May 08, 2009 GMT - Home Sweet Home
Well my last day in France unfolded as planned with a lovely scenic ride avoiding motorways and following the course of the Loire to avoid major cities in the morning. I rolled up in Le Mans after lunch, did a...

May 06, 2009 GMT - France Without Peage
Set out after breakfast and a strangely disturbed nights sleep, not sure I can handle the drink any more! Another great day of riding without touching a motorway once. The mountain trail down to Pau was spectacular as expected and...

May 05, 2009 GMT - Awesome Mountain Fun
What a spectacular day of riding! Took the N630 (need to check that road number later) from Vinaroz to Zaragoza this morning and the sections around Morella were fantastic. Trying to keep pointing North but staying off AutoVia as much...

May 04, 2009 GMT - Viva Espana
Brief update tonight from Beni Casim just north of Valencia. Lots of miles through spectactular mountains today but a lot of motorways involved. Had a late full English breakfast before setting off at midday. Route via Malaga, Granada, Murcia and...

May 04, 2009 GMT - Last Days in Morocco
After Jackki left Marrakech I had a sense that essentially I had done what I wanted to do in Morocco and that the trip needed a boost to avoid the last week feeling like that long journey home after a...

May 04, 2009 GMT - SOS Childrens Village
During our time in Marrakech we took a car out to visit the SOS Childrens Village in Ait Ourir which is in the foot hills of the High Atlas not far from the city. It was an interesting opportunity to...

May 04, 2009 GMT - Marrakech Weekend
Well Jackki arrived safely in Marrakech and I met her at the airport as planned. Had a fantastic weekend without really doing a whole lot and I guess that is what people do here. It feels hectic all the time,...

April 29, 2009 GMT - Getting to Love Offroad Riding
Had a great meal in the Jmaa Al Fna last night and walked around on my own for as long as I could to find my way around the Medina. Good fun and the hawkers are all so good natured...

April 28, 2009 GMT - Marrakech
Only a short update since I am working from the phone but I have arrived in Marrakech pretty much a half day ahead of schedule having done far more than I thought possible so far on the trip. Checked into...

April 28, 2009 GMT - Camping Again
Decided to stick arround in Tinerhir and found a campsite in mid afternoon. Pitched in a sandy corner aith a bit of a whiff but managed to avoid too many stones where I would sleep. Took a walk into town...

April 27, 2009 GMT - Stunning Sahara
Cant upload pictures from internet cafe so will have to add them later when I get home. You will have to put with 1000 words instead. The ride from the disappointing ErRachidia made me smile with stunning views across the...

April 25, 2009 GMT - Another Busy Day
Late last night I discovered that Morocco operates on GMT all year round. What I thought was 9 or maybe 8 AM was actually 7AM. Not so critical of the late mornings, whoops. After a genuine lie in this morning...

April 25, 2009 GMT - First Full Day in Morocco
Slept like a baby and was happy to sleep in until 8AM and start my day. Well I say 8am but I was unsure if I should have put the clock back to UK time so in my mind it...

April 23, 2009 GMT - Nous Arrivons A Maroc
The bad use of French in the title pretty much gives the game away and the reason I am using an Arabic keyboard to write this is because I am sitting in an internet cafe in Tetouan having arrived in...

April 23, 2009 GMT - Mammoth Mileage and great fun
Wednesday turned into a mammoth mileage day but it was fun from beginning to end. I decided to go for an early start and set the alarm to get me up in time to be on the move at first...

April 21, 2009 GMT - Stiff Legs & Sore Arse
Well that is France almost dispatched in a single day blast of motorways and Peage. Good weather and no traffic have made for exactly the day I needed, seeing what France has to offer can wait until the summer and...

April 20, 2009 GMT - day 1 Success?
Well I made it onto the ferry so it is all systems go. Apparently a weekend of drinking and theme parks is not the ideal body preparation so my old bones were complaining after only fifty miles! only 4950 to...

April 20, 2009 GMT - Departure Day
Cant believe that today has arrived and I am really setting off on this trip this afternoon. The packing is done, the birthday celebrations have been completed and I guess that means I am ready. Thanks to everyone who has...

March 27, 2009 GMT - Last Day at Work
Thanks to all at RRFCS for the good luck messages today as I ended my time with Rolls-Royce after 17+ years. Feels good to be free and starting on a new adventure that includes this bit of a bike trip....

March 10, 2009 GMT - The Bike
Figured one or two people may be interested in the bike and its preparation (or lack of) for the trip. Basically I bought my VStrom 1000 3 years ago in recognition that my riding was getting much less an every...

February 13, 2009 GMT - The Route Plan
The basic essentials of a route are coming together and it is time to subject my proposals to comments on the HUBB. All comments, suggestions etc are invited on the thread set up just for this purpose. Monday 20th April...

February 13, 2009 GMT - Thanks Nev
Great laughs over breakfast talking through my little trip with the team at work. Thanks Nev for providing the "feme tune" that now accompanies this blog entry....

February 12, 2009 GMT - Progress
Not sure I quite have a regular readership on the blog yet but figured I still have the obligation to keep things up to date. Success on the insurance front and an inspiring trip to the Ace Cafe are the...

February 03, 2009 GMT - Under No Circumstances
Having browsed the forums about insurance over the last few days I figured it was worth a quick call to my broker to explore the easy and obvious solution and get a quote from Chaucer for providing me with a...

January 29, 2009 GMT - Planning Has Commenced
Now that the key decision to actually get on and make this trip happen has been made I can feel the excitement building and it is getting difficult to focus on anything else. Learning to write html and linking to...

January 27, 2009 GMT - Mobile Phone Trial
For my first planning entry on this blog i am simply going to explore the art of the possible when making entries from my windows mobile based cell phone. if you are reading this uninteresting entry then the trial has...