NO-FLY RIDE

One year, on holiday near Malaga, we thought, why not ride the bikes down next time? Our wives would fly from Bristol, but Martin and I would allow ourselves a few days’ head start for the road trip south. After a nice break lounging on the beach, we'd ride home, and the ferry timings could give us four days to ride down, five going back.

We both own Tiger 955s, but while I am a frequent rider, Martin's bike spends most of its life in the garage. So some pre-trip maintenance was in order for him, including a full service and installation of the heated grips that had been sitting on his garage shelf for a few years.

We met up in Marlborough (coffee at Waitrose), all ready to go, though typically, after weeks