Great Rides on your Doorstep

I've been enjoying the last few months of Ride magazine.  Recent issues have had excellent ideas for local routes.  One of the issues (either Oct or Nov) had a seperate little magazine included called "Great Rides on your Doorstep".  One of the first routes it suggests for the central & southeast of England is the A272 from Winchester to Haywards Heath, part of which I had the pleasure to ride recently (see older posts).  Looking forward to doing this one, as well as the suggested Petersfield to Bosham route along the B2146.  DH recently did the Buckingham to Aylesbury route along the A413 which was recommended on page 13 for its 'swooping turns', but he didn't think it was particularly good.  His favourite bit was when he got off the A413 (very busy he says) and took the side streets.  Fantastic weather forecast for this weekend, so will likely be doing some of these routes.

Also in the November issue, there's an article on "Exploring Bavaria", which looks terrific.  The article starts, "Welcome to Bavaria: sunshine, immaculate tarmac, gorgeous scenery, empty roads, fabulous bends."  Sounds perfect!  Will have to give that a go once I'm ready to ride abroad.

Open publication - Free publishing - More bavaria

BMW G650GS

On the weekend, while driving around the Surrey countryside (see my earlier post), I popped into Vines BMW to look at the new G650GS.  It looks really sharp in the white, red & black:

Makes a change from all the dull black or grey bikes.  Feels light and manageable when you sit on it, which seems to be a bit of an issue with me.  Seat isn't too high either, at 780mm standard still low enough for me to get my feet mostly on the ground.  Need to hurry up and get my Mod 2 test done so that I can give it a test drive.  I've been thinking about it and am keen to see if it's right for me.  Certainly looks the part!