Writings page

Photos from the trip

Image Copyright © Nick Waite 2000-2001

Day 1

The boat is bouncing around, There's a prat on the dance floor and the dodgy house band is playing line dancing numbers.

Remind me why I came here !!

I managed to have a final dig at the e-group just before I left, nice to see the Bullett back.
The boys turned up at 1 ish in crap weather & we hit the road around 2. I discovered that Sidi vertebrate aren't water proof !
Down to Portsmouth for a late lunch at Spice Island. Damage so far - Leaky boots, dodgy rear light, it keeps flashing on & off. I didn't try to convince them that I was just braking erratically.
Paul managed to have fun with his panniers and some traffic cones.
Filtering through the road works in Salisbury, he was banging the bollards that were stuck into the cat's eyes. Dave, behind him, was getting nervous and as it turned out, rightly so. The one that finally let go flipped end over end to land perfectly perpendicular to Dave's front wheel and about 2 inches in front of him.
He's happy to report that a blade will drive over a bollard without upsetting the balance unduly.

At the ferry port there was a Ducatti 996 & an SP1 off for a week (I thought I was traveling light ! One rider said 'well I'm wearing my clothes')

The captain reported that we can expect force 7 in the channel so it should be a quiet night :)

The bike felt OK on the way to Portsmouth but leaving the pub it felt a bit odd turning left, hope the luggage doesn't upset the bike.

The bikes are tied to the side of the boat with old rope. Will they be safe ?

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of 3 prats in Spain.

Oh shit - we got a really crap TV quiz in the cabaret.
Is killing a compere pratacide ?
It would be a mercy killing - honest.

Opppps
I ended up on stage as a bloody winner of the TV quiz (it was Paul who answered the questions anyway)
And guess what I won - a free cocktail. For a recovering alcoholic, that's a stunningly useful prize.

Day 2

Rough night and rougher morning.
If you were sitting at home thinking 'bastards - hope they get sea sick' well you're wish was granted. (Well only one of us actually threw ...)

Lying down was good, and the main activity of the day.

I didn't sleep last night but finally got a few hours kip this afternoon when it started calming down.

The entertainment people on board have succeeded in keeping the talent levels at an all time low - but thinking about it, 'singer on ferry' isn't something I would be proud to have on my CV.

We're pretty well sorted out re luggage & route for tomorrow morning, but I'm not sure we're looking forward to the 6 am start.

Day 3

I would like to say that the N132 from Ponta de la Reina Jaca to Ayerbe was the best road I've ever ridden, but it's not. The best road ever was a couple of hours earlier (the N240 past E de Yesa - the 'lakes')

I am so tired I feel dizzy and I need to eat so badly - pizza's on the way, but I have been grinning like a loon for most of the day. We kept thinking that the day and the roads couldn't get any better - and they did, and did again, and again.

We, of course, got lost and irate with each other within 10 miles of the ferry port but eventually, through a combination of sign posts, maps, the GPS and loads of dumb luck we picked up the N240 which was to be the basis of the day (and the only real alternative to the motorway on a run from Bilbao to Barcelona). The 240 started off twisting up hill. We blasted past trucks and stood the bikes on their front wheels for the next bend. The road calmed down and the scenery got wild. Very classically Spanish (No that's not a dumb statement - honest - a lot of Europe is becoming very similar) Oddly sculptured rocks vied with small messas and strange monastery type buildings on top of rocks for our attention - until we came to the section of road that ran alongside 'E de Yesa' (a lake). I think that the views might have got prettier on this section but we didn't have a lot of spare attention as one perfectly tarmaced corner blended into the next.

I have a problem here. I could wax lyrical for days about that section but I'm knackered & there's the afternoon to write up !

OK - take it from me - possibly the best road ... no - don't take it from me - visit the damned place yourself & find out.

The next section Peunte la reina de Jaca to Ayerbe was just as windy but the road surface wasn't quite as good. The scenery, however was better (photo with river in background).

We took a detour to Castillo de Loarre for the view & to pretend we are in some way cultured. The road up the final hill was gravel. Hairpins on gravel with a loaded bike certainly keeps you sharp.
The view across the plain from above the clouds was stunning.
OK so that's not quite true - it should read 'cloud'. There was only one in the sky.
21 odd degrees (the wind at speed dropped it some - but a long way from thermals)

A quick blast to Lleida and into a hotel by 6. Showered and out on the town. Staggering around randomly from fatigue in search of pizza and engaging in intelligent conversation along the lines of 'remember that corner' 'yea' 'yea' 'yea'.

I will certainly sleep well tonight.

300 miles, 3 fuel stops. 3 very tired bods.

Day 4

Take 3 blokes who only know each other through a bike e-group and send them on a bike holiday together. Deciding what roads to take and what order to ride in is no problem. Finding a hotel or deciding which restaurant, however, is a major task. How much are other people prepared to spend on a room? What can other people eat? (I'm fussy as hell about food). Who's going to attempt a conversation with a local?

Just as well we're here on a bike holiday really.

Woke to thick fog. Running with visors up for visibility. It didn't clear for minutes.

About 10 minutes.

Then sunshine all day.

Again.

Bummer.

We headed over the hills to Mora la Nova then took a right towards Alcaniz.
More and more stunning corners as we climbed up to 500m. If the road had just been a little wider...

There was this bus coming down the mountain we were going up. I went past it on a left hander, as did Paul. Dave unfortunately was powering out of a left hander towards a right hand hairpin when the bus appeared taking up all of the inside of the corner.
On the right of the mountain road there was a mountain. On the left there was a cliff and the air - and thankfully a thin bit of verge before the low barrier. Dave dived up the wrong side of the bus, the only side that there was any space on, and pulled up next to the wall.
He sat for a few moments taking deep breaths and regaining his composure before coming after us. (Note - remove the last section before Sue reads this)

We turned south on the N232 before Alcaniz looking for more twisties. We found a bloke from Bristol way on a blackbird. He'd been on the ferry with us and had assumed we would be much further ahead of him. (We soon were !!).
That section of the N232 by was marked on my map as 'bad road surface'. It was a little dodgy in places but for the most part was OK. Beyond that, the section south Morella was one of those classic 'hairpins down the side of a mountain' roads that you see in films. (If you want to run this road - be quick coz there are major roadworks at the bottom and it looks like a motorway going through).

You should always look at the exit of a corner as you ride it.
You shouldn't look at the front wheel while you're riding.
But lets face it, the road right in front of you is always in your peripheral vision no matter how tight the corner.
Wrong!
Not on these corners.
The exit of these are over your shoulder.
Absolutely incredible, and we all feel that we took them perfectly.

That was before lunch.

The afternoon saw roads that we have muttered about as 'not so good' but that is in comparison with the morning.

Valencia is a pig but we couldn't do much other than go through the center. We'll dodge inland on the way back.

In Oliva for the night.
24 C at 6 pm.
Another 300 mile day and we're not quite so knackered (well I'm not).

I have a dilemma here.
I am sports touring on a blade and enjoying it, the luggage isn't upsetting the bike and physically I could get used to it.
I have a VFR at home.
Will I ever ride it again ?

Not the worst decision I've ever had to make.

Day 5

If you're sitting at home muttering 'bastards were playing in Spain while the weather here was shit', then will be pleased to hear that it rained today.

If, however, you're not heartless then 'hi', we haven't met - I'm Mac.

The rain started just after we got up and stopped just before we did.
The roads that are wonderfully smooth in the dry are smoother in the wet.
Almost frictionless in fact.

Pottering through Oliva first thing with a tiny bit of acceleration in second gear at 10 mph my back tyre just let go and spun. When the revs rose I thought the bike had dropped into neutral, then the rear went sideways ...

At the end of the day, on the main drag through Benidorm, pulling away from some traffic lights, the rear went again. A howl of illegal exhaust and a blade with rear wheel weaving from side to side seemed to turn a few heads. It certainly woke up Dave, who was along side me at the time.

With the atrocious weather, we stopped at every third petrol station to shelter from the elements and as the rain eased in the early afternoon we decided to call it a day. Given the miles we have done so far we're all tired anyway.
Not that 300 miles is a long way in a day, but 300 miles of twisties, two days in a row, after a number of months of low milage does take it's toll.

Sitting out side the hotel we gathered quite a few questioning travelers as there are very few bikes here over 125. If we wanted to, we could just take the bikes down the sea front and pose, but that's not our style.
Honest.

The hotel we chose turns out to have a large saga holiday contingent so we've tried not to shock anyone too much incase they pop their clogs (except for one of us - unnamed - who got the wrong room and walked into an old ladies bedroom as she was wandering round without clothes on).

Good roads today ?
Well they are probably OK in the dry but very slick in the wet.

Heading inland a bit and north tomorrow in search of sun.

50 miles today and damp.

Day 6

Another wet day.

Very wet.

But it could have been worse. We caught some weather on the news tonight and it looks like there has been some unseasonably bad snow in some areas. (We failed to find the place names in the guide book so we're not quite sure where this was)

The forecast we did catch suggests that the best weather will be in the north tomorrow - so that's where we're heading.

Cold wet hands. Cold wet feet. Remind me why I came here !

It started off dry-ish on the coast but as we climbed into the hills we hit clouds and dragged them with us all day. It didn't seem so bad to start with as we were prepared for the wet, but the temperature was down to single figures by the time we stopped in Albacete. Thermals and plastic bags in the boots tomorrow.

We're all tired, and pissed off and could really do with some more sun.

Here's praying.

150 miles today.

Day 7

Eventful.

Eventful is a good word to describe today.

I missed two red traffic lights (infact I missed the amber & green too - just didn't see them). We passed loads of police (all while traveling at or below the speed limit). Paul demolished a police barrier, Dave rode up the road on the wrong side and I smashed the blade.

So eventful seems appropriate.

Started off dry but cold in Albecete and headed north. Finally some dry roads (well drying anyway). As the day wore on the temperature rose and the sun started shining.

There are some nice bits before Requina heading north and we hit Teruel for lunch.

I managed to completely fail to spot traffic lights in Utiel and Requina. Both occasions were while searching for badly signposted roads out of town.

The road north from there over the hills is a bit dull and we picked up an arsehole who decided to chase us. I saw him behind us and was praying he wasn't police.

Just beyond Utrillas I was ...

Well I'm not entirely sure what happened.

I goes steaming into this corner, only to find out that it is longer and tighter than I think. This isn't too much of a problem, I'd been round tighter corners going faster all day. I push further round but the bike doesn't respond. The bike drifts to the outside towards the armco and ...

There seemed to be nothing I could do, the damned thing wouldn't go round no matter how hard I pushed the bars.

I almost made the corner.

Just before I hit the armco I stood the bike up and scraped along about 5 foot of metal till the front fork came into contact with one of the uprights. Thankfully this threw me into the road rather than over the barrier (there was nothing the other side of the barrier for 100 foot down).
I slid down the middle of the road with the bike lying on my left leg for 20 odd feet.

Boy I felt stupid.

But I'm unhurt (apart from a slight bruise on my left hip).

Damage to bike - Front forks badly bent (I can feel the ripples of bent metal on the back of the stanchion), and knackered exhaust from the armco (and I thought that carbon fiber was supposed to be strong).

When I told my sister that my ego was more bruised that my body I heard my brother-in-law comment 'well it is bigger'

The front tyre was flat when I came to a halt and I don't see how the armco or slide would have damaged it so I can only guess that it punctured before the corner - but I would have expected to get bit more warning...

One immobile bike.
One bruised and embarrassed Mac.
One phone call to the AA.

The local recovery boys from Utrillas turned up with a flat bed truck and we quickly established that we had no common language. They quickly realized that it was a motorbike and that the front wheel wouldn't turn so a call was placed for a man with a van.

We lifted the bike into the van and drove back to town where every one had to have a look at the bike and the scrapes on the boots and be told the story in a language they didn't understand.

One of the guys drove off and returned with a lovely girl who spoke english. After some humming and hoing with the insurance folks it was decided to take me to Zaragoza to the Honda shop as this is towards Bilbao, it's a bigger town and more hotels.

So what of the boys on the black stuff ?

I'm picking up a hire car tomorrow morning so I'll become the official photographer and luggage carrier. I'll get a chance to see some of the sights and chill for a few days.

Ferry back as a foot passenger, pick up a car in Portsmouth on Tuesday to go home.

The bike will take a week or so to fix so I'll fly back in a couple of weeks and pick it up.

So eventful seems an appropriate description.

300 miles (except for me who did 220)

Day 8

I have been driving a car all day.

A Nissan Primera.

A diesel one.

It's called Bob.

Do you want me to tell you what's like to drive some of Spain's best biking roads in a diesel Nissan Primera ?

No ?

You surprise me.

Well tough.

Driving a car with the steering on the wrong side took a bit of getting used to, especially fitting between busses and taxis driven by Spaniards in the middle of rush hour in a strange city. My left knuckles are bruised from the door handle from reaching for the gear lever.
Spanish radio stations are dull.

Yea - OK.
I don't really care either.

Very windy today and the boys have been blown side to side across the road. The temperature was down to 4 over the hills so all in all a hard day. (Paul: very windy is an understatement. Incredibly or unbelievably perhaps. You really had to be there)

I played bag carrier and photographer today and have some (hopefully) good shots of Paul & Dave on corners.

The road past the lakes is just as good after 6 days and I will ride that one again. Oh yes.

It's been a long week. We're all tired and having headed north for the weather we've ended up just outside Bilbao and have booked two nights.
We're ready to go home.

Day 9

Ready to go home now.

Had a late breakfast and took Bob into Bilbao. I tried to introduce the boys to some culture so took them to the Guggenheim. The first thing I heard as we walked in was 'well this looks like shite' but I persevered and dragged them round. I've no idea if it worked, but Paul did say that he liked the floral dog outside. But having said that, he did spend five minutes looking at an emergency exit sign.

Paul has also been playing with his GPS today. I hadn't used one in anger before this holiday it turned out to be stunningly useful for getting out of towns.

We dropped Bob back at the airport & taxied back to the Hotel where we are chilling for the afternoon.

Not a lot else to report really.

0 miles.

Day 10

Up, packed and to the ferry this morning.
My luggage on Dave's blade and me on Paul's bird.
I'm a crap passenger in a car, but on a bike ...

Paul says that it just makes the bird more planted which is reassuring.

It feels odd to not be in control of the bike and, as I'm trying not to move around, the back of Paul's lid pretty much all the view I have.
I'll go up to Dave's tomorrow with Paul and get a lift home from there so I better not insult his riding too much ... yet.
I just need to convince him to get some wing mirrors attached to his shoulders.

A few bikes at the ferry port including the bloke from Bristol way who was on the ferry over and said he was in Spain for two weeks.
We figure that he's had bad luck trying to find decent roads coz all he's mentioned was motorways and his tyre is only worn in the middle. But his bike is very clean.

There's also a couple of guys from Sheffield who have been over for 3 weeks and made it down to Africa, two up on a 1200 Bandit. The front of their mudguard is scraped from going under the bumper of a truck. The wing mirrors hit the back of the truck so they had at least one close call.

The same crap band are killing songs on the boat.
How bad are they?
Put the mouse over this guy to find out !

Home tomorrow.

Clothes to wash.
A few hundred e-mails to rake through.
No doubt some bills to be paid,
and then I'll have to think about coming back out to pick up the blade.

Paul's looking forward to the home made spaghetti bolognaise that will be waiting for him.

Dave's coming home from the longest break he & Sue have had (and he's talking about next years run).

All in all a brilliant week.
Yes I binned the bike, but I still had a great time.

So next year...

We'll leave it till later in the year - probably March/April.
We'll probably not head South but play in the North.
The Pyrenees should be warm enough to play in.

We have a better idea how to find hotels and order food.

We just don't know what 'meubles' means.

p.s.
Remember the stupid quiz on the way down when I ended up on stage and won a cocktail ? Well I ended up on stage again and this time I won a 'mini cruise'. Looks like I might be able to use it to come and collect the bike.
Silver clouds and every lining and all that stuff.

Conclusions.

AA 5 star insurance is very good just don't mention the word 'accident'.

Lots of you would have enjoyed the trip.
You were invited.
You didn't come.
Your loss.

Roads here are stunning, and the drivers are a lot better than the UK.

A great way to improve your riding.

Credits

Thanks to Dave & Paul for putting up with me.
Thanks to Honda of Salisbury for their advice on a couple of occasion during the trip.
Written every evening on a Toshiba Libretto 110CT.

Quotes :-

Dave 'What cards do you take?'
Teller on boat 'Credit cards'

Paul 'We're moving'
Mac 'It's a boat'

Dave 'You have anti-tamper, I don't'

Paul 'What are we talking about now'
Mac 'Socks full of vomit'

Paul 'There's lots of wrinklies on the boat'
Mac 'They're all going to Spain to die'

Paul 'I'd look good in a Basque'

Mac 'What's 40 divided by 3'
Paul 'Maths'