Firing the 'Blade down the A35 heading to Bournemouth from the Bakers Arms Roundabout this evening, my odometer clicked past 20,000 miles. For a bike that's coming up to 13 years old, that's not too bad at all. The 1098s is already showing 18,300 odd, but I added 2000 of those in ten days over the summer, so thats a bit unfair. I do like this bike a lot, but I have been thinking about a 2008 Zx10R. I just like them, especially in orange. We shall see. 
In the meantime my time with the FireBlade has been a pretty good one if I'm honest. She still looks good (a few stone chips aside) and apart from getting me in trouble a few weeks back, she's been good as gold. It's still so easy to ride. I'm 6ft 3, but even with standard pegs higher than those on the Ducati, the 'Blade is all day comfy. It's fast, comfy and it's fun, what more do you want from a motorbike? Answers via email if you choose 

A very quick update for today. The 1098s passed its annual MOT which is great news. Whilst I was there I booked the bike in for next Saturday to have a few old and a few new niggles addressed. Thankfully I'm not too fussed about timescales which should hopefully make things a little less stressful.

I think its fair to say that I've spent a good few moments thinking about how lucky I was last week, which has in itself affected the way I ride, which is when it comes down to it, the point. It was such a massive wake up call and just the realisation of just how quickly (if you excuse the pun) that I could have lost my licence, my job, my hobby, my passion and possibly my friends that has brought everything into crystal clear focus. Really scary.
In prettier news, I made a point of getting to work nice and early, like pre 08:00 early, to enable me to get to Poole Quay early enough to actually spend some time at the Bike Night. I got chatting to a rider and pillion on a stunning matt black 1199s whilst waiting for the gates to open, but was also taken aback by a few of the other bikes already down there. Check out these two.

Unlike last week, today I was actually able to spend some time with my friends. I met up with Steve from Conquest Carbon and again his 1199s was still drawing in reams of admirers. Really, that bike is something truly special. I then spent some time my buddy Lucinda, drinking coffee and having a thoroughly nice chat about life and bikes, and then I finished off the evening chatting with Chris, the local Bikesafe organiser, which is always a nice way to spend some time. 
All in all, a very relaxing, very enjoyable evening, but let me leave you with this quick picture. This was taken at 17:30 this evening, just before the Quay filled up with bikes and the cafe with bikers. And people wonder why I left London.

The start of my day was going so well. I had enough Costa points for a free coffee and pastry and the weather was still nice. Then on the way to work, my luck ran out I got pulled by the police. Actually hang on, lets restart this......My day, blah, free coffee blah blah, rode like a f-ing twat, got pulled rightly because I was a danger to myself and others. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up I think. I pulled onto the dual carriageway and then undertook a series of vehicles, one of which was a police car. I was selfish, stupid and deserved it. Simple as that. Not much else to say really. Got a ticket and as my licence has been totally clean for three years I was recommenced for a driver awareness course which will cost me £110. Lesson learnt...I hope.

After the miles I put in over my long Easter weekend, biking life has been fairly quiet. The front bulb went on the Blade (yes I know exciting) so I used full beam instead for a day or so, much to the delight of the people coming the other way. Sorry, but personally I'd rather you saw me than scraped me off the bonnet of your car. Having previously used the Philips City Vision Moto bulbs in previous bikes, I punted for these again.

 These are far superior to the cheaper offerings from Halfords etc and the one I picked gives the light an orange tint, which is designed to help separate the light from those vehicles around you. Admittedly this works better at night and thankfully my night riding is now kept to a minimum, well until the winter anyway.
After work and the gym I popped down to Poole Quay for my first Poole Bike Night as a Dorset resident. Bloody hell, it was packed. I mean heaving. After the briefest of look arounds I popped in the to the lovely Deli on the Quay for a decaf coffee and a slice of cake and then proceeded to watch bikers wander past the front window. Very relaxing I can assure you. 

Finally to cap off a fairly nice few days, the central interlocking zip went on my Alpinestar trousers on the way to work. Bugger. Back in the one piece suit until I can get it fixed.

My extended Easter weekend of riding concluded over the last two days with a two day trip to London to see the team at Metropolis. It says a lot that I'm happy to ride all the way back to London just to have a few jobs done on the FireBlade. Trust is highly under valued in today's society, but for me, I'm happy to travel for it.
So on Tuesday I headed off up the A31, M27 and a bit of the M3 before hooking up on the A272. Any excuse to ride this great road should always be taken, but during a lovely warm, sunny midweek day, it was just too good an opportunity to pass up.
I got as far as Midhurst when my right ear really started hurting. I've been wearing a similar style of earplug for years and I used the same helmet on Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, but didn't encounter any problems. The only difference was the bike., but I knew I had to stop as it was effecting my concentration. After making a slight error at Petworth ( I planned on getting lunch there, but went around and not through the town centre) I ended up heading towards Dorking on the A29. So the plan now became a stop at Box hill for some tea and sort the ear plug. However.......

This closure sent me through the little village of Coldharbour where I met two of Surrey Police's finest who helped me out and ten mins later I was at Box Hill.
The rest of the journey was sadly just crappy London roads, mainly the A3, A205 and the A406, fighting my way through the traffic and fumes, with a good old bit of wing mirror clipping filtering for good measure. 
Wednesday started with a quick early morning coffee at Coffee Republic in North Finchley, which remains my favourite establishment. The coffee is great and I've always got on really well with the owner and his daughter, who always greet me with a smile and the best coffee this side of Milan.
I headed over to Metropolis for the work to be done, which included a quick dash to the local Honda dealer to pick up a fork seal. The work was done superbly, which included swapping over the front discs for a pair of EBC prolites, with the usual mix of good banter thrown in for good measure. They suggested getting their nickname for me 'Lollipop' stitched onto the back of my leathers.....errr, will have a think about that one guys. Before I left, I just had to grab a picture of the new 1299 Panigale S. God its beautiful.

After a quick visit to the Primrose Bakery to get Sarah some much loved cupcakes and a mug for her birthday, I took the quickest and easiest way out of London and found myself back on the A3 heading for the A272 and home. The problem with my earplug resurfaced just as I was getting close to Guildford, so this resulted in an unscheduled stop at Loomies on the A272 and A32 junction. Somebody had turned up on a brand new Kawasaki H2 and it looked utterly purposeful. I didn't get a picture, because basically I'm a tit.
Heading away I was nodding to bikers coming the other way as usual and riding very steadily as the wind noise was rather loud, when one of them gave me the universal slow down sign. I was riding well within the speed limit, but took his advise to heart. As expected about four miles down the road on the top of a hill was a mobile camera van. The combination of my earplug and the fellow rider saved me 3 points and a £60 fine. Whoever you were, thanks.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. I did fight my way through more traffic on the M27 and the A31, but got home safe, sound and utterly shattered. 

So after the somewhat static riding experience of Good Friday, the last two days have seen me make up for it by spending my time riding around the South West. Sarah and I went to Bath a few years back for a weekend away and ever since then, I've wanted to ride the A350, so what better place to start. The weather was a bit overcast yesterday and cool in places, but I still broke out the summer gloves etc and set out for a good day on the bike.

In what appeared to be a good piece of timing, the fuel light came on just as I entered Bath and after a quick drink and a bite to eat I pondered what to do next. I decided that I was going to head over to Weston-Super-Mare on the North Somerset coast and then down to Berrow before turning for home. I headed off down the A4 towards Bristol and my god, what a rubbish road; its just suburbia all the way. Not doing that again.
I hooked up onto the A370 and wanted to head to Berrow which is where my father heralds from. Its his birthday later this week so I took the opportunity (although if I'm being honest with myself, it was probably the reason I headed that way anyway) and bought a nice golf club shirt from his boyhood club. My dad was one hell of a player. Scratch at 16 back in 1961, England International and club pro. Not bad for a young man from a small village in Somerset.
On the way into town I immediately recognised a particular corner and knew exactly where I was. Three mins later and from a church car park I was looking at my late grand parents house. I hadn't been there for 20yrs but found it straight away. I didn't want to get too close and that would have been just a fraction too weird.

The ride back mainly consisted of fast A roads like the A303 and the A37 to Dorchester and was uninspiring to say the least. These are the roads you get nicked on doing three figures plus, mainly because they're so utterly boring and it was with a large smile that I turned off onto the A352 and headed for home.
Today I wasn't going to spend on the bike, but Steve from Conquest texted me and asked if I fancied a quick blast around. The weather today was so nice, it would have been wrong to say no. We didn't venture too far, just a quick visit to Culture in Three Cross and then over to Verwood to see if Crescent Suzuki were open. They weren't, but I did find out where Road and Race Performance are and I'll be heading over there at some point in the next day or so.
The day ended in glorious sunshine in Wimborne, bikes parked up, Steve and I drinking milkshakes putting the world to rights. If this is what Easter weekends are all about, then why have I been working them for the last decade?

Ahh Easter...shame its still a little chilly, but Easter it is. This was the first time in nearly fifteen years that I've actually had the Easter break off. So what did I do instead? I volunteered to help my friend Steve out at the Horsham Italian festival. This is me and Andy standing very proudly in from of £35k worth of Panigale.

Although its a show bike used to advertise Steve's business, its fully road legal and he does ride it. This was taken just after we set up and the bike really drew the crowds throughout the day. It really is a thing of absolute beauty.
Despite the raining morning, a nice number of bikes turned up on the day which ranged from your usual Ducatis like the 916, 899, 1098, 1199 Monsters and Multis, but there were also a few rare ones, which included a pair of Mike Hailwood reps, a 900SS a pristine 851 and a Desmosedici RR, which was just a tad on the noisy side, but check out that CX 125. What a great little thing.

In other bike news, I found an awesome deal over at Visor Vision www.visorvision.co.uk/shop/ last week. This this is the company that makes the fab V2 Visor spounge and they had a deal on where if you bought ten, you'd get six free anti-fog wipes thrown in with free postage all for £28.50. Thats a bloody bargain in anybodies language. 
Before I go, I may have found a sponsor for my site. Early days, but still kinda cool. Anyway, its Easter Sunday tomorrow and what better way to celebrate the resurrection of our lord, than by burning 20 odd litres of fossilised animals? Have a good one.