Watched the Senior TT from Glen Vine today; all the bike are flat out as they go past, most of them with the front wheel in the air. Front garden of a friendly guy called Tony, who also supplied a great barbeque. Race was long delayed. Weather superb. Great race, 20th win for McGuiness. Ferry back to England tomorrow early morning. Sad to be leaving the island. Only managed to fit in six runs over the mountain.
Looking forward to tomorrow. Will take the bike to Pontarlier in France to buy entrecotes for the barbie. One of my favourite roads. I may even take some pictures.
No wonder I don't know what it is in English - there are about ten different possibilities. You might not even be able to get them in the English speaking world as everyone seems to cut up their cow differently. The important thing is that there has to be some fat - that's what gives them the amazing flavour. Can't get a good one in Switzerland - wrong breeds of cow.
its great to find a local(ish) supplier where you can rely on quality time after time. I get bacon and pork stuff from a farm shop, where the pigs live just out the back. They do all there own, from sty to slab. Unlike supermarket bacon it does not weep, spew or cry water or other gunk when you grill it. It remains a lovely slice of top notch bacon. ive not bought meat from a supermarket for years.... as an aside Glid, if ever you pop out on your bike for a bit of shopping from Iceland, how many days are you gone.....!
Today I've got a new pair of Super Corsas, and had a pleasurable hour or two scrubbing them in. A lady came to pick up a motorbike seat i'd flogged on ebay, and i was planning on buring my head in the sand avoiding the results so i can enjoy yesterday's Senior TT. Maybe a quick look through the Forum wasn't my best idea.... QUOTE=Pete1950;177300]Watched the Senior TT from Glen Vine today; all the bike are flat out as they go past, most of them with the front wheel in the air. Front garden of a friendly guy called Tony, who also supplied a great barbeque. Race was long delayed. Weather superb. Great race, 20th win for McGuiness. Ferry back to England tomorrow early morning. Sad to be leaving the island. Only managed to fit in six runs over the mountain.[/QUOTE]
A steady 80 miles on the thumpa, coffee with a mate and pitstop at Loomies...now for a pizza, pack the car and off to Donny for DD tomorrow. Keep the sunshine coming
Sadly some of us don't have that option. Not only can I not afford to buy from a butcher, the nearest one is 5 miles away. I'm sure the story is the same with greengrocers.
Ha! 5 miles? That's almost cycling distance! Get on that Guzzi! As for affordability - one less pint and you could easily afford the difference!
Today, I removed the dressing from the hole in my hand.........had a quick look (Ugh!) and rapidly applied a new dressing...... It's flipping sore..... AL
Now that's what I call shopping! Beautiful weather - out on the 999 for a shopping trip (well, that's my excuse). All the roads are magnificent - you can check them out on Google Maps - Streetview. I took the road from Orbe to the border at Vallorbe. This now runs parallel to a newish motorway, meaning that the twisty, perfectly surfaced road with stunning views is almost free from traffic. Just over the border, you arrive at a one horse place called Jougne. Into the ATAC supermarket for a Coulommiers cheese - a bit like camembert, but almost unobtainable in Switzerland. But I couldn't help passing the fish stall with a selection of goodies all laid out on ice with a fishmonger. Far too good to pass up, so bought 4 fresh tuna steaks and a kilo of monkfish. The monkfish was about a third of the price it costs in Switzerland, the tuna less than half. The monkfish will be frozen and will one day soon become a cold monkfish in mayonnaise which is simply a delicious treat (you poach it first in a court-bouillon). Jump back on the bike and head to Pontarlier a few miles away. There is a very short stretch of swervy autoroute which lets the 999 stretch its legs and provides some three figure cornering. Off this, and then my favourite bit of swervery on a race-track surfaced piece of road downhill through a fir forest. The visibility is perfect, the corners unintimidating but fast. In Pontarlier, I park up outside the butchers and buy 4 massive entrecôtes totalling 1.6 kg. The limit of fresh meat you can import to Switzerland is a miserable 500g per person, so it means not going back via the same customs post... Also buy 2 andouillettes, as this is all they had. I love andouillettes - a strange French sausage made with offal which you poach in mustard sauce. Yummy! Back on the bike and take the road that forks left at Les Cluses-et-Mijoux to Les Fourgs. This will take you back into Switzerland a few miles later at L'Auberson. It is not a main road. It's advantage, apart from great twistiness, is that L'Auberson is a one-horse village and they seem to have pretty much given up manning the border post, so I just wafted through with my contraband. It is extremely rare that as a biker on a sports bike with a rucksack, anyone is going to ask for ID, still less search your rucksack, but on a Saturday there seems little point in risking it at one of the main border customs posts. Plenty of Swiss are buying cheaper food in France and checks can be frequent for cars. From L'Auberson, you hit Saint-Croix a few miles later, and then towards Yverdon via the Col de Saint Croix. It might not be an Alpine col, but there are still quite a few switchbacks and it's a fantastic road to ride. You need to be careful though, as being a bit of a local favourite, Plod can often be around on a weekend. Indeed, at the beginning of the Col, there had been an accident with a very stoved in car which could thank the crash barrier for not finding itself a crumpled heap down in the valley. Didn't look as if anyone would have been hurt. Worringly, the only police car at the scene was an unmarked one which I imagine was already in the area... Definitely Plod, it was flashing hidden blue lights... From Yverdon, it's 10 (or less) somewhat high-speed minutes to home. The roads in the Jura are frequently (almost systematically) overlooked by non-locals. They don't have the prestige (or the height) of the Alps. But if you want very twisty roads through sublime scenery, with mountain pastures and loads of fir forests, and a lot less traffic, they are well worth a couple of days of anyone's biking holiday. Anyone coming to ride the Alps could easily (and should) enter Switzerland on the Pontarlier to Vallorbe road, and I would recommend the branch off that I took to get your first Col under your belt. You won't be disappointed. Anyway, a couple of these will be going on the BBQ in a few hours time: Yes, that's a dinner plate. Right now I am celebrating a great shopping trip with one of these: Fullers ESB.
Well last night we went to a wedding reception at Shrigley Hall in Pott Shrigley, Cheshire. Beautiful setting but sadly the hotel bit is a very sad 4* and could do with a massive revamp. The "do" was excellent though and it was great to catch up with friends we'd not seen, in some cases, for several years. After breakfast this morning we headed to Stockport to see our grandson. Unfortunately he was asleep for the whole time we were there (this new walking lark is obviously tiring him out) so we had to make do talking to no1 son and the daughter in law. Got home about an hour ago and I've already arranged my biking tomorrow with Matt46, done a bit of tidying up in the garden and now I'm gonna sun myself :smile: Life is good.
got called out this morning to look at a butchers coldroom that was knackered and i could not fix, parts pending, got home, out on my 996 down the plymouth barbican for a coffee, had a chat with a nice chap on a xerox 999, blast home and tagged on to a panigale heading toward callington, then peeled of homewards and passed another pani in st anns chapel filling with petrol, got home, quick clean of bike, few beers and lay in sun ; )
Squared up to a 6ft tattoo'd 24-year-old brandishing a large adjustable spanner - gave my old ticker a good workout, I can tell you...
Today was a really good day.I managed to get to tinker with my Triton.I got the plugs out and verified that a could get a spark by turning it over.Next job is to fit a centre stand to it.Unfortuanately I havn't got the strength to support the bike and kick it over,so a centre stand is a must have. I then did the unforgivable whilst resting up and looking at eBay I put a bid in on a Laverda Jota.Thank goodness my wife is very understanding
Because of a very acrimonious split between my mate and his missus - we went to get his stuff and met some 'resistance'. The woman is a known troublemaker from a very rough family (quite why my mate got involved with her I don't know), and all her family, including the lad with the spanner, turned out to greet us Someone obviously called the police cos they turned up a couple of minutes later, and stayed while we shifted Podgy's belongings, so it all went smoothly. if silently. Funny thing was we'd borrowed a truck from a builder mate of mine, and he insisted one of his lads came along to help. A young Polish lad called Marek, fresh over from a quiet part of Warsaw, he looked like he was going to crap himself at any moment. When we got back in the truck and drove off he said, "you English are crazy people!" According to his boss they were his first words in English...
