A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

Sounds ace mate, have a good un. Don't forget your camera now 

Have a good time Brian!

Have a good time and let see a few pics on your return..

Yeah quite well worn there. New chain too?? Nice to be able to pick parts off the shelf huh!

Thanks Richard!

We have put in our first day's trail riding using Ridelimousin as our base and an excellent route supplied by Torsten.

Got lots of pics and perhaps a video or two. Not so easy to process them here but just to prove we have been out on the TTRs here are a couple...

Looks good but no pastie stops ! Hope your having a good time .

Lush and green - nicest countryside I think I have seen with lovely granite houses and barns - to die for!

Nearly 100 miles today. Got a bit hot (around 30 degrees) after midday but not enough to spoil the great riding.

We didn't find any lunch stops on either day but had such a good full English breakfast provided by the lovely Rowena that, oddly enough, I didn't miss it! Mind you the 4-course evening meals, accompanied by unlimited beer and wine, seems to fill the void 

We were joined on our run today by Lynn and Paul, friends from Devon who are staying nearby in their camper van.

Trev lead from another of Torsten's great routes installed on our SatNavs and did a brilliant job - especially bearing in mind the sun on the screen.

Not long after we got back to Ridelimousin HQ, Rowena came out with a  couple of mugs of tea - how's that for hostessing eh?

 

 

 

 

Mucho verde, cerveza ilimitada, Rowena, amigos y la querida ttr!!!, se puede pedir algo mas?

Our first days trail riding from Le Mas de Forsac and it was a cracker!

Temperature a bit cooler so not so tiring. Stephen Dunne our host took us out for a "wobble", as he called it, around his manor but it was far from that! Got a few videos and photos today.

The amazing thing about our trail riding in France is the proportion of unsurfaced to tarmac roads. I reckon it was only about 5% tarmac today.

We are getting into the French way of life and had an hour and a half lunch stop with a 4-course meal 

nk emoticon

Thanks Pete 

Forgot to say but we have only met one quad on the lanes in 3 days of riding! Maybe pass two or three cars all day on the tarmac roads. Rural France is empty! Anyways up we are riding quiet TTRs so don't disturb anyone 

Had overnight rain and still mizzling so nice and cool today. Maybe we will get to wear our riding jackets today to justify bringing two each!

Brian

Although the weather didn't look too brilliant today, the rain just settled the dust, softened the lanes a tad and didn't get us wet!

First stop of the day was at the memorial to Violette Szabo (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo ) to pay homage. Stephen brought her story to life by showing us the actual places at which  things happened prior to her capture.

What followed was another epic trail ride led by the master. We rode a few beautiful sunken lanes and Stephen even found some mud and ruts to remind us of home.

Spoilt for choice on lanes in this area - 6 leading off from one point! 

 

The sign says it all 

 

A fantastic old sunken lane not unlike one I recall back home.

 

We rode a real mix of lanes. Part of this lane ran along the edge of a field. Not unusual here.

 

This lane was hard work! Turned out we had gone the wrong way so didn't struggle for too long 

 

Enjoying a well-deserved break after a hard days trail riding:

 

TTRs at rest in front of our cottage.

 

Off to Rocamadour sightseeing tomorrow and maybe another days riding if Trev's body can take it 

Brian

 

 

 

 

-- Edited by TTRfan on Wednesday 10th of June 2015 11:38:28 PM

Hi Nigel.

We are in the process of packing up ready to move on but feeling very tired and moving slowly this morning 

Sad to leave this trail riding Nirvana!

I don't like carrying anything more than a bladder pack on my back on the lanes so the Wolfman Enduro tank bag is a godsend for me. Unfortunately my supplier is having difficulty getting stock from the States but let me know if you want a quote for when he has them back in stock.

Brian

I could easily have downed a couple of pints in the same time 

It was our fifth and last day of trail riding in France and Trev's 60th Birthday Bash!

We are stayed in Rocamadour as we had been given a recommended route by a good friend along with large scale mapping to run on our GPS) which took in the lanes in the area.

What a fantastic route it turned out to be with a wide range of lanes that made us smile, pant, think and panic!

Some steep rocky climbs and descents, a couple of lanes where we got into 6th gear and one fabulous single track lane that was nearly 3 miles long (this was one that Olly was keen to show us and we fully understand why).

All in all another bit of trail riding heaven 

 

 

 

A pic of me at the start of a narrow single-track trail. Had to duck and dive under the trees and overgrowth from time to time. Seemed to go on for ever. Loved every bit of it! Checked it on the GPS tracklog afterwards and it was nearly 3 miles long 

A view of Rocamadour from across the valley.

 

The first time we came across gates and fences but worth the very brief hold up. Lovely leafy lane, but with the odd hidden stone to keep you alert

 

Unbelievable what you find out on the trail!

 

On our way back home now with a couple of overnight stops on the way to check out some more French cuisine 

Brian

Trish said "That house rocks!" 

Here are some short vids from the day:

A trip to cherish mate, absolutely superb stuff 

Yes it looks a fantastic place to ride. Do they not have any ROW laws like we have over here ?

Back home now. Just finished my second big mug of tea. Can't seem to get proper tea in France. Nasty surprise first time I bought some as, after I added milk and tasted it, turns out the lady had used Liptons Lemon Tea bags 

The Row situation in France is interesting. I won't go into full detail now but, basically, you can ride anything that hasn't got a prohibition sign or is marked as private - or at least that was the general idea in the "communes" we rode in. There isn't a readily available version of our UK "List of Streets".

There are literally thousands of miles of lanes that hardly anyone is using. We saw no evidence of horse use, only a handful of walkers and no tyre tracks although there were a few berms that can only have been created by bikes.

We managed 5 days of trail riding in 3 different areas and it was truly fabulous. A holiday to remember!

Rural France was virtually empty of people and traffic 

Brian

Not quite the case. Some communes have sold all their lanes and have nothing left.

Brian

Great stuff Bri

Love the house that rocks

Trev doesn't look a day over.................. Happy belated birthday to him

Great video's, well done

We were initially planning to take three bikes in our mate Olly's van but, when he dropped out coz of poor health, we went with Trev's Passat estate and two bike trailer.

Thanks for the interesting and detailed report, Brian.

Green with envy doesn't cover my feelings - I loved the food detailing and trail descriptions.

Are Devon pasties now relegated second to duck's innards?

No faults reported with the bikes so I presume you had no screaming clutches/gearboxes or punctures.

Martyn

You are luck being able to just ride/drive to another country & go riding...
living on a island makes it so exspensive to do it...

O well still lots of places here I have not riden yet...
most of the North Island is still new ground to me...





..

ridelimousin wrote:

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I think Brian does live on an island ;)

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 LOL.....

Not quite the same as NZ 

Unless someone has put in a tunnel I don't know about...

 

 

.

That B&B near La Souterraine looks good ;)