In 1876, The harbour was the landing-site of the first Atlantic Ocean single-handed sailing, west-to-east, starting from Gloucester, Massachusetts, by Alfred “Centennial” Johnson. More info about Abercastle can be found here

    Tucked away just off the costal road north of St Davids, Abercastle is a hidden gem, you could easily drive through it without realising what you had missed. As you come into Abercastle from the south and see the houses hugging to the hills there is a little turning on the left before a sort of bridge. This little road is single track and hugs the cliff taking you out to the harbour masters house and the small carpark right at the harbours edge.

    You won’t find any cafe’s or posh coffee but what you do find is a breathtaking views with a stream feeding down from the hills weaving round the carpark out to sea. Walk round the costal path round the headland and there is another little stone beach.

    Dale, Pembrokeshire

    Over a glass of wine I took a look at the TomTom for places round the coast to the south of the Chapel house, finding the St Annes Headland and Dale which looked like it might be a good spot to head out for a ride. I choose to follow the coastal road from Newgale to Broad Haven and then cut across the headland.

    As I got off the bike in the beach carpark in Dale and looked at the dirty state of it the words “some people worry about using them too much, I worry about using it too little” went through my mind.I then walked along the beach and pondered that statement, and realised it worked better the other way round. This is what then resulted…

    Dale Ditty

    Some people feel that they use there’s too little, I worry I might use mine too much, no not that my dear, but never fear, I’m always happy to make you blush.

    No I’m talking my bike, you know two wheels, handles bars and engine between my legs. I guess I’m just happy to be clocking up the miles from east to west.

    From one shore to another, come rain or shine, it is nee ney bother, I don’t mind getting a little wet.

    I know you like it less but I find I like it best when you join me from behind. No, not that my dear put your filthy mind at rest, I mean sat on the back nothing to do but watch the world go by.

    Dale, Pembrokeshire – Colourful Houses by the waters edge at the Southern tip of the beach

    On the way back from Dale, I took the coastal road back and stopped in Broad Haven for a coffee. It was lovely to see so many people out enjoying a walk along the beach, if you continue to follow the costal road towards Newgale you pass through Nolton Haven this is the perfect place to get a stunning sunset photo. There is also a good place you can stop on the road and get a good view across towards Newgale.

    Poppit, Cardigan

    Another glass of wine and look at the TomTom this time north of my location found Poppit Beach, having got my confidence back up with the bike worked out a little more challenging route through some more narrow muddy single track lanes. Coming off the A487 toward Nevern gave me more chances to practice using the bike in challenging conditions and the traction control to keep me on the road.

    The beach parking was empty and seemed a little wrong so I skipped stopping at the actual beach and continued following the road towards Cardigan, finding the perfect stopping spot on the way into St Dogmaels just by the side of the road is a launching slipway and a couple of park bench’s.

    Whilst taking these photo’s I sat drinking my coffee, I noticed in the house behind me there was a room right at the front of the house where a gentleman was sat playing the guitar. I sat for a while longer and wondered what it would be like having these views directly outside your house every day.

    LLangrannog, Ceredigion

    Last year whilst doing a training weekend with TVAM (Thames Valley Advanced Motorcyclists) I taken on a ride across the central Wales with the lunch stop being LLangrannog, it is a beautiful place and reminds me places like Clovelly, Devon. It has a brilliant cafe right by the front called “The Beach Hut” which unfortunately was closed this time of year but if you get a chance to go in season it is a worthy lunch stop.

    If you look at the map above the B4334 has a beautiful pair of hairpin turns which are a good vehicle control challenge when the weather is dry and sunny let alone when its wet and muddy.

    The only thing that you have to be careful with in LLangrannog is the parking, earlier up the hill there is a free carpark however the parking right at the front by the beach is full blown ANPR. Everywhere else I stopped in Wales whilst I was down there the parking was free out of season, a couple of local ladies very kindly came over to warn me so that I could pay for parking in time. It is a bone of contention with the locals the story going that the carpark was originally with the pub however someone purchase this pub as well as some others in the nearby villages. At the same time farming off the parking to an outside company based in Birmingham, which has no interest in the villages best interests.

    On the way back from LLangrannog I cut across towards Haverfordwest which took me on the B4329 across the tops of the hills, the view although not sunny was fantastic and full of colour.

    • View North from near Tafarn-y-bwlch
    • View South from near Tafarn-y-bwlch

    Is it worth riding in Wales in December?

    Yes, the days are relatively short which means that it gets dark and cold early. It is difficult to know if COVID was a factor or whether it is just West Wales out of season but most of the Cafe’s and pubs in the smaller locations were closed, this means if you are hoping to travel light you might want to think again. I would definitely get yourself a Thermos, it gives you a lot more freedom on stopping locations.

    The weather was actually pretty good though you will still need to where decent all weather gear and your thermals, with the temperature most days being around 4 degrees.

    What do you do whilst there in the winter?

    For me this was a perfect opportunity to take in the beauty around in peace, most places were extremely quiet which made taking in the real feel and sound of a place much easier. From a travelling perspective this has acted as a perfect spotting trip enabling me to drop some pins on the TomTom for future trips find awesome roads and note some ideas for routes. Other than this read, and cook good food, drink wine and sit by the fire.

  • Welcome

    About a year ago I started writing a short snippet to introduce myself for a dating app and found myself starting a small poem but it didn’t fit the character limit! So I cut my losses and copied it into my google notes, proceeding to then write something humdrum, shorter and more traditional and moved on with my life.

    Lazy Modern Traveller

    I don’t mind clocking up the miles on a motorcycle or in a car. To catch a sunset or sunrise, any hour night or day.

    I’m just happy to get away. Brunch is my preferred start, after sleeping in and wishing the world away. Poach eggs on toast a real treat to make me strong and steady on my feat.

    Anything with an engine takes my fancy, two wheels, four wheels, it doesn’t matter to me. I even prefer those items with marks and lines to show that they have lived in their time.

    Afternoon comes and I like my coffee, strong and sweet, if I’m lucky served in a cozy seat. Maybe in a bubbling cafe with a well-trimmed barista and radio a-play or just from the thermos at the side of the road, stretch the legs, and on we go.

    Finally, when the day is done, sunset felt, photography done. I like a whisky and a cigar, maybe to hear someone else’s tale across the bar. For I am a lazy modern traveler, no hurried pace of life for I’m just wanting to watch the world go by, one mile at a time.

    I often have little blocks of words like this floating round my mind, often they are in a particular accent that makes them smooth and flow better and tells a better narrative. However I don’t often share them, and normally forget them without ever noting them down.

    That’s about to change though; over the last few years whenever I regal a friend or colleague with a holiday, adventure or share hidden gems for an area they are about to visit they all say the same thing… you should write a blog and do a podcast!

    Welcome to the blog and the podcast will follow as soon as I get my act into gear, given I work for Focusrite I really have no excuse. All feedback is welcome but keep in mind I am not doing this to please everyone, it is my travel diary and thoughts for my account and if people find it useful and interesting then great.