Hello from Belper in Derbyshire - birthplace of the industrial revolution and a World heritage Site to boot.

My first decision to ride RTW was back in 1995 when I had the opportunity to take redundancy. I decided to have a dry run first and set off to Morocco on a Yamaha XJ600 - I wasn’t entirely happy with my own company and turned round when I got a decent excuse in southern Spain. I didn’t take redundancy!

I came across the site a few weeks ago and signed up the other day. The reason for joining was simple - I am looking to get some miles under the belt over the next few years on an aged BMW R80. It celebrates its 32nd birthday next month but has been laid up for the last 13 years with a start up every few months to keep the engine in OK condition. The lay up was due to sprogs arriving and them having to be nurtured a bit - getting a second car meant that the bike got used less and less and eventually not at all. I put it back on the road in May to see if I still enjoyed riding. The bug has bitten once more.

The bike was running and being used then the forks decided to chew through their seals and the handling became a little too interesting. So the forks are being rechromed and then the improvements to allow first a UK tour and then a European jaunt will be underway - getting ideas and advice from HU has been very useful.

I am not rushing into getting the bike ready as I have to keep earning a crust but it will be a gradual process - a new beefier shock first, then a new seat, improved pannier frames etc - getting ready for gradually longer trips. Getting me ready too - I am much more comfortable on my own now.