On the first day we set out with a few BMW GS1250S, a BMW 650F, a Honda Transalp, a couple of Suzuki V-stroms and Nick on his Yamaha super Tenere. All of these are adventure style bikes with good off road capabilities. Meanwhile Pax and I are on Honda VFRs, 1200 and 800 respectively – Sports Tourers.

The blurb said there was no off road riding and I wondered if the other guys might be a little disappointed by that. No need for me to worry as we soon got off the minor roads onto gravel. Then forest tracks, then a goat track! We turned round when we came to a muddy climb that Nick couldn’t ascend on the Tenere with knobbly tyres!

To be fair we were asked if we wanted to continue a while back, with no pressure to do so on our unsuitable bikes. It was fairly intense but immensely enjoyable, the only difficulty was the mud with our road tyres. I was immensely impressed with Pax and what he managed to do with the VFR1200. You’re definitely one of the best riders I know mate!