4250 miles - Spain & France june 2009

[digital4169]

Well where to start, he says spitting and rubbing his hands together. My travels are nothing compared to some and I confess to being a bit of a Softy Walter when it comes to hotels and beds. If you like camping and crapping in the woods then good on yer!

I’ll start by talking about some of the kit I’ve bought and its uses during the trip, the bike and it’s behaviour and the places we’ve been.



Kit…………..


Sat Nav. I was fortunate to have access to both a Tomtom Rider and a Garmin Zumo 550 and personally preferred the mapping and display on Tomtom. The bike is fitted with an Autocom 200 duo so I wanted to get the Bluetooth dongle thingy to talk to the Tomtom and Vis versa. I won’t bore you with the bits, but I experienced the same sort of hassle everyone else did with the Tomtom’s incompatibility with anything but itself. Don’t get me wrong Tomtom’s mapping and accuracy is brilliant, but before stamping on it just to show who is boss I tried the Garmin. Not only did it mate with the Autocom, my phone and download routes form the PC it sorted it without fuss. Right then Garmin it is!!
The only drawback with the Garmin is the thick bloody pink line your route is shown with (tell me if you can alter it) which masks some features on your route at junctions, but its scale varies in its visual representation of what’s ahead and it can be late in catching up which caused a few problems and ‘U’ turns. But I got to see some beautiful spots from all angles so what the hell.

Panniers

The bike came with the standard GSA aluminium boxes which were great. You can pack more than you need in then and you can strap stuff on top. The only thing that I found was the offside one leaked, which given the cost is a bit rich. Never mind though that was Mrs Bob’s!
I was too stingy to buy proper liners so opted for the 40p Asda bags (see photo). These worked brilliantly and are a bit of class compared to the Netto ones.

PacSafe 120

I bought this to put our biking gear in whilst visiting places to prevent us walking round in biking gear and carrying helmets. It worked a treat. We could get 2 helmets, 4 boots and two complete fabric suits in it and secured to the bike. We popped our helmets in their soft bags to prevent scratching. A note though. This was only OK if it is dry as your stuff is just open to the elements, but it worked for us. Got ours off eBay for a fraction.

Held Velcro Tank Bag

This was a good purchase for a general purpose tank bag at about 60 quid. It didn’t move around much if fitted tight and was fairly waterproof. It did get a bit damp in a torrential downpour over an hour or so.

Dainese D-System D-Dry Jacket and Dainese Hooper D-Dry Trousers

The jacket at about £300 was a great buy. It looks good without being too garish and has loads of ventilation for hot weather. With the waterproof lining in it is warm and very dry so top marks for this bit of kit. I bought the trouser at £159 which are not good, although I think there is something I’m missing!?!? The trousers came as waterproof and with a thermal liner, but not a separate waterproof one. They weren’t even trying to keep water out. As soon as it rained I got wet. There is no ventilation either so very hot in Spain. I will be taking this up with the retailer!

The Bike……. ‘58’ R1200 GSA.

What can I say this is my first BMW and it’s great. It has taken me along motorways at 90+, around mountain roads with hairpin after hairpin, rural roads, gravel tracks and a rather poor mountain track in the Sierra Nevada’s. It has done it all pretty much without a moan or grumble, averaged 47.8 mpg and used exactly a litre of oil in 4250miles. Mine is fitted with HID’s which I can recommend both for seeing with and to be seen!
I had a dozen or so ‘gear slippages’ in 6th early on in the tour where it just seemed to jump a few teeth. T was a bit worrying as twice it happened mid bend on hard acceleration. I made sure I engaged gear fully, but it did it a few more times. It hasn’t done it for a couple of thousand miles now, but the whole drive train feels a bit loose after it. So much so that I called into the Motorrad dealer in Limoges to check it was safe to ride. ‘Qui! For sure’ was the diagnosis so I ploughed on. I’m not that convinced that it’s right so will present it to Jeffries for it’s 6000 miles service and a query. I don’t think ‘ they all do that’ will do! But all in all I’m chuffed with the performance.

 

[digital4169]

The Trip……. Pool in Wharfedale – Poole – Cherbourg – Millau – Zaragoza – Madrid – Cordoba – Nerja – Barcelona – Calais – Pool

I started planning this trip earlier in the year with the idea that I would ride down through France to Madrid, pick up Mrs Bob at the airport tour round for 8 days and drop her off at Barcelona airport before riding home. I wanted to see a few things on the way.

Tuesday 2nd June
I had prepared the BM over the weekend as I had my Blackbird to sort as well for a 3 day trip to Scotland on my return. It need servicing and MOT’ing.
I had packed all the usual ‘T’ shirts and bits of kit, filled Garmin with the routes and walked around the house in my new Dainese kit looking like ‘Catologue Man’.
I had arranged to meet a friend Andy and his mate Dave in Basingstoke stay over at Andy’s before an early start to Poole Harbour and the fast boat to Cherbourg.
Having read a lot of the travelogues on this forum I was determined not to see the trip to Spain as just something to square my tyres off on, but make it part of the experience. Andy and Dave were coming to Millau with me to see the bridge and the Gorge du Tarn, passing through the Caine des Puys on the way.
I picked a route to Basingstoke through experience, having ridden my bike back from Southampton where I bought it in Feb on most of the route.
Essentially I nipped over to Huddersfield and then on the ride over Strines Moor, lesser known as Mortimer Road which is unclassified and runs between the A616 at Langsett and the A57 at the start of Snake Pass in the Peak District.
This then leads on to the Hope Valley, Chatsworth House grounds, Bakewell, Matlock and Matlock Bath, which is a magnet for bikers, although quiet on a Tuesday at 10am. I then went alongside Carsington Water and on to Ashbourne. These are all lovely roads to bike on. I then pushed on in a straight line all the way down the Fosse Way to Stow on the Wold, Newbury and into Basingstoke. The weather was great, roads dry and a good route to start off with!
Arriving at Andy’s I was met with “ That’s too big and won’t go in the garage.” A bit of fiddling and we managed it.
We enjoyed a top barbeque, a couple of beers and a reasonably early bed, looking forward to 5am.
PS Thanks Mrs Andy for letting me stay.

 

[digital4169]

Wednesday 3rd
Up at 5! Bloody hell it’s early. I managed to get the GS out of the garage, but couldn’t get it upright due to the weight of the luggage and the camber of the drive. After much struggling, Andy came up and gave me a shove. There’s nowt like a fully loaded GSA warming up on a quiet residential street to start the day. For everyone!
Andy was on his Blackbird and we were off, preparing to meet Dave at Rownhams Services on the M3. ( I hate motorways on a bike, but needs must )
Dave on an FJR was on time, so without much ado we did the short run to the ferry port.
The Seacat is good at just over 2 hours, a belly buster breakfast and refill coffee it put us all in the right frame of mind.

 

[oldrascal]

Great stuff......... Keep up the report and comments on kit, its really interesting to get a 'hands on' view under 'real use' conditions.

 

[digital4169]

Wednesday 3rd

France……
The sun was out, so the prospect of a good day. I had planned the route to take in as mush of the rural France as possible and an overnight (as yet unbooked) stop in Montlucon, to leave less miles to enjoy the Gorge du Tarn tomorrow.
We did a short blast down the autoroute to St Lo and then onto the D52 from Tesse sur Vire to Vire and then through to Flers a superb road. Sweeping bend after bend, a great surface and no traffic.
The D18 to La Sauvagere, D20 to Medhoudin, D16 to Le Grez and D28 onto the ring road around Le Mans.
The D957 from Epuisay through Vendome and onto Blois is often long and straight, but adds a good mix to the day.
Montlucon was clearly going to be too far today as some of the roads had been quite narrow, twisty and gritty. The GSA loved it, which is more than can be said to Dave’s FJR which he complained was diving into the corners. The GSA is clearly at home in all places.
We stopped in Gracay to look for a hotel. I noticed that the tourist information was open, or so I thought. The locals were holding a local meeting of some concern before I barged in with un Peu Francais. They spoke even peu’er English so a bit of laughing, pretending to ride ‘un moto’ and the like we were directed to ‘The Bells’ a local B&B. What a lovely place Gracay is. What I would describe as typically rural France. The Bells turned out to be full with workmen from the local church restoration. I gathered this with my French and the fact that the owner was a brummy!
We were directed to nearby Vatan, again a similar town, but with a small B&B which we were warned not to be put off by it’s scruffy appearance. The bikes were locked in their lovely courtyard garden and a very nice room for 3 acquired for 70 Euros. The owners were lovely and directed us into the village to a restaurant with great fillet steaks and wine. I’m sure he was the brother of the owner of the B&B. There was an uncanny resemblance.
Breakfast was traditionally French, but the freshest continental I’ve had, fresh coffee and all at the family table, with kids getting ready for school and the like. That made it perfect, almost part of the family.

 

[digital4169]

Couple more photo's

 

[digital4169]

Thursday 4th
Today we had ground to make up as we had stopped about 30 miles short of our target Montlucon and I needed to be in Madrid by 4pm on Saturday to meet Mrs Bob. I’ve learnt a lesson on this first ‘big trip’. Don’t put yourself under too much pressure as you don’t know what the day will bring.
I wanted to see the Chaine des Puys before the Gorge du Tarn. It’s a chain of extinct volcanoes, but perfect cones (just to the left of Clermont Ferrand on Google Earth). The biggest of them has a road (4 Euros) which winds to the top. Well worth the trip. You can stand almost shoulder to shoulder to the Para gliders and the views are staggering. To be fair it was a little hazy on the day, but still great. There is also a restaurant at the top, which looked good.
After this little excursion we wound our way through very rural France on minor roads the GSA loved. Garmin was being a pain at times with very late or misleading calls for junctions. It also had a particular liking for small, almost driveways. In one small hillside village it directed us up a small dead end with virtually no turning space that was at least 1 in 2. I kid you not! The GSA’s clutch stunk and the other two just frowned a bit as Dave did a 45 degree juggling act with a heavy Yamaha Tourer.

We managed to sort it and laughed a bit afterwards. (miserable twats. Should have bought off roaders!!)
To please others we dropped onto the A75 for a blast down to Mende, but France had the last laugh as the road to Mende was closed and the diversion to Gorge du Tarn was minor, twisty and covered in crap. GSA country. (snigger)
The Gorge du Tarn. What can I say that hasn’t already been said. If you haven’t been THEN GO!!. It’s breathtaking, on a Thursday at 4pm ish it is deserted so you can enjoy it’s full glory.
We had planned to stop in Millau, but decided due to the beauty of the place to pitch up in the gorge.
We ended up at a Chataux in Les Vignes, which was expensive, but good after a long day. Pizza was served hot over the road with lashings of fine ale (lager.)

 

[Sleepy]

The only drawback with the Garmin is the thick bloody pink line your route is shown with (tell me if you can alter it) which masks some features on your route at junctions, but its scale varies in its visual representation of what’s ahead and it can be late in catching up which caused a few problems and ‘U’ turns. But I got to see some beautiful spots from all angles so what the hell.

The reason for the thick pink line is that you have the map settings to '3D' which I find almost impossible to follow, try altering the setting to 'Track Up', the pink line is much thinner, and to me.. the map is easier to follow, especially if you want to manually zoom in or out to see more or less of the surrounding area.. Good write up and photos..

 

[digital4169]

Photo's are a pain to resize and load.

 

[digital4169]

More..

 

[digital4169]

More.

 

[digital4169]

Gorge Du Tarn

 

[digital4169]

Gorge du Tarn

 

[digital4169]

More.

 

[digital4169]

More..

 

[digital4169]

Friday 5th

I rode into Millau with Andy and Dave, saying our goodbyes under some bridge or other. We all thought it slightly less spectacular than we had imagined. The view from Millau as you approach sort of shows it a little stubby. It’s still worth the trip though.
I needed to make progress as I had booked a night in Zaragoza in a posh 4* hotel on Laterooms.Com so needed to do about 430miles and the weather was looking very threatening with rain in the air and thunderstorms forecast.
I confidently set off as per Garmin with a hearty wave as Andy and Dave went in the opposite direction. I’d only gone a couple of miles before ‘U’ turn was called for and a slow pace to ensure they didn’t see. I passed them in a fuel station. I don’t think they saw?!
I was right. The weather changed, with the temperature dropping to 14c and rain starting. Within 20 minutes I was surrounded by lightening, was on top of the hills and it was bucketing it down. The roads were awash. This continued for about 2 hours nonstop. I considered stopping, but I had to keep to schedule. The jacket was great, but my legs and arse were soaked! I never really dried out between rain storms and by the time I reached Lourdes, which is a long line of trinket shops and over commercialised I was cold, wet and a little pissed off.
My climb into the Pyrenees saw the temperature get as low as 3c with rain, cloud and snow at the side of a very narrow, and worryingly unprotected road. There was grit on every bend and poor visibility. At least I couldn’t see how far I’d plunge if it went tit’s up.
Garmin saved it’s best trick for when I was wet and cold. The D105 it displayed as the best route through, came to a stop after about 20k of twisting narrow tarmac lane leaving me with an impossible to negotiate path. There was no option, but to return and find another bigger road. That’ll teach me to be a smart arse and look for the shortest route.
Once through the border and into Spain the sun came out and I warmed up. I opted for the dual carriageway for the run into Zaragoza, arriving where Garmin said the hotel was to find large calibre guns guarding the entrance. The hotel was in the middle of a large military base, or so Garmin said. After some of my excellent Spanish, help from a beautiful Spanish girl I found it in the middle of a lorry park.
Having said that it did live up to its 4* rating. I needed it’s shower, restaurant and bed after 433 miles. My arse was sore with being wet most of the day, so a beer and a glass of wine was needed.

 

[yamonda1]

keep it coming

 

[digital4169]

Cross country to Lourdes and the dead end!!

 

[digital4169]

Pyrenees to Zaragoza. Cold.....Brrrrrrr!

 

[digital4169]

Spain!!! Woo Hoooo.

Hotel views could have been better, but very nice hotel.