Tour report
Sailed from Plymouth with Brittany Ferries on the brand new 'Pont Aven' - very nice ship with all mod cons. Arrived in Santander at 11:00 the next morning after an 18 hour crossing. The bikes were all safe, even on the return trip which was rough.
One night in Salamanca then into Portugal for two nights near Lisbon then three at Peso da Regua east of Porto. Brilliant place on the river Duoro in the heart of wine making country. Twisties everywhere although the roads are a trifle too narrow to go mad. Me and Ann teamed up with Alan on his Blackie and Trevor on his Kwak 636 and we did our own thing for the rest of the trip, (which mainly involved getting lost a lot).
Portugal seemed fairly devoid of bikes, if you don't include little Gileras with canvas fairings, and Portugese drivers have to be treated with respect 'cause they try to intimidate you a bit. You have to command your position and let them have it.
On the return trip we went via Zamora in Spain and then back to Santander through some cracking mountain roads. Next year the four of us are planning to return to Northern Spain (Pyrennees to the west coast) - those roads deserve more exploration.
Two bikes got binned in Portugal, a GSXR600 and a Yamaha TRX. Both were young riders who became fixated in the twisties and ended up hitting the spot they were staring at. We helped the Gixxer chap who continued on his way after we all pulled bits of Portugal out of his bike. No injuries.
Here's a piccy of my two companions next to the horses.
:yo:
