Day 12 - Portsmouth to Swindon

Tuesday 05/05/2015

Well the trip is finally over. The boat carried us across the sea back to Blighty and the reality of work and life's other obligations.

Dino felt better once we hit dry land and we made it home on the back roads with a minimum of fuss and just a little rain. Amazing to think that with all the miles we travelled, we only saw a relatively small part of Northern Spain - so I certainly will return one day.

Dino has been a faithfull companion and easy to travel with. Nice to be back home with the family but at the same time feel that I have a much longer trip left in me before I get too old to ride a bike! One day......

Mileage: 1591
Beers: 54 + 2 cartons of Don Simon (red) + 5 bottles of local cider + 1 carton of Don Simon (sangria) + 1 Rioja (red)
Ass pain: 0/10
Mechanical issues: 1 (minor self inflicted)
Accidents: 1 (minor Dino bike drop)
Coldness: 0/10

Day 11 - Picos de Europa National Park to Santander Port

Monday 04/05/2015

Goodbye Spain - it's been great to see another (better) side of you and to appreciate what you have to offer whilst hopefully helping make a small positive  contribution to your financial defecit by supporting the smaller rural economy.

The night was relatively warm and despite getting off to sleep well I woke-up at 03:00 after a nightmare about getting attacked by a bear. Couldn't get back to sleep after that.... Anyway, left the campsite as planned at 10:00 and slowly zig-zagged our way out of the Picos and back into Santander for an early check-in with Brittany Ferries.

The scenic route was very slow but took in some nice roads and great little sea-side towns. We had a bit of drizzle but the weather was warm, although very windy. Shame to be leaving but I guess you can't take a permanent vacation (can you)?

The loading of the ship was chaos. Why o why do they have to cram all the motorbikes in so tight? My panniers were battered by every bike trying to squeeze into an impossible gap next to my bike and one guy dropped his huge Honda Pan-European and wedged himself against the wall of the ship (I thought he'd broken his neck). It took five of us to pick his bike up and free him! Very annoying and unnecessary especially as it all went very smoothly on the way over......

We grabbed some food on the ship and then went for a walkabout. The sun came out in all it's glory so we monged-out on some benches in the sun where I fell asleep for a bit. The crossing is getting rough - will be interesting overnight.

Dino went dolphin spotting whilst I hit the bar early. Nice to drink a bit of cider in the sun! Dino felt pretty ill because of the waves so called it a night earlier than he might of. I stayed on, helped the old couple next to me win an 80's music quiz and then watched the amazing thunder whilst listening to the band on the ship which were actually OK.

Just think, tomorrow we are back in safe old predictable England!

Mileage: 1510
Beers: 54 + 2 cartons of Don Simon (red) + 5 bottles of local cider + 1 carton of Don Simon (sangria) + 1 Rioja (red)
Ass pain: 0/10
Mechanical issues: 1 (minor self inflicted)
Accidents: 1 (minor Dino bike drop)
Coldness: 0/10

Day 10 - Burgos to Picos de Europa National Park

Sunday 03/05/2015

Slept well until I woke to the sound of rain at 05:00. We've been really lucky with the weather on this trip at this time of year, so I guess it had to rain a bit more. Luckily the wind and rain stopped by the time we got half way through the Picos.

Lovely mountain range - shame that so much of the initial views were spoiled by rain and fog. Once we crossed over one of the 1400m passes, the weather immediately changed for the better and the roads became amazing. In all my excitement I shot off ahead like Valentino Rossi and left Dino behind. I stopped and waited for him but he didn't show so I figured that he'd crashed so I turned back. Luckily all was well - his rear brake fluid had boiled and he had lost his rear brake!

Great time to stop for lunch in the lovely mountains whilst Dino's brakes cooled down! Had a nice salad starter followed by steak and washed down with coffee and coke. Not bad for €10 each. 

Anyway after a quick lesson in how not to boil your brake fluid we continued taking in stunning scene after scene - green hills, forrests, lakes, rocky mountains, sheer cliff faces, snowy peaks, an amazing gorge, etc. There is a lot of stunning and variable scenery here within a relatively small space. Pound for pound better value than the Pyrenees and very close to Santander so easily do-able as a long weekend escape.

Anyway we slowly (lots of stops) made our way to our current campsite which is situated just under a mountain - lovely. On the back-roads it's about 3 hours from Santander so we have plenty of time to make the ship tomorrow afternoon.

Great day - what a magical way to conclude our Spanish adventure. Also nice to be in a little village that has the choice of two bars and to have a top Chilli-con-Smash meal with mushroom soup and coffee - all in the correct order for a change!

Mileage: 1444
Beers: 46 + 2 cartons of Don Simon (red) + 5 bottles of local cider + 1 carton of Don Simon (sangria) + 1 Rioja (red)
Ass pain: 0/10
Mechanical issues: 1 (minor self inflicted)
Accidents: 1 (minor Dino bike drop)
Coldness: 2/10

Day 9 - Bardenas Reales National Park to Burgos

Saturday 02/05/2015

The evening was good. Treated myself to another bottle before turning in for the night. So great to have a properly warm T-shirt evening for a change. A genuine warm night with no need for proper sleeping bags! The campsite was a bit of a party-town in the evening but it was quiet on our patch as there were loads of sleeping kids. Had the best night's sleep of the whole trip. That said, both Dino's and my tents are falling apart - both of us have split poles, not sure how it happened but as always gaffer-tape fixes all problems.

Today the mission was pretty dull. Make up some distance back towards Santander and the Picos de Europas and perhaps check-out a winery (in Briones) before hitting Bergos. Navarra is great, but it really does smell of pig-shit everywhere. Maybe it's just a seasonal thing?

The Ruta del Vino cuts through the Rioja region. Huge amount of vinyards - very nice little villages and wine warehouses everywhere. Stopped for a coffee and tortilla in the next little hill-top village past Briones (where there is a wine museum that we skipped). Weather was warm but overcast, but luckily no rain.

The road got dull as we got closer to Burgos so we stopped for a second proper lunch in a transport cafe. Looking forward to seeing the Picos and the twisty little roads that will be there!

Made it to a pleasant campsite just outside Burgos, in the Fuentes Blancas national park, with no drama. As we made it here early Dino chose to do some much needed laundry whilst I monged-out on the grass. Pretty uneventful day - no point visiting a winery when you can't sample the goods.

Still sampled the local wine, ate some tinned fruit and had a very pleasant and restful evening chatting with Dino at the campsite. Can't believe that the trip is coming to an end. Seems to have flown by yet when I think back to the Pyrenees that seems an age ago...

Mileage: 1302
Beers: 38 + 2 cartons of Don Simon (red) + 5 bottles of local cider + 1 carton of Don Simon (sangria) + 1 Rioja (red)
Ass pain: 1/10
Mechanical issues: 1 (minor self inflicted)
Accidents: 1 (minor Dino bike drop)
Coldness: 0/10

Day 8 - Fraga to Bardenas Reales National Park

Friday 01/05/2015

Left the campsite early for a change. Despite yesterdays efforts still had a long way to go so we cheated and took the motorway to Zaragoza where we stopped for a coffee and fry-up. Good timing as it started raining, but it was all over by the time we finished eating.

We then set-off for the Bardenas Reales desert. It's apparently the biggest desert in Europe - it looks much like the painted desert in the US Petrified Forest National Park but not quite as big. Very cool though, we enjoyed our time there despite the heat and got some cool photos. We are very dehydrated today as the water we filled-up with at the campsite was obviously not potable and had stuff floating in it and it tasted of mud. So we pretty much didn't drink anything today but will no doubt get the trots regardless.

Now camped-up in Bardenas camping which seems to be the only local campsite. It is packed but we managed to sneak what appears to be the last pitch here. It's very hot and humid - I'm pretty sure a big thunder storm is coming..... Lots of annoying mosquitos though - bloody things..... Smash fusion for supper with a local cider to wash it down - life is good.

Mileage: 1156
Beers: 38 + 2 cartons of Don Simon (red) + 4 bottles of local cider
Ass pain: 2/10
Mechanical issues: 1 (minor self inflicted)
Accidents: 1 (minor Dino bike drop)
Coldness: 0/10

Day 7 - Girona/Costa Brava to Barcelona to Montserrat to Fraga

Thursday 30/04/2015

We had a bit of rain and thunder in the evening but it was all good as we were in our tents by the time it started. We set out a bit late with a mission to see a bit of Barcelona and Montserrat.

The weather has warmed-up so we removed our jacket and trouser liners and it made it that much more comfortable negotiating the hot Barcelona traffic. We parked-up right in front of Gaudi's crazy La Sagrada de Familia unfinished church. It's very cool but there was a lot of construction work going on. I got some more cash out of a hole in the wall, but Dino had technical issues and failed... 

Being on bikes is cool as it's easy to park so we were able to stop right in front of the church where we had some coffee before spending what felt like hours getting out of the city.

Montserrat is stunning - the saw-tooth mountains and pink rock are unique. Once up there the views are magnificent. Saw some rock climbers testing themselves on the sheer cliff faces - rather them than me!

We decided to cover some distance and head towards Zaragoza to shorten tomorrows distances. As it's not really a tourist area, we really struggled to find anywhere to camp. The TomTom finally lead us to a place quite some distance from the road on a very, very rocky path. I shot off ahead only to find the 'campsite' was a pig farm and stank so bad that words cannot describe it. Dino didn't arrive behind me so I figured that he must have had an off. I ran down the track to see him wrestling with a 250+kg beast. No real damage done, just some more scratches on the horrible panniers that he painted a foul twin-tone colour scheme!

TomTom then decided that there was another off-road camp-site nearby so we went for that but Dino wasn't happy off-roading anymore and after seeing some caves and other stuff (I seriously considered sleeping in one), we turned back and re-joined the road and carried on with my TomTom failing.....

We stopped for a bit where I got my totally reliable Garmin GPS out and set it to Zaragoza as a back-up plan. In the meantime TomTom got some power from another power lead that I had rigged-up and we set the next camp-site along the route. With light fading, we made it to the campsite which is a peach and we're in a cabin as it cost the same as 2 tents!

Good bar here and they have baguettes so Dino can have his beloved sandwiches! No Smash tonight! Feels like a very long day - beer tastes good.

Mileage: 990
Beers: 38 + 2 cartons of Don Simon (red)
Ass pain: 2/10
Mechanical issues: 1 (minor self inflicted)
Accidents: 1 (minor Dino bike drop)
Coldness: 0/10