<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html lang="en-gb"><head><title>Chris Dempsey's Blog</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-16LE"> <style type="text/css">BODY { BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, arial, sans-serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #c0c0c0 } A { FONT-FAMILY: } A:link { COLOR: #0000ff; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: #800080; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:hover { COLOR: #ff0000; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:active { COLOR: #ffff00; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } </style> <meta content="C Dempsey" name="author"> <meta content="C Dempsey" name="owner"> <meta content="C Dempsey" name="copyright"> <meta content="30" name="revisit-after"> <meta content="Chris Dempsey's blog about bikes, beer, walking and Burnley Football club, the Clarets!" name="description"> <meta content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16735" name="GENERATOR"> <meta content="Chris,Dempsey,Bikes,motorbikes,Honda,Suzuki,Burnley,the Clarets,football,Beer,Walking," name="keywords"> </head> <body> <p align="center"><br> <font color="#808000" face="Chasm" size="6">Chris's Bit<br> Bikes, Beer and Burnley Football Club<br> <img style="border: 0px solid ; width: 140px; height: 120px;" alt="Chris Dempsey" src="chris_files/chris%20dempsey.jpg" hspace="0"><br> <br> <table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="2" height="1148" width="984"> <tbody> <tr border="0"> <td border="0" bgcolor="#ffffb9" height="1142" valign="top" width="323"> <p align="left"><font color="#000000" size="5"><a title="Gallery of bikes" href="bikes.htm">Bikes and more bikes</a></font><br> <br> Started riding at 17 at school, passing the test on my Suzuki A100, a 98cc dream machine, or so it seemed for a few months until I got my Triumph Tiger90 350cc Speed Twin. The good thing about this bike was that to the uninitiated it could pass for a Bonneville (it couldn't pass one though!!). Top speed 90 (hence the model no.) and for an 18 year old in 1971 that was fast. Had this for 3 years until it failed its MOT (play on swing arm) and I couldn't afford to repair it so I sold it. Little did I know I wouldn't ride again for 25 years!<br> <br> Me at&nbsp;19 riding an Ossa 250 at Leeds<br> <img alt="" src="chris_files/Ossa001%20%28426%20x%20600%29.jpg" border="0" height="493" hspace="0" width="350"></p> <p align="left">Being a step dad meant I had a step son (well 2 really) and Mark being like most young teenagers wanted a bike. His mum reluctantly gave in as Mark's real dad Paul&nbsp;is also a biker. One bike Mark had was a Honda H100S, very reminiscent of my A100 Suzuki. When Mark upgraded to a Honda NSR125 I started to play with the H100S and soon got bitten again. Within a few months I was the proud owner of a Kawasaki GPZ500S, not a bad little starter bike. By total coincidence my mate Rae&nbsp;had also decided to get back into biking but he started with a Honda VFR750 (the red 'Ferrari' one). This explains why after riding out for a year together (inc. a tour of Ireland) I upgraded to a VFR, though a 1993 model (budget constraints). I loved this bike and only sold it because of my planned move to Crete.</p> <p align="left"><font color="#000000">To this end my next bike was the&nbsp; 750 Honda Africa Twin RD07, a big tall brute of a bike which I dropped on the day I picked it up. I rode this for seven years (not continuously), riding it on Crete for a year, then the UK as my main transport and more recently in France before selling it in 2009 to get my current bike, a Suzuki DL650 K5. aka the VStrom.<br> <br> I&nbsp;also had a Greek registered Aprilia Pegaso 650 which I rode on Crete for&nbsp;almost two&nbsp;years. I sold it on my last visit to Crete (Oct '08).&nbsp;<br> <img style="width: 336px; height: 245px;" src="chris_files/PegOnCauseway%20%28448%20x%20336%29.jpg" border="0" height="336" width="316">&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> <br> The @ (Africa Twin) was a great servant and I rode it from the UK to Crete and back with pleasant detours in France. The Peg was&nbsp; my main mode of transport in Crete. The bike was fine but I prefered the smoother twin for long distance work, though&nbsp;the Peg&nbsp;was ideal&nbsp;on Crete&nbsp;for both on and off road travel being lighter and easier to handle. See various pics on this site.</font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#000000"> Next in France was the VStrom (Mark 1) a great multipurpose bike, good for touring with all its boxes on and not bad for scratching around in summer. I took it to Italy in 2009 with <a href="http://www.motobreaks.info" target="_blank">Motobreaks</a> and have had some good meets and camping trips in subsequent years with bikers from <a href="http://www.bikersclubfrance.com" target="_blank">Bikers Club France</a>.<br> <br> Sold the Vstrom in 2014 after buying a French Reg BMW F650 (Funduro), very similar to the Aprilia Pegaso. This was a faithful servant til I sold it in 2017 so I could buy a Bonneville, my current bike. Took the Bonny to the Spanish Pyrenees this May where I pranged it, hitting a rock and punching a hole in the alternator cover. Lost a few days riding but got it back on the road before the end of the trip thanks to help from Chris at Motobreaks and Dave's van.</font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#000000">More bike stuff? Click - <a title="Bike pages" href="bikelinks.htm"><font color="#0000ff">Biking links</font></a></font></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </td> <td border="0" bgcolor="#bfbfff" height="1142" valign="top" width="323"> <p><font size="5"><a title="Real ale breweries site" href="http://www.quaffale.org.uk/" target="_blank">Beer</a> and Walking</font><br> <br> Well, the two do go hand in hand, at least on my blog they do!&nbsp; You just have to be careful not to spill too much!<br> <br> I started local, discovered the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales and did a lot on Crete (thanks to Gordie). Now I'm discovering France.<br> <br> Relevant quote:-<br> <em>I'm ombibulous. I drink every known alcoholic drink, and enjoy them all. H. L. Mencken (1880 1956), American journalist and critic <br> <br> (I bet he never tried Campari)<br> <br> Notice he lived to 76, that will do me!<br> <br> I've always enjoyed a pint or two after a walk . On Crete it's a necessity, you sweat so much you could suck a sponge dry, especially one dunked in cold Amstel. It's weird, I never drink lager in the UK but i adapted to it there (It's the same in France); thirst is the mother of invention&nbsp;however as soon as I revisit the UK I go in search of Real Ale (<a title="Beermad website for real ale" href="http://www.beermad.org.uk/index.shtml">The Beer Hunter</a>).&nbsp;<br> <br> That's enough of beer (weak joke), more about walking. But before we go on try:-<br> <a title="Camra link" href="http://www.eastlancscamra.org.uk/files/index.php" target="_blank">East Lancs Camra</a><br> <br> I've&nbsp;done a lot of walking around Elounda having been shown some good walks by my mate Gordie (who is now a 'pat' again, i.e. an ex ex-pat). You can view them on this link: <a title="Walks around Elounda" href="eloundawalks.htm">Elounda Walks</a>&nbsp;<br> The big walk there is up Mount Oxa which is easier than first appears when you view it from the harbour. The first hour is just an easy slog up a dirt road which you could even drive up. Another half hour then takes you to the chapel in the 'saddle'&nbsp; of the mount. The true top is then an easy scramble eastwards which takes about 15 minutes. The views are excellent.&nbsp; Click this link: <a title="Views on and from Mount Oxa" href="oxa.htm">Mount Oxa</a><br> I've been up&nbsp;5 times to date, it's always well worth it especially if you've taken a couple of cold Amstels and some butties with you.<br> <br> I've also done the Samaria and Imbros gorges on the west of the Island. Surprisingly I was more impressed by the Imbros walk even though it is much shorter. You get more of a "Gorge feeling" whilst doing it (walking that is).<br> <br> In France I've only rambled locally and around the Mont de Blond&nbsp;. There is also a pleasant walk to the local Etang (small lake) which you can see on my French pages. This takes&nbsp;over two hours for the round trip</em> and not a bar in sight so if you fancy a drink you carry it (like going up Oxa). We've also joined a local french walkers group (Randonneurs) . Only one walk so far and we were the only 'Anglais'. but quite enjoyable.</p> </td> <td border="0" bgcolor="#ff42a0" height="1142" valign="top" width="316"> <p><font size="5"><a title="Read my musings on the Clarets" href="burnleyfc.htm"><font color="#a6caf0">Burnley Football Club</font></a><br> <br> <img alt="Turf Moor" src="chris_files/Turf.jpg" border="0" height="180" hspace="0" width="270"></font><br> <br> BFC has been one of my lifelong loves. First introduced to the club by my dad in the early sixties i was fortunate to see some of the 'greats' play, my favourite being <a title="Ray Pointer at Wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Pointer" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">Ray Pointer</font></a>.<br> <br> Footie on Crete wasn't the same. I did watch a lot at the Malibu Bar but most days I was on my own as most ex-pats over there didn't seem interested.&nbsp;In all the time I was there I only met one other Claret and his wife - Dave and Christine, and they were only visiting Elounda.<br> <br> France is even worse. I can't watch any live matches unless they are on terrestrial TV which we receive via freesat, so no Sky or espn. I also use the internet to keep up with football (mainly uptheclarets.com). Since we moved the broadband is better.<br> <br> Anyway, to read my&nbsp; musings&nbsp;&nbsp;<font color="#00ffff"><a title="Burnley Page" href="burnleyfc.htm"><strong><em>CLICK &nbsp;HERE</em></strong></a><br> <br> </font><font color="#000000">As an aside I have to admit to an interest in Rugby Union, but only at international level. I blame Johnny Wilkinson and the Webb Ellis Trophy in 2003. We all love a winner. The rules are weird tho', they make offside in football seem as clear as crystal. It's just frightening how our national sides can peak one year and plummet the next (excluding footie which hasn't peaked since '66). Ashes to ashes and all that!<br> <br> <u>Mini Facts:-</u><br> Burnley Football Club Founded 1882<br> Ground:Turf Moor Since 1883<br> 'The Clarets' (orig played in Amber and Black)<br> Founder members of the football league 1888<br> Have won all 4 Divisions (as have Wolves)<br> Play in Claret and Blue (inspired by Villa)<br> Hate B**tard Rovers (Balti Rovers?)<br> Sing 'No Nay never'<br> Hate Owen Coyle</font></p> <p><font color="#000000">Great Away following - best days out!<br> Unsung hero:- Johnny Francis at Plymouth, 2nd leg, 2 goals then seriously injured at Wembley.</font></p> <p><font color="#000000">Finally made it to &nbsp;the Premiership albeit for one season 2009/2010&nbsp; but with the coming of Dyche we made it back for 2014/15, again for one season but returned in 2016 after winning the Championship. We remain there to date but with a dodgy start to 2018, possibly due to our European venture..<br> <br> </font></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </font><br> Click here for <a title="Monty Python Sketch" href="2sheds.htm">Two Sheds Jackson</a>&nbsp;- Don't ask!<br> <br> &nbsp;<a title="Back to Main Menu" href="menu.htm"><font color="#ff0000" size="5">Return</font></a><br> <br> <a title="Home Page" href="index.htm"><font color="#000000" size="2">Home</font></a><font color="#000000" size="2"> </font><a title="Sitemap and Guestbook" href="sitemap.htm"><font color="#000000" size="2">Sitemap</font></a></p> </body></html>