Spanish Pyrenees 2008

Day 1

Arriving at Dover 27 bikes are loaded on the France ferry, a total of 39 people travelling to the Spanish Pyrenees are welcomed aboard by Peter Avard which runs MSL Tours with Gloria, the journey by ferry seemed to pass by in no time as I met all the riders I would be travelling with over the next 10 days.

People came from all over the UK and some as high as Fife, the weather coming off the ferry was raining and didn't make a good start to the tour but brightened up as we left the A26 to Rouen, My hotel in Rouen was very nice modern looking room with wall mounted LCD screen. We arrived around 2.30 in the afternoon which give us time to socialise and down a couple of beers. Dinner was at 7.30 and after dinner a group of us went into Rouen town and drank more beer.

Day2

The next morning after a continental breakfast we all started to leave the hotel in small groups and solo, I was the last to leave so headed off following the planed route to Elbeuf all the way to Loches, there were no motorways on the itinerary today just great roads with long straights with sweeping bends, actually one of the best roads for me riding the Triumph Sprint ST was the D830 to L'Aigle, there was near to nothing on this road and if there was all it took was a quick turn of the throttle and it was gone.

Day 3

The last to leave the hotel again after a night drinking in the town I was on the road by 10, all the other riders had gone by 9 so had to make up some time and rode using kilometres as miles per hour, this in effect had me on course to arrive at my next distension by 3 O'clock in the afternoon, I made contact with the riders with in a couple of hours which had me making good progress but was stopped by road closers and diversions. The Sat Nav I was using had been a god send and was working its re-routing as quick as possible which had me back on the day's itinerary quicker then I could have wished for. The roads on a Sunday are very empty and looking for a petrol station which is open and a man ready to serve you was going to be difficult, eventually I had found a Total station and pulled in to fill the bike with as much fuel as possible.

Day 4

Monday morning and the sun is shining, I leave hotel Royal Vezere crossing the Vezere bridge following three bikes one being a Harley Davidson ridden by one of the MSL riders, for about ten miles I ride in convoy but soon have a different route being displayed by my SatNav which was working out pretty much the same millage. At this point I decided to ride solo, so instead of taking the first right turn carried on until I reached the next junction. I find riding solo allows you to use the bike and road more effectively without the constraints of pack riding which controls you in a stop and go type of movement.

I was heading for the Spanish Pyrenees today and a hotel called Riberies located deep in the Spanish mountains in Llavorsi, the journey heading south was a joy with the roads clear and a sense I was getting closer to the Pyrenees by the hour. After lunch my first glimpse at their sheer size of the Pyrenees became visible, I rode on into the mountains and started to climb where the temperature dropped as I neared the snow capped peaks. The road to Llavorsi were in pretty bad shape and roadwork's covered the highest pass into Llavorsi, this was only worsened by animals wondering across the road as if this was normal, I had dogs chasing me down the road horses ready to kick me off and bulls ready to charge at me, I'm just happy I wasn't warring red.

I arrived at the hotel looking like the bike had gone though a cement mixer and felt the roads had to get better than this in the Pyrenees, surly...

Day 5, 6, 7

The next day the bikes were hosed down in the hotel which removed most of the light grey mud from the roadwork's yesterday. After looking as the map and setting my SatNav I planned a route to a place called Sort which was located south of Llavorsi, Sort had a small town just behind the main high street and was accessible by walking.

Today I was also setting off to Andorra which is a small landlocked country in Western Europe, in the eastern Pyrenees Mountains and bordered by Spain and France. Once isolated, it is currently a prosperous country mainly because of tourism and its status as a tax haven, I took the N269 route and rode in the direction of Andorra, at this moment I was pulled over by the Spanish police and asked to show all my driving documents, I was also asked about the condition of my front brake calipers which apparently were leaking brake fluid, I learned at that point not to argue with the Spanish police which left me agreeing I would have them looked at in Andorra.

After arriving in Andorra I stopped and looked round, brought some brake fluid in a petrol station and headed off back to the border crossing which caused more problems as I was search for smuggling cigarettes, this was not my lucky day and being a police magnet didn't help, I needed to ride away from the area if I was going to enjoy a days ride without being hassled by the cops.

There are some great roads in the Pyrenees and lots of tunnels to blast through some being miles long and others short with side holes filtering light into the dark tunnels, the many things to watch out for in the Pyrenees are animals and at one stage I was forced to the side of the road as a stampede of horses passed me by, over the three days in the Pyrenees there are excursions to take part in which include rafting, off road 4 by 4 and horse riding or you can just ride round the mountains like me and tell stories at dinner about the days riding experiences.

Day 8

After spending three full days in the Pyrenees it was time to move on, my next hotel was located in Joyeuse in France but getting there was no small feat, first a ride out of the Pyrenees's heading to the Mediterranean Sea to pick up the A9 Auto route and taking the exit at Beziers which put me on route for the Millau Bridge designed by our own Norman Foster, The Millau bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains is more than 300m (984ft) high - taller even than the country's Eiffel Tower and you can expect to pay 4.6 euros (£3.18; $5.60) for a trip across the bridge.

I travelled on the A75 Auto route on my approach to the Millau Bridge and experienced a motorway (Auto route) which seemed to strike a balance between mountain scenery sweeping bends, tunnels, hills and a feeling of being on a race track, this was an amazing road and never thought an Auto route would take me for a ride like this, I was blown away with the thrill and have never in all my years of riding ever thought I would experience the exhilaration of riding a road built for covering distance but design for the driving experience all in one package, I've made it my best and last find I reckon for motorway heaven, I will return for seconds..

After the Millau Bridge roads changed into roads built for bikes and this is because I had taken a turn into the Canyon which took me east over to Joyeuse. I had ridden good roads like theses before but something was different about this ride, I was riding faster and smother than ever before by placing the bike into the corners like I was thinking rather than doing the ride, the roads in the Canyon were magnificent and set the mood for some rewarding riding and a feeling of care free exhilaration. I could focus all my riding knowledge and experience into the Canyon and forget the world's troubles.

I made it to the hotel and met up with Peter and Gloria for a well earned beer.

Day 9, 10

The next two days were based on making it back to Calais with some twisty put it as good measure, the last evening meal and a farewell to 39 riders completed the Spanish Pyrenees.