The plan was to explore some off-road trails in the Pas-de-Calais for the weekend.

Alan turned up at the Eurotunnel on his Aprilla Mille much to our amusement and offered the lame excuse that he had fallen off a ladder and would not be able to ride off-road!

I was a bit cautious about what we would find as it is not easy to identify public rights of way on the French regional maps.

We need not have worred as there were tracks everywhere. We passed plenty of farmers and even a local hunting party who just offered a friendly wave as we went past. No irate ramblers in France!

The general rule is to avoid any track with a no-entry sign or "Interdit au 4x4, Moto et Quads", but everything else seems to be fair game.

My 1200GS, Phil on a KTM 640 Adventure and Rob on his 1150GSA.

Not all the trails were easy going, the ruts got a bit deep and the mud very slippery in places.

All good things come to an end apparently, or at least this track did. Rob decides to let his bike have a rest while we plan our u-turn.

We came across a ford with a small step at the exit, Rob mastered the necessary wheelie on his second attempt.

End of the weekend, time to return to the farm-house B&B and pack up for our journey home.