September 2026 - A fantastic 3,300 mile month of biking. From the Alps to Monaco, and training and Examining.

September was another biking filled month, here's what I got up to.

Training.

Due to the bike tour, training didn't start until the 21st, when Rich came along on his BMW R1200GS. It was his 3rd session as he works towards obtaining an advanced qualification. During that session, we covered all different roads and environments he will come across on his test, urban, rural and multi lane. Cracking session with lots of positives and very few negatives.

Next up was Simon on his 1250GSA. Simon has trained with me previously, when he successfully completed the Enhanced Rider Scheme. He is now considering taking further advanced qualifications. All was going very well, until a kamikaze pheasant decided to throw itself into the path of Simon. Now, as you can imagine, a pheasant colliding with 260kg of BMWs finest, traveling at around 60mph, didn't end well for said pheasant. However, it didn't go down without a fight, causing some minor damage to the front of Simons bike. Fortunately, some tape and a zip tie soon had us riding again and Simon was able to complete his session.

Malc followed on from Simon, on his S1000XR. It was Malc's 3rd session, and as he lives in Derbyshire, it's quite a 'round trip' for him. In fact, he usually ends up doing a 300 mile day. However, it was a journey worth making, as Malc successfully completed the Enhanced Rider Scheme. A great result, and he is now contemplating further advanced qualifications in the Spring. Fab day. https://www.gov.uk/enhanced-rider-scheme

Glynn was last up on his S1000XR. Glynn has had a few sessions with me over the last couple of years, resulting in him completing the Enhanced Rider Scheme, and then last year passing his RoSPA advanced test. This latest session was a refresher to ensure his skills are still tip top. Which they pretty much were, needing only a few tweaks here and there.

RoSPA training and Examining.

I only managed one Tutoring session with Advanced Riders North Yorkshire, and it's fair to say it was a wet one. In fact, just before the riding started, the rain was so heavy, we all huddled under the canopy at Strawberry Fields cafe to dodge it! Fortunately, it didn't last long, the sun came out, a rainbow appeared, and we were soon conducting our pre ride briefings. I was paired up David on his VFR800, and away we went. Despite the very wet conditions, David adjusted his riding accordingly and still managed to display a 'flowing' and confident ride. All in all a cracking, if wet, day.

Is that rain? Quick, get under here! haha.

The sun came out, and a rainbow shone down on Phill......captions on a post card to.....

David and his very nice VFR800.

Examining.

A fairly busy month, with four RoSPA advanced tests conducted. Two candidates (Geoff & Peter) passed successfully, both achieving a Gold grade, but unfortunately two failed to reach the minimum required standard. Obviously those who failed, each received a thorough debrief covering all the elements of their test, good and not so good.

To the two who passed, it's congratulations to Geoff on his VFR1200, (which he's owned for 14 years and covered over 60,000 miles) and Peter on his R1250GS.

Geoff and his VFR.

Peter and his R1250GS.

Monaco and the Alps 2026.

On the 4th September, myself and 5 mates headed off on our annual bike tour. Joining me this year was Daren (1300GSA), Simon (1300GSA), Dave A (1300GSA), Phil (M1000XR) and Dave T (V4 Multistrada). We sailed from Hull, docking the following morning in Rotterdam. Day 1 was then Rotterdam to St Avold for 1 night. The following day we headed to Interlarken, where we stayed for 2 nights, meaning we had a full day to ride all the main passes, Grimsel, Furka, Gottard, Tremola, Nufenen, Furka (again) and Susten.

Next day we headed onto the Route Des Grande Alps, stopping overnight in Val-d'Isere, before continuing south to Monaco for 2 nights.

From Monaco, we headed north along the Route Napoleon stopping in Dignes and then on to Chamonix. We had 2 more stops, 1 in Colmar and another in Bouillon, before heading back for the ferry on the 15th. Total mileage for me was just short of 2500 miles. It was another great trip, we had great weather, only suffering rain for a couple of hours on 1 of the mornings. Here's a few (ok loads!) of photos from the trip.

On the ferry, beers in hand.

The famous 'James Bond' Hotel.

Somewhere in the Alps!

One of many motorsport related scultures in Monaco.

And another one.

The F1 tunnel heading down to the swimming pool.

Somewhere in the Alps photo 2!

Monaco

Exit of the tunnel

Monaco.

Monaco Harbour. A few quids of boats there!

Evening meal in Chamonix.

The guys enjoying their local! Haha.

The bridge at Pont de Sainte-Croix

Somewhere in the Alps again!

Mont Blanc....I think!

Random French guy got chatting to us in a Cafe and wanted to tell us all about his Triumph Spitfire....he then dashed home and brought it back to show us. It was mint!

All about to enjoy our Rosti's in Colmar.

Final night in Bouillon

Back on the ferry, ready to head home.

My GSA

Like August, September was another mileage packed month. It started with 2 new tyres from the excellent team at Leeds Bike Tyres in preparation for the 2 week European tour.

I'm pleased to say that my bike performed admirably for the whole trip, without any issues or hiccups. It really is a great bike.

Miles in September.

So here's my mileage figures for September.

01/09/26 - 54,854

30/09/26 - 58,152

GSA mileage in September - 3,298

FireBike mileage for September - 0

Total mileages for the year to date;

GSA - 17,789

FireBike - 907.

Total - 18,696.

Training for everyone - will you be next?

As you have read, another great mix of people and bikes. Whoever you are and whatever you ride, please come along and have some training. You'll ride great roads while learning new skills and re-enforcing the old ones.

And that my friends rounds off September 2026. Thanks for reading, and until next month, ride safe.

Ian S.