Pyrenees with a Lady

[Timolgra]

"Remember, bikes don't get on a ferry in the same way as the cars, we have to ride across a plank to the side of the ship which is why we'll practice with a scaffold plank in the road....I'll put some pebbles under it to make it more realistic".........

Ange only passed her test last December and is still very nervous on the bike, so it was a great relief to her arriving at the the port to find a much wider ramp to board......but I'm not sure the bicycle will quite make it.

This ride report is a little different from my usual.
It's not about me making it as difficult as possible, blasting across thousands of miles searching for that elusive motorcycling fulfillment....it's more about taking your nervous lady on her first ever trip, keeping her safe with every turn of the wheel and making sure she has fun and some great memories.

So, I'll start on the ferry to Santander and tip my hat to Den for the inspiration to take photos with things on your lady's head.

It's always difficult to know if your breaking the rules in foreign lands or vessels, the ferry was no exception I'd also put a red sticker on her right mirror as reminder which side to ride on.

As we left Plymouth I remembered the excitement of my first motorcycle trip abroad and knew how Ange felt.

With the ordeal of getting her bike on board and tied down over it was time to relax.

 

[Dahoum]

With the ordeal of getting her on board and tied down it was time to relax.

fixed -

dirty boy

 

[Timolgra]

fixed -

dirty boy

You know me too well

Gingerly, we get out of Santander and onto the motorway for a while.

"You didn't tell me Spanish motorways have 'bendy bits'!!" I hear over the radio as I search for her in my mirror.
Then along the lovely coast road of Cantabria to find a great camp site overlooking the sea.
The restaurant is closed and there's no shop in the small fishing village. We dine on an Uncle Ben's finest....I know how to treat a girl.

"Before we go to the Pyrenees, let's visit our friends just north of Toulouse, it's only about 3 inches on the map" she says enthusiastically.....

It's a 300 mile ride, probably twice her longest previous day, two thirds in and we've all been there at some point

We find our friends, eat great food and drink copious amounts of wine before heading to the French Pyrenees somewhere south of Carcassonne the next morning.
We stop frequently to rest and enjoy the countryside.

I cook up a slightly more interesting meal, we drink a bottle of wine each before........retiring. (it was my birthday after all)

 

[Timolgra]

The roads are wet and gravely as we head south through the beutiful gorges and into Spain. Much to Ange's alarm, they also have considerably more 'bendy bits'. We ride steady (slow).....it doesn't matter

It's nine years since I last road the N260 on an 1150GS, it's one of my favourite roads anywhere in the world. Ange could understand why and i think she too enjoyed it.
It took us to Sort where we camped by the river for a couple of days.

I get a brew on....

....and all's well with the world.

It's chilly in the morning, and we have to wait until 11am before the sun warms us.

A girl's motorcycle.

 

[Timolgra]

I never quite know what I'm going to find in my panniers these days

 

[Giles]

Thats really great to see Tim, yer only on this planet once and you've got to make every day count! Good for Angie, never met the girl but I'm dead proud of her!!!!

 

[Timolgra]

Time to get off the tarmac and take some tracks up into the mountains.

I had some marked and detailed maps so we just kept going.

Despite always pretending I knew exactly where we were, this walkers map was reassuring

But Ange double checks.

It's always worth the climb

 

[Timolgra]

You can take a horse to water.........

.....but you can't make it drink

There's women's logic.....then there's Ange's logic.
She wants to save the edges of her tyres and likes the pimples that stick out.


Fighting every urge in me, I resist the temptation to go and have a blast remembering this trip is not about me, I was having loads of fun anyway.

So settled for a coffee and some apple pie part way up...

.....and of course a peek down her vest

 

[earthmover]

Liking this a lot Tim!
I'd best not show it Denise though.
Mark

 

[Timolgra]

Liking this a lot Tim!
I'd best not show it Denise though.
Mark

It's easy for us to forget how brave it is for some women to make their first trip like this after such little riding.
The hardest part is getting 'them' to suggest it in the first place, then look after them every inch of the way.
I spent more time watching my mirror than at the road ahead.

If Ange can do it then so can Denise

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

The things some women will do for their men during that honeymoon phase......

 

[Timolgra]

The things some women will do for their men during that honeymoon phase......

One year and so far so good, not a crossed word

 

[Timolgra]

A long hot ride, again on the N260 and we find a great campsite I've used before at Torla, on the edge of the Ordessa National Park and stay there for 3nights

Hot, tired but happy and better than a fortnight in Benidorm.

There's a series of very tight and narrow hairpins down to the campsite........I hear "Oh shiiiiiiit" over the radio and talk her gently down" she spends the next couple of days worrying about getting out, which of course was not as hard as expected.

We get settled in this wonderful place.

The view one way from our tent to Torla.

The other way

Just one of our visitors.

I love the Pyrenees, so much more variety than the Alps for instance.

I do like a campsite with a nice view

So much for the 'ard biker image

 

[Vern]

Good on you Lynn,you show him the way to go gal

 

[Timolgra]

Good on you Lynn,you show him the way to go gal

Ha ha

Time for a day off the bikes and a hike into the mountains, I'd been in the Ordessa valley nearly ten years ago and remembered how wonderful it was, so we set off from the valley floor.

Through the quiet meadows.........perfect

As if I needed reminding

The old memory isn't what it was and I'd taken a wrong path which took us up high.

So headed back down a steep rocky path to the cool below.

 

[Timolgra]

Ange wakes with a heavy cold so a trip to the pharmacy is needed.
After me dropping the subtlist of hints she suggests I explore some tracks while she lies in the sun and rests.

Result

The old pack horse bridge was for walkers only.

So had a great time just following my nose around the tracks.

 

[Timolgra]

I had it in my mind to take in two more passes over the Pyrenees but we were now both running with a high temperature and heavy cold so rather than risk anything we headed west on the N260 then dropped down on the road to the coast via Pamplona, which I'm sure many of you will know

There are several deserted villages along the reservoir and wondered if lack of water was the cause.....if only they'd known what lay in future.

We were both feeling crap in the heat, but eventually made the coast and found a reasonable hotel, neither of us fancied the tent tonight.
A nice meal on the seashore and a comfy bed was what was needed

 

[Timolgra]

We bimbled along the Cantabrian coast looking for somewhere to stay not too far from Santander.
By 1.30pm I'd found this great hotel with a huge terrace to our room for only 40 euros a night.
Of course, yours truely was left to bring the luggage up

Perfect and just what was needed, so we lay in the sun all afternoon watching the waves until sunset.

 

[Kenny]

Quite a bit of photo-shopping going on here....Ange bike is shown in an upright position !!!

 

[Timolgra]

We met many friendly bikers back at the ferry and Ange warned them to stay away from her whilst boarding.
The officials stopped her after I'd gone ahead, I could hear the slight panic over the radio as she pleaded with them and was suprised she'd resorted to telling them she needed to be with her 'husband'....
"Is there something you're not telling me Ange?"

I made sure she had a no one in front of her as she rode down to the lower deck then parked her bike up for her.

Hmmmm, looks like I'm on the top bunk again........which was a shame as I'd been looking forward to watching her climb the ladder in only a short nighty

And so we slipped out of Santander, Ange was still in one piece and she'd had a real ball, only one very minor mishap but one of the best holidays of her life.
I realised 'hardcore' is extremely relative, for her, this was and she'd done very well

But this report not quite over yet as we still had some places to visit and people to see..............