Back from my holidays

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Yoniboi
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 850
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 6:24 am
Location: Madrid, Spain

Back from my holidays

Post by Yoniboi »

Just to say that I'm back safe and sound from my biking holiday in the mountains in the north of Spain. 4 days in Galicia and Asturias, 1 day there and 1 day back.

The trip up was a bore, motorway all the way and speed traps all over the place. We think that one of them might have got us, we'll have to wait and see.

The 4 days there were incredible. 1250km of curves, blind ones, fast ones, slow ones, curves with a solid rock wall to one side and a crash barrier on the other. Curves with some of the most incredible views you could possibly imagine, where, if there was space, you would slam on the brakes, stop the bike, and take a photo that you knew wouldn't do it any justice but you lived in hope.

And food of course. The North of Spain is famous for it's food, and it's well deserved.

But back to the curves... curves that were so bumpy you had to stand up on the pegs a little to help the suspension soak them up, others that were so smooth and grippy you got all the way to the edge of the tyre and still felt that an earthquake couldn't shake you loose.

Fantastic!

One of the bikes (a GS500ES) burnt out its alternator but a 200km trip to the nearest breaker's yard got the bits I needed to get it fixed and the following day he was back riding again, that got me voted Mr. Fix it.

The following day one of the guys, the one most of us didn't know, the one who was the worst by far, was talked into relinquishing his passenger and undergoing a crash course in how to ride a motorbike by Oscar, our resident "fast guy". I took the passenger. She hadn't been happy, she didn't like going going fast, and she didn't feel safe. So we got back to the house 60km later, she leapt off the bike (I thought I must have scared her whitless the way she did it) and started boncing up and down like an American cheerleader. "That was great, I loved it, we leant soooo far over, it didn't feel fast at all, and HE WAS SOOOO SMOOTH"

You can imagine! Her boyfriend now hates my guts, he wouldn't let her out of his sight or off of his bike again, and it doesn't bear thinking about the way everyone teased him. Mr Fix it was dropped and I'm now Mr. SMOOTH.

It made me smile anyway.

The trip back involved Oscar and I avoiding motorways. 722km of mountain roads in the north and B-roads across Castilla-Leon, some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen. Watching how the landscape dried out before your eyes, riding over reservoir dams hundreds of feet above the depleted water level, riding under stunning motorway bridges and, well, Oscar took a good few photos so when I get back in a couple of weeks I'll post some up and give you the link.

Anyway.

Today's Friday and we fly to Blighty this coming Monday for 9 days of family fun so I'll be off the board again for a spell.

If any of you are taking some days out to hit the curves I hope you have as good a trip as I did.

John
If you're going to take a shot at me let me know so I can duck...!

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