Just back from the Volcanoes and Gorges tour which was enjoyable as ever. It really is one of my favourite parts of the world and I never tire of going there. We enjoyed some really great weather, with just one wet day which tried to spoil our trip through the Tarn Gorges.

Fortunately it did not last and we had the bonus of riding a cracking road with bends that went on for ever which had even the Explorer smiling. The Ardeche Gorges were at their best and were even better than I remembered them from some years ago.

Had one rather strange experience in Rouen when a mad man (and I do not use the term loosely) drove into the car park stark naked and continued to destroy his car, and I mean destroy, as he pushed both doors against their hinges, lifted the bonnet and bent it over onto the roof. He then ripped every piece that would come free, from the inside of the car. Unfortunately he then attacked John Clarkes bike, pushing it over and jumping on it!!! Why he did this I do not know, as mine was closer, my only Freudian theory was that it was silver like his car?

Despite our request to give him a good kicking, it was obvious that the guy, really was quite insane and to be honest the French police did a better job than we ever could. Fortunately these Pan's are strong and apart from some minor damage was perfectly rideable, teach us not be lazy and use the underground parking next time.

No great mileages on this tour, so were able to enjoy the empty country roads and watch the scenery go by – yes there are many more speed camera’s in France and they are well hidden. However one clue I have noticed is that if there is a sign indicating your speed (the type you usually see entering villages) then at some point in the next few miles there will be a camera. Most of these cameras are rather cynically placed on straight bits of road, absolutely nothing to do with safety, purely a revenue device.

The ever Garmin debate rumbles on, I cannot get on with Basecamp, so for the moment are continuing to use mapsource then move the routes into Basecamp. Whichever I use, the routes do not seem to load smoothly into the unit and to be honest I have given up trying to figure out anything Garmin does. One thing I did notice was that day trips (starting and finishing at the same point) did not load. I remember this happening with mapsource years ago before they fixed it, well congratulations they messed up again. However, all is not lost as they have just updated the basecamp software and solved this problem. Keith White also tells me they have fixed the problem of not finding Postcode’s hoorah.

In case it missed your notice, we are doing a tour in Arizona next year. We ran an experimental tour with some of our regular Guinea pigs, I mean customers, this year and it went down a storm, so much so, that some of them have booked again. This is a 15 day tour right round Arizona, taking in the Sonoran desert to the South, with its multi-armed Saguaro Cactus, stretching through the twisties of the White Mountains, to the Canyons of the North, such as Monument valley and of course the iconic Grand Canyon. We have also included in the costs, numerous entries to places that we feel you should not miss, and the choice of bikes other than the normal Harleys.

The tour is organised and led by ourselves and we do not 'farm' you out to another company. We are keeping the group small so places are limited.

We understand for many this will be a trip of a lifetime, but guarantee that it will be one you never forget.