Yes, I’m off on my bike again!

This trip is a repeat of last year’s visit to Portugal. I enjoyed the company, the riding and the food & lodgings so much I thought I’d go again. And I’m not the only one, my mate Phil from Wales is going to, so we won’t be short on jokes and tall tales!

Last year there were only 4 ‘punters’ so keeping together wasn’t an issue. This time there’s 10. Hopefully we’ll all be of a similar standard and able to keep the group moving at a reasonable pace. I’m also hoping that this year we won’t have as much rain as last year, which washed out a number of the days forcing us off the twisty mountain roads and onto boring motorways. [If you never saw my trip report last year you’ll find it here: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85759 ]

As you’d expect I’ll be bristling with technology as I travel! My GPS will talk Bluetooth to my phone allowing me to take calls as I ride (don’t worry I won’t be using this). The GPS will also be playing me a random selection of 600 mp3s I’ve carefully selected whilst also warning about speed scammeras. I’ve got the whole route loaded so if it turns out I’m the slow one (some chance!) I can still find my way back to the hotel bar. I’m even WiFi enabled with GPRS failover…….

Unlike last year when I took a big waterproof bag, this time I’m taking my panniers. They got so beaten up in Morocco that I’m a lot less precious about them now. [Didn’t read about my Morocco trip? Shame on you, grab a big mug of coffee, some hobnobs and download the pdf here: http://jed1963.5gbfree.com/MoroccoTrip07.pdf ] I also got the pannier inner bags from Santa last year so it’s easier to carry stuff around.

I’ll try to update the blog after each days riding for you blogaholics that need something to fill your days in the office.

The bike’s packed and ready to roll. Thanks for checking the blog out and I’ll see you when I get back. If you want to comment on the blog then you can always e-mail my ntlworld or hotmail accounts. Oh the wonders of a GPRS enabled pda……

JD.