Will the Rain In Spain Be On The Plain?

[Boxerboy55]

Sunday I got home from Kelso. Tuesday I had an early start to jump on ferry at Cairnryan to Belfast, then tramp down to hotel near Rosslare. 300+ miles is a rare day for me. Getting old. Dry but breezy. Up early again on Wednesday to catch Brittany Ferry from Rosslare to Bilbao. A first for me.

Shiite! Almost 2 hour delay, shivering on the dock side. What a fuckin’ breeze. Fortunately no rain. No waiting room. Just a wee box with coffee machine and loo. I stood on the lee side of the shed. Chatting to one of many Irish riders. Eventually boarded Santona (a town in Spain). A nice boat. Much newer than the 2 DFDS bangers I’ve been using across the N Sea since 2015. Nicer cabin (4 berth, elbow room). Nicer public areas. And a TV in room with lots of channels. Most in English, inc. 10 o’clock news.

Early season so no (crappy) band / singer. Much more choice of beer on tap. Not just Heineken. A 27 hour cruise allows for a leisurely breakfast too. And - hardly a ripple across the Bay Of Biscay. An occasional stagger when walking around as the boat gently rolled. Slept like a log.

Around 30 bikes to unload. Mostly Irish. Mostly old codgers. Slow to get off. Why the fuck do so many clowns fire up long before we’re going to move?

The bikes seemed to reach the passport control promptly and I followed a fellow Scot where we only took about 3 minutes each to dismount, pop into the cabin and pass the photo and finger print test. Much better than I feared.

Then loose in Spain. I deliberately chose my first IBIS hotel fairly near, on the edge of Bilbao. Nice room but annoyed when Hot/Cold switch box provided fuck all cooling power. Wrong season I think desk girl said. Gave me a plug in fan heater thing to stir the air. Strolled to very modern nearby shopping mall where snack food was found.

This morning I enjoyed a leisurely start. I like it that way. I think the bus load of American kids cleared off early and I got to brekky before the rest of the “tourists”. A grey day with a little rain. Which stopped. Road south climbed and got cooler. So stopped to don my liner jacket. Only 1 missed turn so far.

Soon hit exactly what I was looking for. Roller coaster country roads. Wild green countryside. Did climb to 1,000m. Things warmed up so stopped for expensive fuel and remove liner. Was a bit surprised when GPS said go north then double back southwards to Aguilar de Campoo. I guess there’s a mountain or valley in between. I rode through many tunnels and over many viaducts.

A nice old town centre hotel (Valentin). A bit of Fawlty Towers trying to access the underground garage via electric door. Nice big room, but a bit too cool. Probably another “seasonal” situation of heating / cooling kicking in to make customers happy.

Mixed weather forecast it seems so I’ll dodge the worst I hope.

Right now I’m in a Tapas Bar waiting for the kitchen to fire up and actually serve something. The lovely bar lady gave me a strict lesson on how to pronounce Estrella - the only beer on tap. She honestly did not know what I meant when I said Estrella. We had a chuckle.

Ess-Tray-Ya.

 

[Tinytim]

View attachment 498194View attachment 498195View attachment 498196View attachment 498197View attachment 498198View attachment 498199View attachment 498200View attachment 498201View attachment 498202View attachment 498203View attachment 498204View attachment 498205View attachment 498206View attachment 498207Sunday I got home from Kelso. Tuesday I had an early start to jump on ferry at Cairnryan to Belfast, then tramp down to hotel near Rosslare. 300+ miles is a rare day for me. Getting old. Dry but breezy. Up early again on Wednesday to catch Brittany Ferry from Rosslare to Bilbao. A first for me.

Shiite! Almost 2 hour delay, shivering on the dock side. What a fuckin’ breeze. Fortunately no rain. No waiting room. Just a wee box with coffee machine and loo. I stood on the lee side of the shed. Chatting to one of many Irish riders. Eventually boarded Santona (a town in Spain). A nice boat. Much newer than the 2 DFDS bangers I’ve been using across the N Sea since 2015. Nicer cabin (4 berth, elbow room). Nicer public areas. And a TV in room with lots of channels. Most in English, inc. 10 o’clock news.

Early season so no (crappy) band / singer. Much more choice of beer on tap. Not just Heineken. A 27 hour cruise allows for a leisurely breakfast too. And - hardly a ripple across the Bay Of Biscay. An occasional stagger when walking around as the boat gently rolled. Slept like a log.

Around 30 bikes to unload. Mostly Irish. Mostly old codgers. Slow to get off. Why the fuck do so many clowns fire up long before we’re going to move?

The bikes seemed to reach the passport control promptly and I followed a fellow Scot where we only took about 3 minutes each to dismount, pop into the cabin and pass the photo and finger print test. Much better than I feared.

Then loose in Spain. I deliberately chose my first IBIS hotel fairly near, on the edge of Bilbao. Nice room but annoyed when Hot/Cold switch box provided fuck all cooling power. Wrong season I think desk girl said. Gave me a plug in fan heater thing to stir the air. Strolled to very modern nearby shopping mall where snack food was found.

This morning I enjoyed a leisurely start. I like it that way. I think the bus load of American kids cleared off early and I got to brekky before the rest of the “tourists”. A grey day with a little rain. Which stopped. Road south climbed and got cooler. So stopped to don my liner jacket. Only 1 missed turn so far.

Soon hit exactly what I was looking for. Roller coaster country roads. Wild green countryside. Did climb to 1,000m. Things warmed up so stopped for expensive fuel and remove liner. Was a bit surprised when GPS said go north then double back southwards to Aguilar de Campoo. I guess there’s a mountain or valley in between. I rode through many tunnels and over many viaducts.

A nice old town centre hotel (Valentin). A bit of Fawlty Towers trying to access the underground garage via electric door. Nice big room, but a bit too cool. Probably another “seasonal” situation of heating / cooling kicking in to make customers happy.

Mixed weather forecast it seems so I’ll dodge the worst I hope.

Right now I’m in a Tapas Bar waiting for the kitchen to fire up and actually serve something. The lovely bar lady gave me a strict lesson on how to pronounce Estrella - the only beer on tap. She honestly did not know what I meant when I said Estrella. We had a chuckle.

Ess-Tray-Ya.

I'm in.

 

[Oldrat]

View attachment 498194View attachment 498195View attachment 498196View attachment 498197View attachment 498198View attachment 498199View attachment 498200View attachment 498201View attachment 498202View attachment 498203View attachment 498204View attachment 498205View attachment 498206View attachment 498207Sunday I got home from Kelso. Tuesday I had an early start to jump on ferry at Cairnryan to Belfast, then tramp down to hotel near Rosslare. 300+ miles is a rare day for me. Getting old. Dry but breezy. Up early again on Wednesday to catch Brittany Ferry from Rosslare to Bilbao. A first for me.

Shiite! Almost 2 hour delay, shivering on the dock side. What a fuckin’ breeze. Fortunately no rain. No waiting room. Just a wee box with coffee machine and loo. I stood on the lee side of the shed. Chatting to one of many Irish riders. Eventually boarded Santona (a town in Spain). A nice boat. Much newer than the 2 DFDS bangers I’ve been using across the N Sea since 2015. Nicer cabin (4 berth, elbow room). Nicer public areas. And a TV in room with lots of channels. Most in English, inc. 10 o’clock news.

Early season so no (crappy) band / singer. Much more choice of beer on tap. Not just Heineken. A 27 hour cruise allows for a leisurely breakfast too. And - hardly a ripple across the Bay Of Biscay. An occasional stagger when walking around as the boat gently rolled. Slept like a log.

Around 30 bikes to unload. Mostly Irish. Mostly old codgers. Slow to get off. Why the fuck do so many clowns fire up long before we’re going to move?

The bikes seemed to reach the passport control promptly and I followed a fellow Scot where we only took about 3 minutes each to dismount, pop into the cabin and pass the photo and finger print test. Much better than I feared.

Then loose in Spain. I deliberately chose my first IBIS hotel fairly near, on the edge of Bilbao. Nice room but annoyed when Hot/Cold switch box provided fuck all cooling power. Wrong season I think desk girl said. Gave me a plug in fan heater thing to stir the air. Strolled to very modern nearby shopping mall where snack food was found.

This morning I enjoyed a leisurely start. I like it that way. I think the bus load of American kids cleared off early and I got to brekky before the rest of the “tourists”. A grey day with a little rain. Which stopped. Road south climbed and got cooler. So stopped to don my liner jacket. Only 1 missed turn so far.

Soon hit exactly what I was looking for. Roller coaster country roads. Wild green countryside. Did climb to 1,000m. Things warmed up so stopped for expensive fuel and remove liner. Was a bit surprised when GPS said go north then double back southwards to Aguilar de Campoo. I guess there’s a mountain or valley in between. I rode through many tunnels and over many viaducts.

A nice old town centre hotel (Valentin). A bit of Fawlty Towers trying to access the underground garage via electric door. Nice big room, but a bit too cool. Probably another “seasonal” situation of heating / cooling kicking in to make customers happy.

Mixed weather forecast it seems so I’ll dodge the worst I hope.

Right now I’m in a Tapas Bar waiting for the kitchen to fire up and actually serve something. The lovely bar lady gave me a strict lesson on how to pronounce Estrella - the only beer on tap. She honestly did not know what I meant when I said Estrella. We had a chuckle.

Ess-Tray-Ya.

I’ll be following your thread BB, have fun


We are in our camper Gandia, nr Valencia at the mo. The weather’s been fab but today has been grey and overcast.

The daily Spanish social cycle takes a bit of getting used to, even more so out of season.

Many places are deserted during the day and some of the buggers don’t start their evening meal until 10pm.

 

[wessie]

I will be paying attention. Coincidentally, I was looking at the Hotel Valentin as a stopover on my way back to Santander from the Pyrenees. It's a nice town surrounded by good roads for my last couple of days before a ferry home. The place I have used before in an old monastery is not available.

 

[John Armstrong]

Been thinking of doing the same sort of route to avoid the pleasures of the English motorway system, especially anywhere south of Lancaster!

Did you arrive in Bilbao on time, and what was you're feeling on costs for this option vs Plymouth / Portsmouth to Spain?

 

[Boxerboy55]

Is it Saturday?

Hotel Valentin serve a meagre brekky compared with many. And you Q at the “bar” and ask for your rations - OJ, croissant, coffee. A bus load of older folk faffing about doesn’t help

Today’s ride (only 147 miles) was northerly to a “Potes Loop” I lifted from this place. Thank you donor of such info (I have a 2nd loop for another day). All went well, ignoring one wrong turn onto a lovely stretch of road. And back again. The countryside has really met expectation. Flat straight plains were followed by more twisties than UK can offer. Climbed to 1600+ meters. Couldn’t ignore the big bear statue. 1 mile up a lane from the main road. And some clever person installed a pro built pedestal to hold phone for a Selfy. So I did.

And there was a deer along the road a bit.

Glad I was doing the loop clockwise as that gave me a super uphill Hillclimb Sprint interrupted by 2 wandering donkeys coming out of a right hander. Road was so quiet that next oncoming traffic was a couple of miles later.

Temperature had risen from low teens to 23 C, but clouds were ahead. 3pm I hit a downpour but knew I could ride out the other side. Sure enough, hardly 5 minutes of a wash got me onto drying roads and next village was dry and sunny again.

And that landed me back in my friendly Tapas Bar. Ess-Tray-Ya.

 

[Arsey]

Is it Saturday?

Hotel Valentin serve a meagre brekky compared with many. And you Q at the “bar” and ask for your rations - OJ, croissant, coffee. A bus load of older folk faffing about doesn’t help

Today’s ride (only 147 miles) was northerly to a “Potes Loop” I lifted from this place. Thank you donor of such info (I have a 2nd loop for another day). All went well, ignoring one wrong turn onto a lovely stretch of road. And back again. The countryside has really met expectation. Flat straight plains were followed by more twisties than UK can offer. Climbed to 1600+ meters. Couldn’t ignore the big bear statue. 1 mile up a lane from the main road. And some clever person installed a pro built pedestal to hold phone for a Selfy. So I did.

And there was a deer along the road a bit.

Glad I was doing the loop clockwise as that gave me a super uphill Hillclimb Sprint interrupted by 2 wandering donkeys coming out of a right hander. Road was so quiet that next oncoming traffic was a couple of miles later.

Temperature had risen from low teens to 23 C, but clouds were ahead. 3pm I hit a downpour but knew I could ride out the other side. Sure enough, hardly 5 minutes of a wash got me onto drying roads and next village was dry and sunny again.

And that landed me back in my friendly Tapas Bar. Ess-Tray-Ya.

View attachment 498465View attachment 498466View attachment 498467View attachment 498468View attachment 498469View attachment 498470View attachment 498471View attachment 498472View attachment 498473View attachment 498474View attachment 498475View attachment 498476View attachment 498477View attachment 498478
View attachment 498466

Great stuff . We’ll be there next month again .
It’s obligatory to ride up to the bear

 

[bazman]

Living the life Pete, enjoy

 

[wessie]

Hotel Valentin serve a meagre brekky compared with many. And you Q at the “bar” and ask for your rations - OJ, croissant, coffee. A bus load of older folk faffing about doesn’t help

not uncommon in Spain in that type of hotel with a café/bar. At least it is included in the room rate there.

I have taken a punt and booked it for a couple of nights later in the year. Cheaper going direct than the main booking sites with pay at the hotel and late cancellation option.

Relative cheapness will balance out the cost of the Paradors and dearer French hotels I am using at other times.

 

[DING-DONG]

what's the fuel prices like over there at the mo ?

 

[siddo]

what's the fuel prices like over there at the mo ?

£1.15 in Almeria.

 

[DING-DONG]

£1.15 in Almeria.

Hopefully it stay’s that way for my trip in june.

 

[Oldrat]

For those interested, diesel ranges from €1.61 to €1.94, more commonly @€1.78

And LPG is still freely available

 

[wessie]

what's the fuel prices like over there at the mo ?

chap in Spain posted on Fb that 95 E5 is €1.64 in his local station. Spain has lowered fuel duty recently

 

[Boxerboy55]

Been thinking of doing the same sort of route to avoid the pleasures of the English motorway system, especially anywhere south of Lancaster!

Did you arrive in Bilbao on time, and what was you're feeling on costs for this option vs Plymouth Ch

Been thinking of doing the same sort of route to avoid the pleasures of the English motorway system, especially anywhere south of Lancaster!

Did you arrive in Bilbao on time, and what was you're feeling on costs for this option vs Plymouth / Portsmouth to Spain?

Departure was late. Arrival was on time. I guess boat had enough time to turn the wick up a bit.

I never costed channel crossings. The ride to channel followed by riding through France was a simple Not-On decision. Cost similar to my N Sea experience. Extra for the Belfast hop.

what's the fuel prices like over there at the mo ?

Today I pulled in and only petrol was 95 E5 at 1.559 EU/ litre. The wee pavement pump fueller round the corner from hotel is about 1.7. No Tesco pumps in this area. I don’t run tank as low as I do at home knowing exactly where all the pumps are.

I like to put the bike to bed with a full tank for next day, but in wild country I’m happy to fill when the lamp comes on (50 to go) in unknown territory.

 

[Arsey]

what's the fuel prices like over there at the mo ?

As of right now

 

[wessie]

Today I pulled in and only petrol was 95 E5 at 1.559 EU/ litre

don't think they have E10 in Spain. Not seen it anyway. No supermarket fuel and loads are still attended service

 

[Boxerboy55]

Sunday 26/4

A leisurely start. Aguilar de Campoo to Salamanca.
Another meagre brekky. Lovely sunny morning. But cool so fully kitted up. Avoiding motorway most of the time results in my 198 miles. Roads amazingly quiet. I rode 40 miles before another vehicle appeared in my lane. I played the “Look No Hands” a few times. Three times I managed at least 1.5 miles in a straight line.

As far as the eye can see, agricultural is the name of the game on this 800m high plateau.

My “Avoid Motorway” strategy was aborted when a narrow, rough lane (corrugated sheeting style roadway) was a loser. Reset GPS and whacked a few M/way miles. 120kph soon eats a few clicks.

I bailed out of the fast track and found a wee rough cafe in a quiet town for “lunch”. Man must have thought I was mad ordering 2 glass tumblers of his best Americano coffee to wash down a big chocolate filled croissant thing.

Somewhere I was running parallel to the motorway on a 5 star A road. I could smell the new tarmac.

Then - I was on a very quiet (just me) arrow straight smooth road and enjoyed a few squirts that I don’t ever do in the UK. My trusty banger is a real do it all.

Dash said 67mpg this morning. At fill up time the dash said 265 range.

220 is my default tank range.

With temperature hitting 23 DegC the short screen shows its strength. Allows more air to get to me. And the air on my torso lets me rest my fingers on the bars without gripping.

Tho’ I was more like a Chimp In A Hurricane at 3 figure speed

I find the SHOEI helmet allows much more air in on a hot day compared with previous SCHUBERTH helmet. Both very comfortable.

After a stretch a good A road I reached a busy wee town. Main street closed for hundreds of cars and people to enjoy some kind of gala day. What a contrast negotiating tiny lanes to get round the action. A few miles of fairly rough road changed to super tarmac when the Region council line changed. Nice.

One little Near Miss moment could have written off my day, my trip. Passing through a busy town at slow speed, 2 lanes into a roundabout with big white arrows for straight to 12 o’clock. My road. The Merc on my right entered the roundabout slightly ahead of me. Oh, only 1 lane for the 12 o’clock exit. Oops! The Merc isn’t exiting where I want to exit, he’s going all the way round. Fortunately for me, my exceptional defensive skills let me lift off and tuck in behind the Merc and carry on my way. This was slow. Rather than lying on the road.

I later noticed that local drivers do like to go round roundabouts in lane 1 no matter which exit they’re going to use. But it is Sunday so more dicks are out and about. I don’t think my pulse speeded up.

As today is Sunday, Salamanca is sleeping so rolling up to my IBIS hotel in the centre was easy. Forking out 11EU per night to park my bike in their basement was painful. Bastids. That’s almost 15% of what I’ve paid for B&B.

Evening time wandered down to Busy Street. I want beer and food, but food isn’t served till 8pm. Bugger. Got to kill an hour. Hey Ho. More beer. 2 tapas plates were very tasty. A wee glass of Rioja seemed mandatory.

After dinner I strolled up the lane and had a Eureka moment when I entered the “Plaza Mayor Salamanca”. A stunning 18th century construction. 4 stories all round. Plenty dining options for tomorrow.

Today’s fuel was 1.579 EU/L.

Might take a day off the bike

 

[Arsey]

Salamanca is lovely .

This place does a nice steak

 

[er-minio]

Arrived in Santander this morning. 1.80 (or around that) for 98 octane, that is decent.

Rode all the way towards Santander and then to Pamplona (where I am currently). Lovely as usual. Bit of shit weather in the next 48 hours (to be expected this season) that might put a spanner in the works for our travel plans, but hey...