N
Naggedhusband
Guest
Oh well, completed my trip to Spain. 7 Days riding a clockwise loop of Spain which took in the Pyrenees in the east, some very flat country and also some beautiful national park mountain roads south west of Madrid, and some mountain ranges in the west on the way back to Santander.
We covered 2,300 and the weather, roads, scenery, and riding were fantastic. We got wet on the last 20 miles into Santander on the way back but that was all. Upwards of 20 degrees in the east around Zaragossa and the Pyrenees, 31 degrees south of Madrid, and around 20 degrees around Salamanca in the west.
Roads were mainly perfect tarmac and in most areas away from cities you could ride for miles without seeing another vehicle on the roads. I've never experienced such empty roads anywhere in the world before.
Finding fuel was easy even in the most remote areas. No problems whatsoever with the Spanish police either.
Birdy did around 53mpg overall and even when fully loaded handled perfectly throughout the trip.
We came across very few people who spoke English but never had any problems at all. We were treated as celebrities in one little village we stayed in. Apparently they never see tourists and I was told they actually class foreigners as Spanish people from other parts of Spain !
Every village we rode through or stopped in was completely deserted, nomatter what time of day it was, it was really creepy. Maybe they heard the bikes coming from miles off and locked themselves indoors...:dunno:
We experienced every kind of riding from extremely fast sweeping double S bends in open country, tight narrow mountain roads, Pyrenean mountain roads, very tight twisty wall-lined lanes through valleys and farms, thick fog and drizzle over mountain tops, and new motorways with no traffic on them at all.
Had a few 'amusing' moments along the way:
Going down a steep hill on a deserted country dual carriageway looking for a slip road off. I looked up from the map, spotted a slip-off right in front of me at the bottom of the hill, and instinctively took it... and shot up an emergency escape lane...! :bang:
Going through some fast and very twisty downhill roads we suddenly came to a sharp right over a bridge that went into another sharp right again up a hill. A mate leading went into it at suicide speed, realised his mistake and grounded his pegs right the way around. Scared himself to death ! 8rfl@
The warning signs for sharp corners on most roads are excellent and can be trusted. In one hilly area they had build a brilliant new road that went on for miles and miles. Very twisty and fast and it cut through high hills so most corners were blind. Unfortunately though they had only installed the corner warning signs on the first half of the road but there was nothing to indicate this. I went into what looked like a fast sweeping right through a deep rock cutting in 6th gear... only to find it was a hairpin bend that doubled right back on itself. Never dropped gears so fast in my life and slowed down after that. 8rfl@
Rode through a fantastic valley and up into a small hilltop village that had obviously been there since long before cars were invented. They didn't have roads, just lots of alleyways with all sorts of cambers and steps everywhere. After 10 minutes we were completely lost and couldn't find our way back out of the village. So we stopped at a bar in what looked like the centre and had a coke. No-one spoke English so asking for directions was hilarious and I gave up and did a recon on foot until I found a way out. It turned out to be the same road we went in on but what the hell, at least we were out. :bow:
Would I go again...? Oh yes...!!! If only to ride the N260 along the Pyrenees again... the best road I've ever ridden or driven. @tu*
We covered 2,300 and the weather, roads, scenery, and riding were fantastic. We got wet on the last 20 miles into Santander on the way back but that was all. Upwards of 20 degrees in the east around Zaragossa and the Pyrenees, 31 degrees south of Madrid, and around 20 degrees around Salamanca in the west.
Roads were mainly perfect tarmac and in most areas away from cities you could ride for miles without seeing another vehicle on the roads. I've never experienced such empty roads anywhere in the world before.
Finding fuel was easy even in the most remote areas. No problems whatsoever with the Spanish police either.
Birdy did around 53mpg overall and even when fully loaded handled perfectly throughout the trip.
We came across very few people who spoke English but never had any problems at all. We were treated as celebrities in one little village we stayed in. Apparently they never see tourists and I was told they actually class foreigners as Spanish people from other parts of Spain !
Every village we rode through or stopped in was completely deserted, nomatter what time of day it was, it was really creepy. Maybe they heard the bikes coming from miles off and locked themselves indoors...:dunno:
We experienced every kind of riding from extremely fast sweeping double S bends in open country, tight narrow mountain roads, Pyrenean mountain roads, very tight twisty wall-lined lanes through valleys and farms, thick fog and drizzle over mountain tops, and new motorways with no traffic on them at all.
Had a few 'amusing' moments along the way:
Going down a steep hill on a deserted country dual carriageway looking for a slip road off. I looked up from the map, spotted a slip-off right in front of me at the bottom of the hill, and instinctively took it... and shot up an emergency escape lane...! :bang:
Going through some fast and very twisty downhill roads we suddenly came to a sharp right over a bridge that went into another sharp right again up a hill. A mate leading went into it at suicide speed, realised his mistake and grounded his pegs right the way around. Scared himself to death ! 8rfl@
The warning signs for sharp corners on most roads are excellent and can be trusted. In one hilly area they had build a brilliant new road that went on for miles and miles. Very twisty and fast and it cut through high hills so most corners were blind. Unfortunately though they had only installed the corner warning signs on the first half of the road but there was nothing to indicate this. I went into what looked like a fast sweeping right through a deep rock cutting in 6th gear... only to find it was a hairpin bend that doubled right back on itself. Never dropped gears so fast in my life and slowed down after that. 8rfl@
Rode through a fantastic valley and up into a small hilltop village that had obviously been there since long before cars were invented. They didn't have roads, just lots of alleyways with all sorts of cambers and steps everywhere. After 10 minutes we were completely lost and couldn't find our way back out of the village. So we stopped at a bar in what looked like the centre and had a coke. No-one spoke English so asking for directions was hilarious and I gave up and did a recon on foot until I found a way out. It turned out to be the same road we went in on but what the hell, at least we were out. :bow:
Would I go again...? Oh yes...!!! If only to ride the N260 along the Pyrenees again... the best road I've ever ridden or driven. @tu*
