THE ROUTE:- Lymington - Brockenhurst - Burley - Ringwood - Verwood - Hinton Martell - Bere Regis - past Bovington Camp - Wool - West & East Lulworth - Wareham - Poole - Bournemouth - Christchurch - New Milton & Lymington (130miles).

Dorset Mainland Run Sunday 11th November 2012 - having cancelled last week's run because of bad weather, 9 bikes with 4 pillions met at Yarmouth in the freezing cold (1 degree) but it was a fantastic clear sunny day. We caught the 8.50am ferry, the Solent was smooth, and the sun stayed with us as we started our circular trip around Dorset. Going across and through the New Forest was absolutely breathtaking with the fantastic colours of autumn, as you can see, lots of photos were taken from the back of Paul's bike, and not only the Forest was beautiful, as we wound our way through numerous villages and country roads the scenery was stunning, the temperature rising to only 3 degrees! We stopped for lunch at the Black Bear, a really friendly pub in the village of Wool. The landlady is an avid two wheels enthusiast and gives every biker who enters her pub a free cup of coffee, how amazing is that! We all had a great meal there and set off once again on our trip. By that time the temperature had risen to 10 degrees! It didn't last long though and as the afternoon wore on soon dipped to 6 degrees. The road past West & East Lulworth took us along the downs top road with panoramic views across the live military firing range, Poole Harbour on one side and Seacombe Cliffs on the other, stopping at the View Point to take in the breathtaking 360degree views. The Sandbanks Chainlink Ferry was shut for repairs, which was a shame but Paul had worked out a diversion route which added more miles to an already lengthy trip going into Poole - Bournemouth - Christchurch - New Milton and back to Lymington, catching the 4.30pm ferry.