Had a really good three hour ride out across and around the New Forest this afternoon. I only live 5 minutes from the first cattle grid into the forest near Fordingbridge but tend not to ride it too much during the summer as combination of 30/40 speed limits and a lot of other users makes it pretty boring on any larger bike. I hoped that the cold weather and out of tourist season would mean fairly empty roads and luckily I was right.
Some nice technical bits that even at fairly low speeds were good fun and, as the speed limit is max of 40mph, corners and turns don't tend to get signposted unless very sharp which means that if anyone was to ride it at 60+ they really have to read the road and anticipate road surface, ponies, etc ; ) Everywhere was perfectly dry today and most of the 60 odd miles I road were completely empty, something you just won't find in warmer months.
Add in some great scenery, a nice stop for a warm cup of tea and a flat out blast along the A31 to get home and it made for a varied little run. Bloody chilly afternoon though, glad I had heated grips and a little bit of protection from wind blast behind a small screen.
