In July I decided to go to Spain on the bike - not my 1200 as I had just sold that but my old XT600 which hadn't moved for 5 years
So I booked the Santander ferry for September 23rd and thought about getting an MOT. Fortunately that all went well and I had the bike shipped down to Exeter a couple of days before the ferry.
The bike seemed to be missing a little on the way down to Plymouth so I decided to have a wee look once I was in Spain. I assumed it was probably the mixture as I'd had some issues with it the week before.
Onto the ferry and start how you intend to go on. Shame the magician was crap and the singers were average.
I had only booked a single as I had a couple of options. One idea was to meander round the Pyrenees then get the ferry from Barcelona to Sardinia, then up to Corsica and on to Italy. I could then leave the bike in the garage of a relative of my wife, come back out in the Spring and head on east. Or, stay in the Pyrenees area and get a ferry back.
There was no more planning that that. I had a couple of Michelin maps and intended picking out small roads in the hills and seeing what they were like. If an area on the map showed wee windy roads, a few campsites and small towns or villages - chances are it was worth a visit. Industrial areas don't tend to have campsites so it is normally a reasonable clue. Nothing wrong with planning your trip to the last coffee stop if you prefer, just not for me. I deliberately didn't research all the best roads or campsites or hotels as I was quite happy to find out as I went along. I didn't have a satnav eek though there was always the backup of maps on my phone.
So I got off the ferry and headed south on the N623, an easy road to pick up in Santander as you leave the port. The weather wasn't great, low thick cloud as I went up and over the pass at 1011m so slow going. Down along a nice gorge then I decided to find a hotel, couldn't be arsed camping that night. I had a quick look at a popular booking website which showed a hotel in Trespaderne on the N629 which was good value but no cancellation possible so I didn't book, just rode to it, went to check there was somewhere to park the bike and that the price was okay.
Secure parking 50m away, €31 B&B for a twin room; dinner was not until 2130 - welcome to Spanish eating times - but breakfast was from 0600. The hotel had quite a few Hydro Board type guys staying so was busy enough after about 7. Hostal Jose Luis was the name
And they sold this
Dinner was €9 for 3 courses, wine, water, bread so good value and really nice food. The staff didn't speak English but were really friendly, very helpful and doing their best to ensure I enjoyed it. I would definitely go back.
Nest morning the sun was out, the roads were dry so all looking good.
I carried on along the red road for a bit, stopping in a lovely wee town called Ollauri, just east of Haro, for coffee.
Going back to the bike I saw rubber shavings on the swinging arm. Turned out that the new Avon tyre that was fine a little wider than standard wasn't quite so fine with an after market exhaust and me and all my kit. The tyre was catching the front ring on the silencer box when the suspension was fully compressed - what I had thought was maybe the mixture as it lurched very briefly.
I didn't have a big enough spanner to tighten up the preload so headed back to Haro, found a wee bike shop and asked him to jack it up a bit. He did, then he got a tyre leaver to try and force the box away from the wheel a bit, a good idea - but, seeing it later, he had put the force on the back of the box, the bracket is in the middle so he actually pushed the front closer as the back moved out. I should have noticed at the time but I was more concerned about the bike falling off his shaky stand.
Off I went, stopping to rub some dust onto the edge of the tyre so I could see if there was any more rubbing.
So I booked the Santander ferry for September 23rd and thought about getting an MOT. Fortunately that all went well and I had the bike shipped down to Exeter a couple of days before the ferry.
The bike seemed to be missing a little on the way down to Plymouth so I decided to have a wee look once I was in Spain. I assumed it was probably the mixture as I'd had some issues with it the week before.
Onto the ferry and start how you intend to go on. Shame the magician was crap and the singers were average.
I had only booked a single as I had a couple of options. One idea was to meander round the Pyrenees then get the ferry from Barcelona to Sardinia, then up to Corsica and on to Italy. I could then leave the bike in the garage of a relative of my wife, come back out in the Spring and head on east. Or, stay in the Pyrenees area and get a ferry back.
There was no more planning that that. I had a couple of Michelin maps and intended picking out small roads in the hills and seeing what they were like. If an area on the map showed wee windy roads, a few campsites and small towns or villages - chances are it was worth a visit. Industrial areas don't tend to have campsites so it is normally a reasonable clue. Nothing wrong with planning your trip to the last coffee stop if you prefer, just not for me. I deliberately didn't research all the best roads or campsites or hotels as I was quite happy to find out as I went along. I didn't have a satnav eek though there was always the backup of maps on my phone.
So I got off the ferry and headed south on the N623, an easy road to pick up in Santander as you leave the port. The weather wasn't great, low thick cloud as I went up and over the pass at 1011m so slow going. Down along a nice gorge then I decided to find a hotel, couldn't be arsed camping that night. I had a quick look at a popular booking website which showed a hotel in Trespaderne on the N629 which was good value but no cancellation possible so I didn't book, just rode to it, went to check there was somewhere to park the bike and that the price was okay.
Secure parking 50m away, €31 B&B for a twin room; dinner was not until 2130 - welcome to Spanish eating times - but breakfast was from 0600. The hotel had quite a few Hydro Board type guys staying so was busy enough after about 7. Hostal Jose Luis was the name
And they sold this
Dinner was €9 for 3 courses, wine, water, bread so good value and really nice food. The staff didn't speak English but were really friendly, very helpful and doing their best to ensure I enjoyed it. I would definitely go back.
Nest morning the sun was out, the roads were dry so all looking good.
I carried on along the red road for a bit, stopping in a lovely wee town called Ollauri, just east of Haro, for coffee.
Going back to the bike I saw rubber shavings on the swinging arm. Turned out that the new Avon tyre that was fine a little wider than standard wasn't quite so fine with an after market exhaust and me and all my kit. The tyre was catching the front ring on the silencer box when the suspension was fully compressed - what I had thought was maybe the mixture as it lurched very briefly.
I didn't have a big enough spanner to tighten up the preload so headed back to Haro, found a wee bike shop and asked him to jack it up a bit. He did, then he got a tyre leaver to try and force the box away from the wheel a bit, a good idea - but, seeing it later, he had put the force on the back of the box, the bracket is in the middle so he actually pushed the front closer as the back moved out. I should have noticed at the time but I was more concerned about the bike falling off his shaky stand.
Off I went, stopping to rub some dust onto the edge of the tyre so I could see if there was any more rubbing.