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Naughty Boys On Strange Bikes
Ride Date 16 Sep 2025
By Bogger
Day 1 Tuesday
On the Tuesday morning I wheel out the scooter from the garage at just gone 9.00am. I’m meeting Pete at Warminster Travel Lodge at about 1.30pm. Happily it’s not one of my daft o’clock middle of the night starts. Setting off after 9.00am gets rid of the school traffic and also the majority of the commuter traffic.
Ha ha, oh how I laughed. But, not for long.
As I put the side stand down on the scooter, on the drive, it starts to rain, heavily. Here we go again! Getting from my place to J22 on the M6 is just a two mile hop and should take five minutes at most due to the traffic lights. The roads for some reason are grid locked. Why does this ALWAYS happen when I’m off on a trip? Fifteen minutes later I’m at the M6 looking at a massive queue of standing traffic as far as the eye can see. This country’s roads are really quite depressing at times.
I get my filtering head on and after ten miles of truck and car lane dodging, the traffic starts to ease. Decent speeds were now attainable but it had taken three quarters of an hour to do 12 miles. Of course it was still raining. To be honest I’d have been disappointed if it wasn’t. It gives me something to moan about.
At Birmingham the grey rainy skies gave way, no not to sun, get a grip, but a sombre dull overcast gloom. It wasn’t particularly warm either and I was glad I’d refitted the thermal linings back into my bike gear. The bike/scooter was running really well. It always does. The M6 gave way to the M5 and I pulled into Gloucester Services to refuel and stretch my legs. I was dry but a little bit cold.
At Bristol I peeled off the M5 and headed East on the M4 and twenty miles later hooked up with the A350 South towards Warminster some twenty five miles away. I pulled into the Travel Lodge cum petrol station cum café at 1.15pm. Pete was already in the car park and had arrived ten minutes before me. My timing was perfect, as he had just bought a large multi pack of sausage rolls. Ta very much, I don’t mind if I do.
We had a good rest and a natter catching up on things. It was only a further 43 miles to Poole. We set of once again. Pete had messaged me the details of the Air BnB we were staying at and I’d memorised the directions so I was leading. It took us well over an hour to get to Poole. The country roads had been really busy and the villages we passed through slowed us down somewhat. This was no problem as time was on our side. The weather had picked up a bit as well.
I missed the turning off the main road for the accommodation for the evening. As soon as I went past I knew I’d missed it. No matter as it bought us to the local petrol station, where we both filled up ready for the foray into France tomorrow. After refuelling I retraced my steps and we were outside the Air BnB within five minutes.
Neither myself or Pete had stayed at an Air BnB before. The room would be available from 4.00pm onwards. It was now 3.55pm and we ummed and arred as to what to do? The guy who owned the Bungalow opened the door and said we’re ok to come in. He showed us around inside and where things were. He was very pleasant. But you know what, it felt really weird. You just rock up at someone's house, you’ve never met this person before and are invited to avail yourself of their facilities. I know we’d paid for it, but still.
We got the luggage off the bikes, locked them up and settled ourselves in our room. Very nice it was too. But in hushed tones and feeling like intruders we’re whispering to each other that it just didn’t feel right being in some one else's house. But, hey, we’re here now, it’s only for one night we’ll just have to get on with it.
That evening we jumped back on the bikes to the nearest Indian restaurant. Which wasn’t particularly near, about five miles away. The food was good, but once we’d eaten it was time to get back and get to bed for an early start. The ferry was at 8.30am and we had to check in at 7.30am. We locked our bikes up again and tiptoed to our room like some naughty boarding school kids on the way to the school kitchen for an illicit midnight feast.
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Feet Forward Prologue
Bogger is organising his next French escapade. It's the who, why, what, and where this time, oh and the how. The why never makes sense, nor should it.
Naughty Boys On Strange Bikes
It's a discouraging start to Bogger's Feet Forwards French expedition. Not to worry, soon the 2 old men are sneaking around like naughty school kids.
Reader's Comments
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Air BnB you say, I didn't realise it was any different to a normal self catering. It sounds like he walked out as you walked in and he spent the night outside kippin in his motor?
Upt.
06/01/2026 11:19:58 UTC
Bogger said :-
It can be Upt. But then again you can be right inside some ones house like as what we were. Our bedroom joined onto him and his Mrs bedroom. Very strange.
It was a big bungalow on a normal housing estate. His mother was living in an adjoined converted garage/extention.
He was obviously quite at ease with it and making a bob or two on the side.
You know what, for all we know he may have even been charging his mother as well. LOL.
Bogger
06/01/2026 11:40:46 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
The air BnB system started by someone putting an air bed in their spare room for a guest to sleep on. Hence air BnB.
The system moved on to have the ability to rent the entire property, but the original concept of a bed in someone's house is still the cheapest option.
I have recently downloaded an app to rent a camping space in someone's garden which will give a cheaper option than campsites, this is a similar concept, just not inside someone's house.
06/01/2026 11:42:54 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
ROD - what's the camping app? I figure the owner of the garden has some means by which you can visit the bathroom at ungodly hours should the Delhi Belly kick in?
Just think Upt' - you and Nrs North could be making £50 or £60 a night for having odd randomers using the spare bedroom. I figure 99% of the time your "guests" are perfectly reasonable folks with perfectly normal habits. However I'm sure each host has a tale of the guest that ruined the toilet and was awake all night chanting chakras with bongos.
06/01/2026 14:02:53 UTC
nab301 said :-
Bogger, this has all the ingredients of a great trip , bad weather , horrendous traffic , sharing a house with strangers...
Although joking aside , locally , the long term rental market is so over subscribed/ undersupplied I keep reading how potential room renters turn up to view a property share and are informed that not only will they be sharing a room with a stranger , they'll be sharing a bed...
Nigel
06/01/2026 14:52:04 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
How have you managed to make this trip in September 2026? I hope the flux capacitor is well charged....
Re AirBnB - we used this a lot ten years or so, including a brilliant stay in an arty apartment in Paris's 11th Arrondissement. But it's changed from being somewhere people let out their spare room or full-time home to a purely commercial rental system. Many airbnbs are just short term rentals. But of course they don't pay the proper local taxes or conform to building standards etc. Apart from which there are places like Barcelona where they've driven out local people as they can charge high prices that locals can't afford.
So I won't use them any more but go with legitimate hotel / gite / campsite operators.
06/01/2026 15:18:22 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
ARGH!! I've fixed the date error Ian, thanks.
06/01/2026 15:57:50 UTC
Bogger said :-
Reference the trip Nab. You'll have to keep on reading unfortunately, to find the depths we sink to.
Bogger
06/01/2026 17:55:49 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
On reflection Ed, I think I'd prefer to sell a kidney.
Although who'd want one of my wine shrivelled up walnuts.
Upt.
06/01/2026 17:57:36 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Link for Ren.
I have not used the app. I was just browsing ready for later this year.
Some hosts have small campsites others just room for one tent. The facilities also very from full showers and toilets to wild camping levels.
https://campspace.com/en...
06/01/2026 19:11:54 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Cheers ROD - it's a curious, possible interesting possibility.
As for your kidney Upt' are you in the process of trying to pickle it?
08/01/2026 11:09:45 UTC
nab301 said :-
@ Bogger , I'm looking forward with trepidation while simultaneously being careful what I wish for!!
@ Ian ,re airbnb the same sort of thing has happened in my part of the world too.
Nigel
08/01/2026 16:42:56 UTC
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