Euro-Feejer
Well-known member
A mid-December Sunday afternoon. A weather report with no rain for a few hours and 10C/50F temps (the borderline at which I can convince the little lady to go with me). How 'bout a spontaneous ride to a nearby village, sweetie? She's interested in quaint little Bosham, about 45 minutes away and known for tides that make some roads impassable half the day.
We head west on the A27, a (mostly) 4-laner allowing 120kph/75mpg. We plead guilty of taking for granted our nearby scenery, as we didn't make the effort to take photos along the road. Passing the town/castle of Arundel is always a treat (Google it for photos).
Near Chichester, we leave the 27 and take some tiny backroads around that city. It only adds one Km and a few minutes, but avoids traffic backups on multiple roundabouts on the 27.
Arriving in Bosham, I'm remembering an FJR group ride a few years ago that came down here and headed around that wall, following the shoreline road at a lower tide. (Sorry, no FJR poses here, as the parking was up the block on drier ground.)
It's lunchtime, and the rising tide is lapping at the outer walls of the cafe. We find a seat next to a window overlooking the bay. BLTs for two, a cappuccino for me and a mini-pot of tea for the little lady. Notice the warning sign we see from our perch. I wonder if any clueless tourists ever parked there at low tide and went for a long hike...
As we finished, the tide topped and blocked our walkway back to the parking area. No problem. We were planning to walk the other way anyway... toward the marina to see the sights on that side.
Thatch cottages grace many villages in this region.
And a sturdy little church is also a common sight.
The little lady soaks up those last rays of sunlight...
There's a storm comin'... time to hit the road home.
Just minutes after we were back in our own cozy home, the rains came. Whew!
Addendum (on a totally unrelated topic) - Haven't posted for quite a while, as we were away from home (and our FJR) in the USA all summer. Left England early June, the day after a trip to Galway, Ireland. Never got around to writing up that ride, as most of the touring there was in the 'cage' of friends who rented the cottage. I was considering writing up the FJR round-trip (long day out through backroads of Wales, predawn ferry, then southern part of Ireland, and long rainy day back through Dublin and Wales), but it just seems like old news now. Or do you readers think it worth my writing up that trip from last June?
In the Fall, I had to return to the USA again to work through some details following my mum's passing. Lots of 'cage' travel those 100 USA days provided much beautiful scenery in Colorado, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, California, Oregon, Washington, and Montana. However, our longing for 'flying' in the wind on our FJR was ever-present. One highlight did appease some of that of that longing... rides on a powered-parachute, piloted by a friend living near the Canadian border. So, with Mount Baker in the background, here's a tribute to other forms of open-air machine-mania that help us through periods of FJR-withdrawal.
We head west on the A27, a (mostly) 4-laner allowing 120kph/75mpg. We plead guilty of taking for granted our nearby scenery, as we didn't make the effort to take photos along the road. Passing the town/castle of Arundel is always a treat (Google it for photos).
Near Chichester, we leave the 27 and take some tiny backroads around that city. It only adds one Km and a few minutes, but avoids traffic backups on multiple roundabouts on the 27.
Arriving in Bosham, I'm remembering an FJR group ride a few years ago that came down here and headed around that wall, following the shoreline road at a lower tide. (Sorry, no FJR poses here, as the parking was up the block on drier ground.)
It's lunchtime, and the rising tide is lapping at the outer walls of the cafe. We find a seat next to a window overlooking the bay. BLTs for two, a cappuccino for me and a mini-pot of tea for the little lady. Notice the warning sign we see from our perch. I wonder if any clueless tourists ever parked there at low tide and went for a long hike...
As we finished, the tide topped and blocked our walkway back to the parking area. No problem. We were planning to walk the other way anyway... toward the marina to see the sights on that side.
Thatch cottages grace many villages in this region.
And a sturdy little church is also a common sight.
The little lady soaks up those last rays of sunlight...
There's a storm comin'... time to hit the road home.
Just minutes after we were back in our own cozy home, the rains came. Whew!
Addendum (on a totally unrelated topic) - Haven't posted for quite a while, as we were away from home (and our FJR) in the USA all summer. Left England early June, the day after a trip to Galway, Ireland. Never got around to writing up that ride, as most of the touring there was in the 'cage' of friends who rented the cottage. I was considering writing up the FJR round-trip (long day out through backroads of Wales, predawn ferry, then southern part of Ireland, and long rainy day back through Dublin and Wales), but it just seems like old news now. Or do you readers think it worth my writing up that trip from last June?
In the Fall, I had to return to the USA again to work through some details following my mum's passing. Lots of 'cage' travel those 100 USA days provided much beautiful scenery in Colorado, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, California, Oregon, Washington, and Montana. However, our longing for 'flying' in the wind on our FJR was ever-present. One highlight did appease some of that of that longing... rides on a powered-parachute, piloted by a friend living near the Canadian border. So, with Mount Baker in the background, here's a tribute to other forms of open-air machine-mania that help us through periods of FJR-withdrawal.
