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Well here goes.....

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a little while, but worried that I wouldn't have enough to say (difficult to believe I know)

We (my Rocket III fella + me) are going on holiday for a week tomorrow. We are going to a seaside town called Minehead on the north Somerset coast of England.

I have been anxiously watching the weather forecasts as it is getting quite cold here (tho not by Canadian standards) & we very much want to take the bikes.

Good news is that although it is fresher & heading toward frost at night it is actually sunny & quite pleasant.

So washing is blowin' in the wind & I can commit to micro bike packing.

By coincidence I had the house surveyed this morning so for once it is tidy & will be more appealing to come home to

I have been to the area we are going before but never on my own bike so should be fun. the journey to get there is only about 100 miles, but is actually coast to coast! that is south coast to west coast!

We are going to a cheap & cheerful little resort town which is on the edge of Exmoor National Park. This is a beautiful moorland with challenging gradients & lots of single track roads. It will be fun as my Speed Triple just loves hills.

The last time I road on these hills was a long long time ago when I worked for 2 summers at a riding stable, but I don't plan to go offroad or do any jumping this time!

So popping out now to get a few toiletries, then packing.

Hopefully I will be able to post a few pics & share some of Blighty's beauties with you.

I hoping by starting a blog I can witter on & it's up to you guys whether you want to read it or not.

More soon....................

It's 2am here & I should be asleep but I am too excited about our trip!

Weather forecast says it should be quite sunny but will still ride with full winter kit on as there is a fair bit of wind chill.

Must try & get my head down now

Yay!! Glad to see you finally started your blog, can't wait to read even more.

BTW - Thanks for chosing TMW to host it on.

Mike

Got here safely just before we lost the light at 6pm.
We had a great ride over as the route we chose included some very picturesque & twisty roads up through Dorset.

The weather was excellent although we got caught by some rain just 10 miles from our destiination!

No major problems on the way over, but I did have the inevitable dozy (young lady) driver try to annihilate me by crossing over into my lane without realising I was there! Fortunately I guessed in time & by sheerr chance had some hatched off space in the middle of the road to escape to! She got the benifit of an unladylike salute when I passed her shortly afterwards.

We got here too late to take any pics but will take some today. Unfortunately the stormy weather which was due in on Monday is here a day early, but I'm sure we will get out for a bit.

Must go now as the rugby is about to start.

What a weird start to the day. After watching the rugger, vive les Kiwi's, I have stepped out for a walk.

As soon as I got outside I heard the unmistakeable skirll of the bagpipes. At first I thought it was coming from the large (B......)Holliday camp up the road, but then spotted an elderly man pacing the pavement by a park.

Cos I'm in the holiday mood I couldn't resist goong over to chat. Turns out he was practising for a Trafalgar Day event later today. He very kindly agreed to play my favourite pibroch (lament) The Dark Isle. Amazing!!

Also by talking to him - have found out about this sea celebration just a few miles up the coast later today. So maybe no bike pics today but perhaps a jolly roger or two!

Hi guys haven't been able to update as no wifi & signal here very intermittent.

We have had a very lazy day today as weather a bit miz, has been god to have a thorough rest tho.

Yesterday we had a great outing. Further to my chat with the piper we went to a little fishing port for Trafalgar Day celebration. Actually this was really just used as a fundraising event for the local RNLI (lifeboat), which made it even more fun.

There were a number of people dressed up as pirates & quite A few Lord Nelson's! There was also sea shanty singing & a generally very relaxed atmosphere.

The ride over was pleasant though quite a bit of Sunday traffic (this is a tourist area).

The ride back was the best bit. We found the little coast road which we had somehow missed on the outward leg. It was much quieter, probably because most of the traffic couldn't find it either

We had to stop for quite a while a level crossing to allow 2 steam trains, yes STEAM trains pass!! it was fun to see the little kids faces light up when 2 bikers waved back at them one little boy walked passed us & got really excited when we waved to him, "mummy, mummy that motorbike man waved at me"! "That's not a man, that's a lady"! not sure he believed her tho

This little coast road had great views (sorry no pics) & at one point a spectacular blind summit with the road plunging down & away. I was glad I was going fairly slow as would probably taken off otherwise!

After we got back we parked the bikes uop & went to the pub We had a great night & were made very welcome

Today other than a trip to the supermarket between rain showers :rain: I haven't been out.

The forecast tomorrow is promising so after our good rest today the plan is to get up & have full day out. Hopefully we will get up on the moor.

What a poser!

Hip Hip Hooray!!

We have awoken to a beautiful clear blue sky our plan is to ride up onto top of moor then work our way back along the coast.

The coastal road involves at least two 1:4 long hills, so that will be interesting

Will let you know how I get on later

FAB ride today

Up on top of Exmoor with clear blue sky + glorious autumn colours. I have truly conquered my fear of gradients (see my bottled post) as thoroughly enjoyed all the challenges today

Guess what It's raining again!

we are confined to quarters until hopefully we can have an evening ride. good news is that it is supposed to be fine tomorrow & as it-s our last full day it would be good to get up on the moor again.

Yesterday (26th) was fella's birthday, so treated him to a day out on the local 20mile steam railway.

the idea was to have a pub crawl without worrying about riding. however, most of the available pubs were some distance from the stations so with the timetable we only managed 4

he nearly missed the train at one stop as he nipped out to the loo & had to jump back on the moving train

It was a great & different day out which I'm glad to say he really enjoyed

We finished of with a few games of pool at a really friendly pub. Obviously as it was his birthday I let him win!!