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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A Spring Ride to Yorkshire. The 7,210 km Moto S.A. trip is finished - GET OVER IT!

Dr JK phoned me from Hull.

"Hey mate, do want to meet up for lunch at a pub tomorrow?"

"Definitely mate. What about Bawtry? It's about halfway between you and me!"

"Okay, sounds good. Looking at GoogleMaps how about meeting at the Crown Hotel?"

"Good idea. 12 o'clock suit you?"

"Yep. See you at 12. I might bring CE."

"Good. See ya tomorrow at the Crown car park. Hope that CE can make it!"

Tomorrow is here and it is a fine spring morning. I looked outside the house. The day is cool, but clear and sunny.

That's the car out of the garage. Now for the bike.

I'm wearing my ThinkBikeSA vest. This little run to Bawtry in Yorkshire seems tame after my hot 7,210 km South African ride.

Check the clocks before departure. It's 10:44. Should get to Bawtry by 12:00 easy!

Leave home and head for the A38. This is Red Lane at Makeney.

Just entering Holbrook.

From Holbrook I take the road to Coxbench.

Turn left here and take the B6179 to the A38 North.

Coxbench.

B6179 Coxbench to Kilburn.

From here it is the A38 northeast to the M1.

B6179/A38 on-ramp.

Having taken the M1 and M18 the first photo opportunity was here, on the A631 towards Tickhill.

Approaching Tickhill I spotted a good-looking little farm.

Called (yep, you guessed right again!) Friary Farm.

Maybe this place used to be a Friary. Perhaps Friar Tuck was here before King Henry VIII sold all the Friaries and Monastries and Abbatoirs (where abbots hang out). It's not far from here to Sherwood Forest!

I intended to photograph the daffodils. You'll have to make do with buttercups!

But, I think we are all agreed - IT IS DEFINITELY SPRINGTIME!

Tickhill's approach is quite pretty actually.

Some people like pubs. I think that they are great institutions and keep the psychiatric hospital numbers down.

This traveller carries more luggage than me!

This is called the Butter Cross. It is the centre of the village.

The A631 Bawtry Road out of Tickhill. There are no ticks and no hills here though.

Still the A631. Some folks don't navigate by road numbers; they use pubs as landmarks.

Having turned right at The Red Lion carry straight on past the Traveller's Rest and bear left at the Scarborough Arms.

Then continue straight on until you get to the Crown Hotel Posting House on your left.

You can't miss it!

Dr JK was on time and waiting for me in the pub car park. He had ridden from Kingston upon Hull. I arrived at 12:02 from Duffield, Derbyshire!

Maybe if I had not stopped to take that last picture I would not have been 2 minutes late!

CE arrived at about 12:30 from Beverley, Yorkshire.

Dr JK and CE. Isn't being retired just great? Time-rich and lovely pubs to visit on our powerful motorbikes! Brilliant!

We have soooo much time - why not another photo? What the heck........and then after lunch we can maybe ride to Rainbow BMW and check out the new bikes and gear.

2010 BMW R1200GS.

Ditto. Nice huh?

White, grey or red?

This is a 2006 BMW R1200GS Adventure.

Same one ...... different angle.

This would be my choice .... a brand new BMW R1200GS Adventure. Having ridden a similar bike in South Africa for 7,210 km (4,480 miles) I can recommend it. All you need is about £12,000. Time to go home. It has been an OK day!