Riding around the Alpilles, the little limestone ridge hills that border the Camargue, the delta of the River Rhône. Pines, olives and the midday heat of Provence. Landscapes here have inspired Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and others.
Just as you have to get your eye in to ride a sportsbike to its potential, you have to get your eye in to see the all the colours in the rocks and vegetations here, as those artists did. My photos are usually intended to be clean and sharp but that style underplays these particular landscapes so I have used some distortions and filters to highlight how I see and feel about these scenes I’ve seen today; these are my views, I’m not intending to mimic anyone else’s style
And great to be riding somewhere that Barcelona is signposted! Why not ride on?

Read more: Les Alpilles

First ride on my RR for more than a year. It had to be the Col de l’Espigoulier (723 m.), my favourite ride local to Marseille with quite enough challenges over its 14 km ascent of over 600 metres of altitude from the Provençal village of Gémenos. All the gear of course - AGATT safety principles - even for a short session to practise skills.
Riding my CBR600RR after so long wasn’t quite like riding a new bike, but after a few rides on my Ninja Z250 in Keswick that’s great for little Lakeland lanes, my RR just rides fantastic. So tight on the curves, stable on the braking and very much point and shoot in terms of forward power; the red line on the RR is up at an almost unimaginable 15000 revs. And it’s easy to adore the physicality of Honda’s engineering on the RR, it is so elegant and efficient and sounds so sweet.
My RR being “in jail” in my garage here and not running for over a year did cost a new battery, the rejuvenation programme on my charger couldn’t bring the old battery back. The new battery charged up slowly overnight and was ready with another colourful Marseille dawn - crimson before the sunrise then blinding orange.
Noticeable also that, despite plenty of mildly obsessive time in the gym in the meantime, actually riding a sportsbike on challenging roads is still a noticeable physical effort.

More photos: Jailbreak ride RR

Not an artisan boulangerie in Provence - just a supermarket in Workington, Cumbria - but it’s been too long since I enjoyed a fresh pain au chocolat on my bike on a ride out from Marseille.
Photo made with the assistance of a chatty local R1 rider.

• Col de l’Iseran: 2770 m. Alps rideout August 2020 - 2
• Vars - Izoard - Lautaret: Alps rideout August 2020 - 1
• Alpilles - Durance - Lubéron-Sud

Road to Wrynose Pass - Little Langdale. Langdale Pikes (736 m.)  in distance

Road to Wrynose Pass - Little Langdale

The through road down the valley of the River Duddon is closed at Seathwaite bridge, which makes the peaceful upper valley even more tranquil than usual as it can be accessed from the upper end only, down from the T-junction at Cockley Beck between the roads to the Hardknott Pass (30%, 393 m.) and the Wryose Pass (25%, 393 m.). The Romans built the road over Hardknott and Wrynose. The current roads here are mostly single-track but sealed so my little Ninja Z250 takes it in its stride even with grass growing through the cattle grids and filling out the numerous potholes and washouts.

More photos: Duddon Valley and Wrynose Pass (25%, 393 m.) - Lake District National Park