3/28 – The End Has Begun – 30/31 Aug 2025

Sat 30 Aug 2025

Everything has to start somewhere, and this ending started early, on a grey drizzly morning. However in spite of the gloomy weather, my day got off to a good start, and after a welcome ride to the train station – thank you Gary – and a painless train journey, I found myself in Toulouse in surprisingly good time.

I nearly undid all this by getting on the airport navette going in the wrong direction. 🙄 Fortunately, the driver helped me out and refused to open the door, giving me the hint to check where I was and find the correct stop.

There’s not a lot to say about the flight, except that it seemed longer than it was. Arriving in Dubai is a doddle – no visa, no queue, no hassle; just stick your passport in the machine and go. Simple as that. 

Even though I was expecting it, the heat was a shock; 1:30 in eh morning and the temperature was in the mid-thirties. And humid! This wasn’t going to be particularly enjoyable.

Sun 31 Aug 2025

After a late breakfast, and still feeling a lack of sleep, it was time to fetch the bike. First I had to buy a travel adapter, because I discovered that the main electrical socket used in UAE, Saudi and Kuwait was and UK type. In the hotel I stayed at previously the sockets had been of the two-pin type, so I hadn’t brought anything else. 

That accomplished, I set out, despite the heat, to walk the 15 minutes to the Biker’s Café.  Two minutes later I found myself looking at it on the other side of the road, separated by 4 lanes and a fence. I was to notice the next day, that they like fences here. Anyway, I wasn’t going to walk another kilometre just because of a fence. So I skipped across the road, hopped over the fence, and there it was …

Ready and waiting …

Ali and his team in the café had done a grand job keeping the dust off, and even moved it out for me, ready to go. And go it did; after a few turns of the started it burst into life, and sounded great. After a delicious and very welcome milkshake, we wheeled it out onto the pavement, and I was off.

The handling was a bit “wandery”, which I later found out to be due to low tire pressures, but otherwise we returned to the hotel without mishap. A check round all the important things turned up nothing of concern, so we were ready.

Mon 01 Sep 2025

It doesn’t get light until just before 0600 here, but even at that time, it is hot, and humid. I was too early fro the morning rush, and in a short time, I was out of the city and on the way, past the terminal for the ferry to Iran, past my old hotel and out into the desert.

It wasn’t till I had passed Abu Dhabi that I was in the desert proper and it was as flat and featureless as I remembered and expected. Unless you like long, very straight fences that is; along the hundreds of kilometres of road, runs a very nice fence. Lovely!

With only one stop for a drink, because my new camel-pack has an on/off switch which I didn’t find before setting off, I was at my destination by 0930. The only thing to say really, is that riding for much longer or later than this would get really unpleasant. 

Breakfast was followed by a refuelling run, and then a couple of hours sleep, before I had a swim. I think and my room was upgraded by the nice girl at reception and I find myself in a room, larger and better equipped than our week studio in Montpellier. This is the first time I’ve stayed in a hotel room with a full-size fridge/freezer, a stove, a microwave and, wait for it, a washer / dryer! I could stay here for a week.

That’s not going to happen; we both know I’m on a mission. A mission that has started well and 🤞