Stuff the Olympics... this is the real gig of 2012

After a winter of almost Machiavellian intrigue the time is fast approaching when we will take our leave of these shores and boldly go where no man has gone before. Yes... the Red Lion Bikers 2012 bike trip is nearly here.

Like a priest before choir practice, we are all chomping at the bit to hit the road and this year we take on Europe 'part deux'. 14 towns and cities have been primed by Interpol to expect our arrival in such countries as France, Italy, Austria, Germany and Holland. Once again, the national debt has been vastly reduced by the purchase of a plethora of motorcycles, bits, equipment and new clothing due to last year's togs unusually seeming to have shrunk in many cases.

To you, our loyal blog follower/s, we say hello and thank you for reading. It would be nice if we could beat last year's total of four subscribers but as quality almost always trumps quantity please do feel free to comment at any time (as long as it doesn't refer to my missppellings or grammatical errors).

Thanks to Simon Goodway for carrying on cartooning where he left off with Captain Mainwaring last year (www.simongoodway.com) and to all our nearest and dearest for putting up with us talking about not a lot else for the past six months.

This year sees an added twist in that the culmination of our tour takes us to Amsterdam for Pete's final farewell to singlehood. We'll hope to see some of you there but also to give you a few giggles along the way.