First Tour of the Year!

[tomtic]

Hi Everyone.
Well for some of us, the winter is over and the first signs of Spring are well and truly here. Primroses are blooming on the hedgebanks and the first cherry blossom is starting to appear. And the first glorious days of sunshine have arrived ......
Just in time for me to enjoy a few days off touring on the PCX!
I planned to travel along the south coast of England, from West Dorset (about half way along if you're unfamiliar with the UK) as far as Kent (that's the bit in the bottom right hand corner!), before heading back on an inland route. I'd booked 3 nights in cheap hotels along the way, about 120 miles apart, which I reckoned would be as far as I would want to travel (comfortably) in a day.
I managed to get all my clothes, maps, and even a netbook, stowed under the seat or in a tailpack strapped to back of the scooter. It was just about enough storage space, but if ever I think about camping I'm going to have to come up with more ideas!
The weather from the off was fantastic. Sunglasses all the way, with temperatures around 10-12 degrees Celsius (about 50-55 degrees F). And it stayed that way for the most part, just a few hours of cloud and dullness to spoil the perfect conditions. (Well, I suppose it could have been warmer .... but then it is only March!).
I headed off into the New Forest

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before threading my way through the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth. Thank God for the satnav on my phone - it saved me from getting too lost in this chaotic concrete jungle. I stayed a while at a Aircraft Museum at Tangmere, taking time to soak up some history from the Second World War, before heading on to my first overnight stop. Next day, I continued through the little seaside towns dotted all along this part of the coast. Some of them are 'retirement' towns, but Portslade and Brighton are much busier. There's alot to distract you, and I found myself pulling over every few miles just to soak up the views and what was going on.
Once through Brighton, the countryside changes, and the roads get a bit quieter. I found a beautiful nature reserve near Winchelsea Beach

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where wildfowl and Marsh Harriers were easily seen, and there were plenty of places to stop. The village (town?) of Winchelsea itself is very old and lots of great old buildings to admire

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before I continued on to Rye and Folkestone. This was as far as I got along the coast, before I had to head inland to my second stopover.
Day 3 started brightly with a ride to nearby Bodiam Castle

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and then a meandering route along the South Downs. The afternoon clouded over and the temperatures dropped a bit, so that I wasn't too disappointed when I reached my last hotel.
My ride home took me through Winchester (King Alfred the Great's capital city) where I stopped to enjoy the cathedral

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and some very ornamental 'road furniture'.

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. These hand-painted bollards were brilliant, and really brightened up the streets. A perusal of the city museum, and a bite to eat, meant it was time to jump on the scoot for the ride home.
In all, I travelled 499 miles in four days and averaged 122 miles per (imperial) gallon. The roads were a good mixture of 30 mph city streets to open dual carriageways where I was doing 60-65 mph. The PCX coped with it all admirably, and I'm inclined to believe that this was one of the best tours I've ever had on any type of bike. I've certainly gone further on bigger motorbikes, but I certainly don't miss all that gear-changing. A bit more speed would have been nice sometimes, but then my fuel economy would have dropped. So I guess you have to accept compromises sometimes.
This is (hopefully) the first of a several tours off on the scoot this year, and so long as we have a good summer, I reckon I'm going to enjoy them very much.
Bring on the sunshine!
Tom.

[you you]

Fantastic.

[Mel46]

I love those pictures! Considering that I have never been to England, this is like a mini tour. And the clarity is good enough that I can use them for my computer wallpaper. Thank you.

[willajabir]

Yes, great...but the first three are better

[6ftMach1Girl]

Awesome pics! Thank you for sharing!