took the long way home today. only about a half hour round route to get back. for those that know the area - head out via old heath, through fingringhoe, pass the ranges and then out on mersea road toward west mersea, hang a right at the peldon rose and carry on through peldon etc till you get to the cream house that used to be a pub and turn right past abberton resevoir and home via layer de la haye etc.

any way, done this little run ( only about fifteen miles) thousands of times but today it was like i couldnt do anything wrong if i tried.

had my music on too ( i know a lot of people dont like riding with music playing but its no different to ear plugs if you ask me) and it all just fell into place.

wierd, right gear, right road position, right speed everywhere ( these days dont happen often). loved it totally loved it and stopped at the resevoir for a look at the water and heard creed singing ''can you take me higher....'' and i thought ''no!'' then had a fag and heard this ''..there's a peace inside us all , let it be your friend....''. so i got back on the bike and off i went, bike singing, creed singing. then heard this as i got back home ''...life can hold you down when you're not looking up...''.

I know ive not been happy with the little zed but its gorwing on me!

good little ride , a moment in time , wish i had the cameras on.

Getting soppy in your old age mate. Better pack the fags in and get a pipe.

interesting that a joyous post gets feck all replies and everyone will whinge at some point and say the forum isnt what it used to be or some bollox. its what we ( meaning you lot) choose to make it. here is a biker singing from the heart about the joy of biking and only one reply - shame on you lot. next time anyone whinges about how the forum isnt what it used to be ill ressurect this post and whinge myself about how it was a golden opportunity to share moments in time, about how we could bond in the enjoyment of our riding - ill whinge myself about how misunderstood i am and then piss myself laughing at all the pms and complaints and all the other bullsh!t.

Feck me people, riding bikes is fecking brilliant. wake up to the fact and dont whinge about every thread turning into an argument because thats what you seem to want to read and reply to. i got more interest saying '' dont drink bleach''. whats that all about?

just like the ole days, when 3 guys could have a conversation about feck all on a message board before chat was invented, "you been at the sauce zombie?"
Actually my ride home was fecking awesome tonight, 4 miles of utter pleasure, all the lights turning to green just as i got there, and that orrible little junction with the big feck off rut in it didn't try and pitch me off for once, wicked

I've actually had a good couple of rides recently ZOMB!E, it started on the way back from Bently the other night, EB had been moaning at me that he had to keep waiting for me (I never asked him to, its just his kindly nature) and this time I kept up, the sun was out, and I enjoyed the bendy bits.

Don't be too down Z maybe it's just a faze? (nothing realated to the fab miss Fazerstun!)

I did the same saturday afternoon, everybody else watching the world cup while i breezed through the countryside, mp3 player on, happily singing away to myself, quite possibly had the best ride out i haver ever had. Empty roads and the sun beating down and super sticky tyres in the heat, i wasnt going very fast just keeping the speed through the bends and thinking to myself, all the money spent on the bike, leathers, training and all the other gear i have has been worth every penny just for this one ride out. I hope there will be many more like it this summer, roll on the next england game, it was like living in a ghost town .

Well my detour ended up being 160miles with chips n haggis half way round(dinna fancy the fish). Set off at 5.00pm n bugger all traffic. overtakes timed perfect. not ballastic on the corners but nice n flowing although I lay claim to a services to biking award due to the amount of flies squished on my visor , light n fly screen. why don't they just slide off like rain

I took a test ride on a new Sprint ST today.

Very enjoyable, had a great time throwing it round some twisty bends. Turns out its not the bike for me (I don't think) but it was great to try a different bike on roads I am used to riding on the Daytona.

Continuing my quest tomorrow by test riding a Tiger 955i on the same roads. Who knows, this may be the one to tempt me

I sit on the back of other people's bikes and enjoy the scenic view of the back of their helms. I sit with the wind howling around me, getting thrown back and forth as the rider brakes and accelerates and I try to work with their riding style to make it a smooth ride. I sit and mope about how the various turns of fate have yet again prevented me from getting a poxy fecking 125cc machine to ride on and how they have been preventing me throughout the past 14 years. I'm like an ex-smoker trying to quit* while surrounded by smokers, here. I sit and reflect upon how almost 50% of my friends all ride bikes while I have to pay money and wait for public transport to take me somewhere that it would have been quicker to bloody well walk to. I reflect on the fact that, at my current rate (and I'm not on a low salary) it will take something like six years before I can afford a fecking learner bike.


So when I actually have some road stories to share and can relate to the joys of biking.... I'll contribute to this thread.







*Yes, I realise the irony of that statement

Sorry, Zombie, I've not been riding long enough to have had anything remotely approaching a perfect ride. I get perfect sections - a corner here, an overtake there - but nothing so grand-sounding as your one.

I do ride with tunes occasionally (I tend only to do it on roads I know very well) and I did once get a really spooky few minutes where everything that happened around me, including my own riding, meshed seamlessly with the song I had on. It was weird - more like an elaborate dance than a ride. It was something off the new chili peppers album, mellow but driving at the same time, but can't remember the title.

On the topic of glorious rides, Sutty61 and I met up in Powys in Wales last weekend (he's based in Liverpool while I'm down here in Dorset so was half way for each of us). We talked about posting here and had a good laugh as we have a message for all our Welsh cousins:

"You lucky Barstewards!. You lucky, lucky Barstewards!"

That was some of the best riding I have done in over twenty years of biking. Fantastic scenery, and excellent quality roads - especially a particular stretch of the A44 heading into Aberystwith just before the Devil's Bridge turn-off (yes Sutty I will mention the momentary blood-rush that nearly had me off). Then all around the Elan Valley before heading back to our digs in West Worcestershire. We were both absolutely buzzing despite 9 hours in the saddle. Followed by drinking beer in the garden until the wee hours just reminiscing about the day. Pure joy.

solid, you are not telling me the truth mate. you dont need years of experience or anything to enjoy riding. you have obviously enjoyed riding and long may you continue to do so mate.

i love bikes, i love riding them. not every ride is perfect but it has perfect bits in it.

I know what you mean. On Sunday I had a really good ride to and from the Cat and Fiddle, great roads, great weather, met some quality people , and just generally really really enjoyed having a bike.

Makes all the kerfuffle I had when I had the accident, all the stress of getting to grips with the new bike, all the money, all the p*ssing cold winter days that i've ridden through very much so worth while I'm planning on having many many great riding days this summer

In the last 40,000 miles (i.e. since I became bornagain ) there is one ride that sticks in my memory as the perfect ride. Many have been good since, but none have quite made it to the sense of man, machine and road in perfect harmony.

This was last March when I did my mini Scotland tour. Up from Swindon, across to the north east, stopped off for a curry and a beer or two with DP, then up through alnwick and en route to the Isle of Skye. All the way through Glencoe was just perfect. The roads were empty - I passed about three cars in 30 miles - the weather was perfect, the roads were dry, the bike was running a dream, and it was just corner after corner after corner and every single one I got the perfect line and the best possible speed for my level of skill at the time (or at least as near to it as felt perfect to me). It was heaven on earth. Talk about grin - any more and my lid would have split under the strain. Better than sex (well, better than sex with my ex wife anyway).

Much of the rest of the tour was great too - some of the best riding I have ever done - but that particular section was just bliss.

I have had some perfect moments since, but never quite as perfect.

Its strange though. That was done on the (some say) boring Deauville, but I wrung its neck on that trip and it lapped it up. I didnt get the panniers down but I must have come close The FJR is an altogether better bike. twice the engine capacity, three times the power, and I have been happy riding it fairly briskly, but its only in the last couple of months that I have begin to feel REALLy at home on it and able to throw it around as much as I did the Deauville. But don't it feel good now

Had a great biking day today.

Met JP, Vaanen and AlexT at Fox's. I think RacyTracy pitched up as well but Mil had taken my phone to work and none of know what she looks like - sorry Tracy.

Then rode up to Chipping Norton with V & A and rode back on my own.

Brilliant ride back. I felt in complete control. Taming of the Tuono I was flowing like a river - soooo smooooth.

35 years of riding experience and an amazing bike blended in perfection.

I'll probably stall in Fox's car park tomorrow