Finally made it back in one piece and as a virgin european rider, had a blast.

 

little Drewps all ready for the off

 

 

 

5 in all went, me on the TDM, 2 other  mates on XJR1300 along with Tommy's and 1 on a  Triumph thruxton Ace special.

Took the Portsmouth Ferry to Bilbao where I picked up a screw in the back tyre so we got that fixed and had a drinky poos whilst waiting. The guy was 2014 24hr winner at Catalunya for Suzuki and his dad a champ in the 70's riding Montessa's.

 

first stop was Pamplona and the Albret Hotel. typical city centre hotel, but they had underground parking which was a bonus.

having a Leffe in an "Irish" pub

 

 

day 2 took us from Pamplona to castejon de sos, this was an amazing place, a little village and the best ride coming down the N260 at 9pm as the light faded, through this ravene, with the sound of the bikes echoing down was one of the many highlights of the trip.

 

this was the best place to stay IMHO Hotel PLaza, very traditional and great hosts. there was a fiesta going on and the small village was packed with guitar trio singin traditional spanish songs. great watch the senoras and senoritas dancing and the men doing those clapping beats

 

the next stop was to Viella which was a large ski town and again a fiesta was on, but not as personal as the last place.

 

here's some photos

 

 

it was a bit hot too

 

 

bike struggled at 2000metres due to lack of air, ran very rich and had to keep revs at 4k which made thwe switchbacks interesting

 

 

 

was like being on top of the world

 

so from Viella we did a round trip to Andorra, yes it was awful down in the main city but get up into the mountains and this is what greets you

 

 

 

 

it was a long day, 12 hours riding but it was worth it and had plenty of stops on the way.

 

aparently this was in top gear

 

 

part 2 to follow

Sharing a Joke in Viella

so from Viella we went into france and visited lourdes. we all agreed the french are rude and self centred. they don't give a shit about motorbikes and trhe only saving grace was a lovely girl who styed and got us pizzas when the shop was closing. she couldn't speak english so i got by  with my O level french

we were joined by a solo rider from Keswick, David, who never saw an English plate till now.

So we had a chat and bought him a coke

 

 

 

found this place ontop of the hill

made it to Lourdes where Tommy went rounf the religious shops

 

back into Pamplona and knackered. next was to Santander and this "lovely" Hotel.

 

Imagine visiting your 80 yr old aunt and that musty smell in the house with furniture that is well past its sell by date

the adams family springs to mind

we also did the "pots and Pans" in the Picos. basically Potes to Panes through a beautiful valley 10 miles long

the start

waiting for the slow coaches

we aslo called into san Vincente do Baquetta, a lovely seaside town near Santander

then it was all over, waiting for the ferry

final view of spain

on the way back, we called into Weston bike night, it was rude not to

and also Tintern Abbey

and also Ponderosa

 

loads more photos here, knock yourself out

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOWf2vd2amq6GdH7uNZRd_1vEdZDsndaNTh5UWc

 

So that's what we did, its all a blare to me 

So that's what we did, its all a blare to me 

Don't think that link works Drew!

link works for me so no idea what your seeing

Nope, same as Tommy, error 404 for me too.

I'm not jealous....... really I'm not...... no, I told you I'm NOT!.

1 hour ago, Cynic said:

Nope, same as Tommy, error 404 for me too.

I'm not jealous....... really I'm not...... no, I told you I'm NOT!.

try this then

https://goo.gl/photos/b7BKxTYmx9YeZHnj8

Smashing photos Drewpy, well done all of you, like Cynic I'm not jealous. had my chance and SWMBO wasn't having it..!

bRLLIANT write up,,,,,,,,   great  adventure eh,, ,,

Good show chaps

Drewps, tommo, looks like a brilliant trip and some of those roads look awesome, great pickies and great write up but what's with all the boots on the table, is it some Spanish tradition or what?

Likewise I'm not at all jealous no really I'm NOT

 

13 hours ago, meatloaf said:

Drewps, tommo, looks like a brilliant trip and some of those roads look awesome, great pickies and great write up but what's with all the boots on the table, is it some Spanish tradition or what?

Likewise I'm not at all jealous no really I'm NOT

 

it was some art installation at La Guardia.

imagine riding open roads with straights and twisties for 300km and don't need to stop, hot weather and road surface to die for, that's what we had going to Andorra

It was an amazing adventure with a great bunch of guys, best holiday I've ever had but don't tell Mrs xs I said that. I haven't posted any pics as we pooled all our pics on whatsapp and as I've not got to grips with flicker yet, I thought just leave it to Drew who done a better job than I would have done anyway. 

uploaded a short vid of the trip, well not short its an hour

 

Oh wow that looked like fun, nice swoopy roads and lots to look at, next time..!

Good show.

Oddly, the first thing that stuck me was the lack of roadside litter/debris. No binliners, setees, bosted lorry tyres etc etc