Lincolnshire for now. Cape Town to Namibia next year?

I checked ......

....... it IS still springtime! So it is possible to venture outside. The sun is moving north. It is heading for the Tropic of Cancer.

The question is: WORK?

WALK?

or RIDE? I nearly said "WIDE".

It's a no-brainer .........

......... on Duffield Bank I stop to take a pic of ......

...... our village in the Ecclesbourne Valley.

Then back on the motorbike and ride north towards Red Lane. I make a right turn just beyond that 30 sign ......

..... and head towards the M1, M18, M180 to make the rendezvous at Willingham Woods, on the A631 Louth Road, just beyond Market Rasen - at 11:00 a.m.

At J4 I take the A15 south ......

...... stopping only to take some pics of a pretty cottage, and ......

....... the Nag's Head pub in Middle Rasen.

Pub signs are great. They are everywhere.

Did I paint this? No I photoshopped it! Impressionistic or what?

Guess which road I am on! Yep, right again ...........

At 11:00 a.m. I made the rendezvous. C.E. & J.K. were there already! Aprilia and Beemer. They had ridden from Beverley and Hull respectively.

C.E. was navigator today. We were going to have a spin around the villages of Lincolnshire and then stop for lunch at Ludford Cafe.

They are so patient!

Ready soon - promise!

Think Bike safety partnership signs are posted on most bendy roads and at known accident spots.

J.K. waits patiently again. Even I should get round this bend okay!

This is a good campaign. The signs do make one think! I'm still c*@% at cornering!

A bit like the Little Karoo, there are ostriches in Lincolnshire believe it or not! This is the entrance to an Ostrich farm! I have also seen emus, llamas, alpacas and guinea fowl on farms in this country!

Note the ThinkBikeSA vest! You may have to enlarge the pic! I am very proud of my S.A. bib. It reminds me of my recent 7,210 km ride in South Africa.

A little further on I stopped at this farm entrance.

Manor Farm at Moorby. There is a clue here somewhere. Is that an old bath tub?

Dr J.K. waits patiently for me to take pictures. Well quite patiently - I see he has got off his bike and is probably wondering when we can all get on with the ride!

C.E. is giving the game away re the next direction don't you think?

We stopped briefly at this little aero museum called Lincolnshire Aviation at East Kirkby.

The mighty Lancaster bomber. Do you see anything ironical about this photo?

My father served with 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron at R.A.F. Waddington during WWII. Waddington is not far from here. 44 also flew Lancasters. 617 Squadron was the famous Dam Buster squadron. Richard Todd, the actor who played Wing Commander Guy Gibson, died recently in Lincolnshire.

This is the Cross Keys pub. We didn't have lunch here, but maybe next time if we are in this neck of the woods!

Here is my impression of the Cross Keys.

Too soon it was time to go. I had a 95 mile ride home from here. I fork off left. They go right. "Bye Chris."

"Bye John."

Not a bad day's ride. 40 miles shy of a tank of petrol!

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