A Beginners guide to the Pyrenees and RB 1
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a bit of animal life. the goat who stares at men:
more coming very soon. the end is in sight
more coming very soon. the end is in sight
next day, another problem...
the next bit of RB1 goes up to the ski resort of Port Aine. as a skier and snowboarder, it's hard to explain the weirdness of riding up deserted pistes on noisy bikes instead of swooping down them in near silence.
nearing the top, we encountered another snow barrier.
it went right across to the fence, but we hacked at it with boots and bare hands until it looked wide enough to get a bike through.
the run up...
the inevitable farcical result: it wasn't big enough, even for the skinny XT.
we dug it out and forced it through.
then i attacked it. fortunately, the the much wider, G/S has these big sticky out things that get quite hot (actually, really, really fecking hot up there), and it just sort of melted it's way through
onward to the summit. directions from the roadbook were not terribly clear, and we spent a long time trying to decipher the correct route down. the GPS was no help. as it seemed to be getting very confused by something in the vicinity.
a wild guess maybe, perhaps this was the problem?
took time out from struggling with where we were going to take in the fabulous view from the top.
eventually working out the way down, we again found it blocked by snow. too much to get over sadly, so we went back down the way we came.
hard to believe there was so much snow left at 2500M. it was 'kin sweltering.
shame they'd turned off the coke machines outside the mid station.
we retired defeated to our campsite at Vielha. we decided not to continue off-road to andorra. we didn't have time, and TBH the early part of the route was quite a bit nicer.
we packed up next day and headed back via the tres scenic N260 towards pamplona.
this is another great road, but very different scenery from our outbound journey. that was tight and green and mountainous.
the 260 is still hilly, but it's near desert. somewhat put me in mind of spaggetti westerns. an image reinforced by the fairly large snake we saw sunbathing in the middle of the road.
apparently there was also a very big, green lizard that shot out and made a dive for the gap between my wheels. i didn't see it, but springer did, when it got picked up by my TKC and got flung at him
sorry about that green fella
a couple of pics, that though very nice, largely fail to convey the "desertiness" or the stupid heat we suffered out there.
this one, maybe more so. strange place to stick a town?
we got so hot nearing pamplona, that we decided to cut across to our first night campsite, which was only 20 miles or so away. it was a good move and we dossed about there the next day too, before heading back to santander and the ferry home.
but can't be too sad…
…'cos i'm going back in october.
taking the missus and the GSA. keeping off the dirt and staying in hotels.
can't wait
the next bit of RB1 goes up to the ski resort of Port Aine. as a skier and snowboarder, it's hard to explain the weirdness of riding up deserted pistes on noisy bikes instead of swooping down them in near silence.
nearing the top, we encountered another snow barrier.
it went right across to the fence, but we hacked at it with boots and bare hands until it looked wide enough to get a bike through.
the run up...
the inevitable farcical result: it wasn't big enough, even for the skinny XT.
we dug it out and forced it through.
then i attacked it. fortunately, the the much wider, G/S has these big sticky out things that get quite hot (actually, really, really fecking hot up there), and it just sort of melted it's way through
onward to the summit. directions from the roadbook were not terribly clear, and we spent a long time trying to decipher the correct route down. the GPS was no help. as it seemed to be getting very confused by something in the vicinity.
a wild guess maybe, perhaps this was the problem?
took time out from struggling with where we were going to take in the fabulous view from the top.
eventually working out the way down, we again found it blocked by snow. too much to get over sadly, so we went back down the way we came.
hard to believe there was so much snow left at 2500M. it was 'kin sweltering.
shame they'd turned off the coke machines outside the mid station.
we retired defeated to our campsite at Vielha. we decided not to continue off-road to andorra. we didn't have time, and TBH the early part of the route was quite a bit nicer.
we packed up next day and headed back via the tres scenic N260 towards pamplona.
this is another great road, but very different scenery from our outbound journey. that was tight and green and mountainous.
the 260 is still hilly, but it's near desert. somewhat put me in mind of spaggetti westerns. an image reinforced by the fairly large snake we saw sunbathing in the middle of the road.
apparently there was also a very big, green lizard that shot out and made a dive for the gap between my wheels. i didn't see it, but springer did, when it got picked up by my TKC and got flung at him
sorry about that green fella
a couple of pics, that though very nice, largely fail to convey the "desertiness" or the stupid heat we suffered out there.
this one, maybe more so. strange place to stick a town?
we got so hot nearing pamplona, that we decided to cut across to our first night campsite, which was only 20 miles or so away. it was a good move and we dossed about there the next day too, before heading back to santander and the ferry home.
but can't be too sad…
…'cos i'm going back in october.
taking the missus and the GSA. keeping off the dirt and staying in hotels.
can't wait
cafemaestro
Registered user
Fantastic - looked like a perfect trip
Thanks for the report - one for the to-do list
Thanks for the report - one for the to-do list
Deleted account 211025001
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Nice report Cookie
I'm inspired (and planing
); loved the piccie of the 'boxer pot' profile in the snow 
Andres
I'm inspired (and planing
); loved the piccie of the 'boxer pot' profile in the snow Andres
Greggers
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Nice one guys ... I'm slightly p!ssed I didn't say yes now ... 
Greg
Greg
Noo
Registered user
That was ace....
I`ve only just got to reading it after being on the Ural phone with Springer and him mentioning it.
Looks a fab location for Cookie`s first Ural holiday. Got it yet ??
You know you want to.....
I`ve only just got to reading it after being on the Ural phone with Springer and him mentioning it.
Looks a fab location for Cookie`s first Ural holiday. Got it yet ??
You know you want to.....
Out of interest, which map are you using there on the Garmin to add the points from the Roadbook (which I'm poised to buy too)...is it the Euro Basemap that comes on the unit?
Went and did a similar route back in the Summer, but there looks to be some nice trails on that Roadbook that we missed...I'll get 'em next time
Went and did a similar route back in the Summer, but there looks to be some nice trails on that Roadbook that we missed...I'll get 'em next time
Out of interest, which map are you using there on the Garmin to add the points from the Roadbook (which I'm poised to buy too)...is it the Euro Basemap that comes on the unit?
Went and did a similar route back in the Summer, but there looks to be some nice trails on that Roadbook that we missed...I'll get 'em next time
my 60CSx is a US model, with a euro basemap i got from here IIRC.
it also has City Navigator v2010 installed, which is what i use
Just reloaded windows 7 onto my computer and lo and behold this was the thread came up when I logged onto UKGSER.
Definitely worth a look again
Did you go back again Cookie?
Definitely worth a look again
Did you go back again Cookie?
No, but it remains one of the best bike trips I've ever done 
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