Half a Spanish ride report

Deptford Dean

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Buenos dias a todos.

For your perusal a short ride report on my solo trip to Spain in March on my Africa Twin 750

I left home in London just after 1pm 27th March heading for Portsmouth and the afternoon ferry to Santander.
Waiting for the 5.15 to Santander


Navigating the modern warships leaving the Port


HMS Queen Elizabeth




And the not so modern
Nelson's flagship HMS Victory


HMS Warrior


Adios Portsmouth


Things got a bit splashy to start with


The squall soon blew itself out and things settled down


So I thought I'd brush up on my Spanish


Mid Biscay


Arrived Santander about 6pm after a 25ish hour crossing.






Disembarked about 30 minutes later and within 30 minutes I'd made it to Viveda, about 16 miles from the port, where I checked into Hotel Cueli. Unbooked but got a nice big room including breakfast for about £35


I had a beer or 3 and a pincho de tortilla con pan in the hotel bar......which was a watering hole for all the locals too. A nice culture shock and a real rural Spanish buzz. It was good to be back in Spain. I have quite a history here.


The next day I met up with an old friend and we spent a few hours together. I went to visit the local cemetery too. Personal reasons... My ex partner passed away last year. She was from Santander.
Come early afternoon I set off towards Medina de Pomar where I'd ride a trail I had plotted on Google Earth and saved off line to my phone (no satnav) I like that! Makes things interesting.
I planned to join part of the Trans European Trail (TET) near Frias (I learned about the TET when I came across thespanishbiker blog by Simon.....very informative if you are thinking about riding Spain)

The sun was shining but it was cold as I climbed over the Picos and headed south west into Spain.
Once you've climbed up into the Picos you can really feel the cold at this time of year. You climb to over 1000 metres in a short distance into the Cantabrian Mountain Range and you stay at that altitude all through La Rioja, Aragon, and into Valencia when you start to feel the warmer air nearingTeruel as you start to descend....at least I did.

I took the N-634a from Torrelavega to Vargas then to Puente Viesgo where I joined a very rural CA-270. This was getting good.

Quick leg stretch in Selayo


Twisty roads all the way now. No gravel tracks yet but tarmac roads in generally good condition. I had TKC 80's so was good for anything...

Villacarriedo...and the Picos


Down to Vega de Pas (Valley of the Pass)


A swift euro money withdrawal. Having some cash is always good on a road trip. Cards can fail sometimes....and when they do you could be in the poo! Cash is King!


BU-570












Lovely riding so far and the bright sun was lighting up the whole of the landscape as far as the eye could see....but it was bloody freezing. Glad the bike had heated grips. I have two seats for the AfricaTwin...one is heated...but I bought the standard one. Why!

I had some great riding all day on the mountain roads and now I was nearing Medina de Pomar...where I'd go off road and follow the route I'd plotted. I was nervous but excited. I hoped the farmers would be friendly. The numerous autonomous regions in Spain all have differing laws concerning trail riding. The best thing in my favour now was that I was riding solo as I think solo riding is easier to get away with than group riding.

I left Medina via the BU-551 and turned south onto the first real gravel track after a few hundred yards...yippee

San Martin de Mancobo


I was really buzzing now. I had just been chased by an enormous dog....barking and drooling...and literally eating my dust. It was a Spanish Mastif. I fucking love Spain

I had been riding on this trail for maybe 5 miles when I took a right onto a rutted muddy narrow track. It didn't look that bad on Google Earth.....It was full of what looked like shallow puddles and I had to pick what rut I was gonna ride...sometimes changing ruts were possible. I almost came a cropper when a puddle about 10 metres long turned out to be almost waist deep....I twisted the throttle and picked up some more speed and felt lucky to get out of it.....thank God I had TKC80's. Did they help? I don't know but I dread to think what I would have done if I had came off or it got stuck. Miles from anywhere and miles from anyone.


Trespaderne....and the Toro de Osborne (Osborne Bull)
I was quite surprised to see this bull here.... being so rural. About 90 are still dotted all over Spain and have been since the 1950's as part of an advertising campaign by the Osborne Sherry Company. Some are as high as 14 metres, although this one wasn't so big. They are all painted black and at one time had the word "Veterano" painted in red on them. In 1994 the EU passed a law prohibiting all roadside advertising of alcoholic beverages, and the bulls were to be removed. By this time the signs were nationally renowned and public protest resulted in the signs being retained, but completely blacked out to remove all reference to the original advertisers. El Toro de Osborne has now been given "cultural significance status" and is a protected national emblem.





I translated this to mean "all bikers can pass"


Frias




I had got to the end of my plotted trail by the time I reached Frias. It was time to join the TET at Parque Natural Montes Obarenes San Zadornil....
I had a pit-stop in Frias...gotta keep hydrated and fed... then set off again.
I was heading to Alicante via Soria and this section of the TET was en route, so it would be rude not to. It was a great route and takes you through some beautiful countryside. It is doable on a big bike with luggage like my Twin but there are some sections where a smaller big would be an easier ride..but that is only a small part. I only rode a small section of this trail that covers 1000's of kms throughout Europe..including the UK. Now I know about it I hope to ride sections on future roadtrips. Only saying in-case some of you have never heard of it.

I eventually got to the N-111 and sign posts for Soria. It had been a long, hard, fun day in the saddle...but now I was hungry. cold and tired. Time to find a hotel

Hotel Denario near Garray


A very cold start the next morning. -1c


Nice hotel and very pleasant staff. £50 including evening meal and breakfast.

I had to scrape ice off of the seat in the morning


Set off about 9am and it warmed up slightly as the day went by..but not much.
Carried on on the "carretera nationals" now as I had had my fill of trails and was dreaming of some Spanish sunshine.

Filling up in Sarrion. Starting to lose altitude from here although it was still chilly


Soon the air became warmer...I was seeing signs for Valencia and then Alicante. It had been a good 2 days and 600 miles riding through Spain and I was nearly at my destination.
I had about 25 miles to go and I was on the AP-7...the only toll road I had used. It had become very cloudy with a real threat of a thunderstorm so I decided to jump on this road to try to get to Altea as quickly as possible. It started to rain hard and I was on a 10 km section of road that had changed from asphalt to concrete...which is not nice when wet and you're riding on knobblies. The
rear wasn't gripping very well and I felt like shitting myself to be honest. I slowed down from 70mph to about 40mph...I then stopped to see if I had a flat as the handling had become so bad. Nope! It was because it was a knobbly TKC 80 on a wet concrete surface.

Anyway, I got to my destination unshitted and relieved.
I spent the next week chilling out and walking in the nearby hills...and occasionally getting borrachoed in some local bars.

I parked the bike up in the garage and flew back to the UK last Tuesday for 2 weeks work before flying back to Spain 25th of April to ride back home....on a yet to be decided route. Possibly up to Pamplona and the far west coast of France to St Malo and the ferry to Portsmouth.

I lived here for 21 years but moved back to the UK permanently last year, although I still come out for holidays. I had a beautiful Old English Mastiff but she died on me. I had her cremated and kept her ashes at home. When I moved back to the UK I decided to bury them in a spot we used to go to. I always check on her whenever I'm there.


A few pics of not riding....and the beautiful Spanish countryside and Med


The Lighthouse in Albir (El Faro de Albir)










Parked up


And covered up


I'll finish this Road Report when I finish the return leg. And it's been suggested that I rewrite my RR from Norway last year as all of the pictures vanished. I'll do that when I get the time.
Hope you enjoyed
Hasta pronto
 
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Can't really be a Deptford Dean Ride report.......it isn't raining ! :D

Good stuff mate...keep it coming.

Sad, but nice, about Poppy.
 
Thanks for posting about your trip to Spain ,on our list as a must do :thumb2
Lovely looking Africa Twin there. Looking forward to future trip updates.
 
Nice report and looking forward to the next installment.
 
I have the Spanish ferry booked in July of this year, so reports like this are food and drink, especially on a grey Lancashire afternoon
 
Great report and pictures always think being Solo makes it a proper Adventure,:beerjug:
 
Can't really be a Deptford Dean Ride report.......it isn't raining ! :D

Good stuff mate...keep it coming.

Sad, but nice, about Poppy.
No...no rain this roadtrip, but very cold...as expected.
Yup! Very sad to lose a dog.... they're part of the family.
Thanks
 
Great report and pictures always think being Solo makes it a proper Adventure,:beerjug:

No mates... that's why I'm always on solo roadtrips.
Not really! I always like a solo adventure. It really is a different experience compared to going with a group. Both great fun but I love that isolation and independence of being alone. You meet more people too because you're more approachable by the "natives".
Thanks
 
No mates... that's why I'm always on solo roadtrips.
Not really! I always like a solo adventure. It really is a different experience compared to going with a group. Both great fun but I love that isolation and independence of being alone. You meet more people too because you're more approachable by the "natives".
Thanks

Always someone who wants to talk when you are away,problem with my mates is all they want to do is blast to Helmsley and back
 
Nice. Great looking bike too
 


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