The pain to Spain tour
- Thread starter leedude03
- Start date
I feel i must tell you about one of the routes we took while staying in Sort, I had spotted what appeared to be a really interesting ride on one of the (almost all routes) files posted on this very forum, it may have come from one of the ride magazine routes originally, its called the 9 ridge route, it needed a little bit of re jigging to make it a circular route from and back to where we were staying, but on the face of it it looked good, and after the re jig it ended up as a circular route of roughly 150 miles and according to google about 5.5 hrs without stops and if the time and distance were anything to go by it was going to be fun.
Well what a rollercoaster of a ride, its possibly the best route i have ever been on, it has everything you could ask for, elevation changes galore, more bends than you can shake a stick at, awesome scenery from olive groves on flat plains, to mountain passes with sheer drops, and no traffic. I would certainly recommend doing it or at least part of it, and i can confirm that with two reasonable stops to get our breath back, it had taken us 6.5 hours to complete, that gives you an idea of what it was like.
Well what a rollercoaster of a ride, its possibly the best route i have ever been on, it has everything you could ask for, elevation changes galore, more bends than you can shake a stick at, awesome scenery from olive groves on flat plains, to mountain passes with sheer drops, and no traffic. I would certainly recommend doing it or at least part of it, and i can confirm that with two reasonable stops to get our breath back, it had taken us 6.5 hours to complete, that gives you an idea of what it was like.
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Will you post up your "re-jigged/updated route for the 9 Ridges please
With all the ridding we had done in Sort it was time for a little more sightseeing at our next stop in Zaragoza, it was going to be a reasonably short ride of about 170 miles and 3.5 hours from Sort, so withe bike packed up and ready to go, we set off at about 8.30 am into glorious sunshine with the temp at around 26 degree. We made our way out of Sort and we were on our way to Zaragoza.
We were soon into our usual rhythm of watching the scenery role by and the miles disappearing under the wheels, all was good until at about 90 mile into the trip, exiting a fast right hand bend the bike suddenly stepped out at the back wheel. and started to slide, my reaction was to sit the bike up and head for the opposite kurb while trying to stay in control, it was weaving from side to side and it became very obvious that the rear tyre had deflated very fast, i managed to bring it to a halt close to the kurb on the opposite side of the road, and was very lucky that there was no traffic coming the other way, or there may have been a totally different outcome. So again i was having to repair another puncture, oly this time the hole was much bigger and it took 3 attempts to seal it, and with this in mind we carried on at a reduced pace to Zaragoza.
Once we had arrived at the hotel we unpacked the bike and set about finding somewhere to get a tyre fitted, as i was not prepared to carry on any further with the tyre in that state.
I located a a bike shop about a mile away from where we were staying, so off we trot, it turned out that they could not remove the wheel as both of their ramps were occupied but if i could take it off they could fit the tyre, so there we were outside their shop at 4pm removing the wheel to get the tyre changed, and about 2 hours later we were back at the hotel showered up and ready for tea, and my pocket 130euro lighter.
The next day was spent in Zaragoza, and what a nice place, its the capital of northeastern Spain's Aragon region and ovelooks the Ebro River, there is plenty to see and do there, including some roman ruins.
We were soon into our usual rhythm of watching the scenery role by and the miles disappearing under the wheels, all was good until at about 90 mile into the trip, exiting a fast right hand bend the bike suddenly stepped out at the back wheel. and started to slide, my reaction was to sit the bike up and head for the opposite kurb while trying to stay in control, it was weaving from side to side and it became very obvious that the rear tyre had deflated very fast, i managed to bring it to a halt close to the kurb on the opposite side of the road, and was very lucky that there was no traffic coming the other way, or there may have been a totally different outcome. So again i was having to repair another puncture, oly this time the hole was much bigger and it took 3 attempts to seal it, and with this in mind we carried on at a reduced pace to Zaragoza.
Once we had arrived at the hotel we unpacked the bike and set about finding somewhere to get a tyre fitted, as i was not prepared to carry on any further with the tyre in that state.
I located a a bike shop about a mile away from where we were staying, so off we trot, it turned out that they could not remove the wheel as both of their ramps were occupied but if i could take it off they could fit the tyre, so there we were outside their shop at 4pm removing the wheel to get the tyre changed, and about 2 hours later we were back at the hotel showered up and ready for tea, and my pocket 130euro lighter.
The next day was spent in Zaragoza, and what a nice place, its the capital of northeastern Spain's Aragon region and ovelooks the Ebro River, there is plenty to see and do there, including some roman ruins.
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Looks as if you had a great trip - there are a few familiar names there that we have visited Saint Cirque Lapopie is a hidden gem and we have also been to Domme, Rocamadour and Sarlat, the whole region is fabulous.
apart from the trauma of punctures, it was great.
Excellent report - loving the photographs...thanks for posting.
thank you.
Zaragoza done and dusted and its time to move on again, Segovia is our next destination, a trip of about 240 miles all on smaller roads with no motorway.
Early start 7.00 am as we need to get the biggest part of the journey done before it gets to hot as the forecast reckond mid 30s.
Arrived at the hotel in Segovia at around 3.0 pm, after a very hot days riding, we had hoped to do it with just a stop for fuel, but due to the heat and my constant need for fluids, we ended up stopping about 5 times and that of course led to a longer than estimated journey time.
Anyhow more about Segovia, what a fabulous place, and not just because of the aquaduct, it has the highest concentration of Romanesque churches in all of Europe and pedestrian-only streets,and In 1985 the old city of Segovia and its Aqueduct were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
The old city contains a multitude of historic buildings both civil and religious, including a large number of buildings of Jewish origin,within the old Jewish Quarter, not to mention a really nice castle.
Early start 7.00 am as we need to get the biggest part of the journey done before it gets to hot as the forecast reckond mid 30s.
Arrived at the hotel in Segovia at around 3.0 pm, after a very hot days riding, we had hoped to do it with just a stop for fuel, but due to the heat and my constant need for fluids, we ended up stopping about 5 times and that of course led to a longer than estimated journey time.
Anyhow more about Segovia, what a fabulous place, and not just because of the aquaduct, it has the highest concentration of Romanesque churches in all of Europe and pedestrian-only streets,and In 1985 the old city of Segovia and its Aqueduct were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
The old city contains a multitude of historic buildings both civil and religious, including a large number of buildings of Jewish origin,within the old Jewish Quarter, not to mention a really nice castle.
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Loving this RR and enjoying it more by the minute. Thank you for sharing and the awesome pics.
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Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
i will upload it to my dropbox and pm you the link Paul08, ok
Its our last night in Segovia and we have to decide where to go next, and it seems the big gal has already come up with a plan, she reckons we can get to Salamanca in the morning as its only about 100 mile away, and spend a couple of days there, apparently its meant to be really nice. so i book an Ibis hotel for 2 nights and make sure we can get an early check in, as we will be there at around 10.30am, and it will give us somewhere to dump the gear and bike while we spend the rest of the day sightseeing.
We are up bright and early bike packed and breakfast dispatched, and we are off by 8.00 am, and even at this time in the morning the mercury is aproaching 24.
We have a uneventful journey to Salamanca taking it easy and admiring the views and wondering where everybody is as there is little to no traffic on the roads. We stop for petrol at what must have been a very popular stop at some point in time, but not any more, the hotel part of the station, a big imposing building with its decaying facade is virtualy derelict and at the side is an empty fenced off swimming pool with an old pram and pushbike on the tiled bottom, i look around and in the distance can just make out what appears to be a motorway, i guess this was the cause of its demise, very sad.
We arrive at the Ibis at 10,00am and by 11.00 we are unpacked, the bike is in the underground garage, we have showered up changed, and ready to go.
Its a short walk into the city along a couple of narrow streets and a busy main street that leads you to the old part.
I will let the pictures tell you what its like, there may be a few that look odd these were taken with my cam with a wide lens, so i apologize up front.
We are up bright and early bike packed and breakfast dispatched, and we are off by 8.00 am, and even at this time in the morning the mercury is aproaching 24.
We have a uneventful journey to Salamanca taking it easy and admiring the views and wondering where everybody is as there is little to no traffic on the roads. We stop for petrol at what must have been a very popular stop at some point in time, but not any more, the hotel part of the station, a big imposing building with its decaying facade is virtualy derelict and at the side is an empty fenced off swimming pool with an old pram and pushbike on the tiled bottom, i look around and in the distance can just make out what appears to be a motorway, i guess this was the cause of its demise, very sad.
We arrive at the Ibis at 10,00am and by 11.00 we are unpacked, the bike is in the underground garage, we have showered up changed, and ready to go.
Its a short walk into the city along a couple of narrow streets and a busy main street that leads you to the old part.
I will let the pictures tell you what its like, there may be a few that look odd these were taken with my cam with a wide lens, so i apologize up front.
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Most enjoyable read and some grand photos . Evoked some Grand Memories of French trips on the bikes with my family. Nice to see a bit of Spain too, another must see for the ever growing list. Thanks for taking the time to post.
Would also appreciate the link - thanks
Day 2 . we only managed to see half of the city yesterday, so today we intend to finish it off. So we spend the whole day sightseeing only stopping for dinner.
What can i tell you about Salamanca, well it was declared World Heritage City by the Unesco, and in 2002 it was chosen as European City of Culture, its not a massive place but It is one of the most important university cities in Spain, and has a very large and very old university and what an imposing building it is, It only takes a stroll through the streets to see the centuries of history, art and learning that have made it a universal city. In the old part of the town there is plenty to see and if you take a stroll down to the river you will see the old roman bridge that goes over the Tormes River, with 15 granite stone arches leading into Salamanca. It was originally constructed in the year 89, but was reconstructed in the 17th century after it was damaged due to flooding. In short its a very good place to spend a couple of days, go and see you will not be disappointed.
What can i tell you about Salamanca, well it was declared World Heritage City by the Unesco, and in 2002 it was chosen as European City of Culture, its not a massive place but It is one of the most important university cities in Spain, and has a very large and very old university and what an imposing building it is, It only takes a stroll through the streets to see the centuries of history, art and learning that have made it a universal city. In the old part of the town there is plenty to see and if you take a stroll down to the river you will see the old roman bridge that goes over the Tormes River, with 15 granite stone arches leading into Salamanca. It was originally constructed in the year 89, but was reconstructed in the 17th century after it was damaged due to flooding. In short its a very good place to spend a couple of days, go and see you will not be disappointed.
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