Spain 2002 . . . for the pics

Tour of Spain - April 2002 - Part One By Kevin Boulden

I'd wanted to tour Spain on a motorcycle for many years - memories from a 1980's family holiday, driving through France, Spain and Portugal included seeing the first CBR600's, as well as the expected BMW's waiting at the ferry ports and parked up at Mediterranean town squares. Spain and Ronda had stuck in my mind most and a return trip was always intended, with a trip to southern Spain.

The CBR600 had for me been an icon in motorcycling for well over 10 years, and was first on my shopping list after passing my Direct Access Test in October 2000, which was soon followed by a test ride on the latest CBR in November 2000. However the need for a reliable sports bike and capable tourer, meant I bought a BMW R1150R with 2 stage heated grips - maybe insurance had a little to do with it as well.

I originally thought of going for a month, but the time off work was tricky, and I didn't know anyone able to go for that long. I had strong interest for a one week tour, but that didn't give enough time for southern Spain. Luckily John (a contact through work) expressed interest in a 2 week tour and shared my interest in covering Spain on a bike.

The tour started on Saturday 13th April with a later than expected departure from my house (I let John meet family and play with the dog whilst I packed) to catch the 8pm sailing from Portsmouth to Bilbao. Tie down was easy, parking close to the side of the ship, putting it on side stand, then have just one rope going from right side foot peg, over the seat to railings on ship - if it kept P&O's insurers happy who was I to disagree.

The narrow stairway between decks found me questioning the amount I'd packed, as time went on it became clear I'd over done it in a few areas - lesson number one, pack as light as possible.

The food on the ferry was surprisingly good, on the first night aboard, we had peppered steak for £7.95 each, and found it excellent. The crossing was uneventful, with calm seas and arriving on schedule - only I thought 8am arrival would mean that's first callings to rejoin your vehicles, actually most people were off by 8am, expect for me who was still in the shower !!! I had packed all my bags - but did something I repeated many times in Spain - in looking round the cabin for a last check I find a large article I'd forgotten about, hence the panniers were opened again, things pulled out in an attempt to put them back with space to spare. Lesson 2, practice packing when it doesn't matter. After the two weeks I became an bit of an expert in making the most of the space.

On the ferry we had been told this was the first smooth crossing for many weeks, and the first people we met in Spain (2 British Bikers) told us of the continual rain they'd had for the last week. Thankfully the only prolonged clouds we saw were on the first and last day.

We had planned to take scenic (Michelin green routes) A and B roads everywhere - however we thought for the first day it might be better to try and start ahead of schedule, so decided to take a 60 mile stint of motorway, which proved a good idea as it let us acclimatise to riding on the right. The great road we missed in doing this, is saved for a future trip!!

Whilst that first morning was overcast, the afternoon brightened up, and pretty much remained this way for the next 2 weeks. We were very lucky with the weather. September is more predictable as a season ends, but April is less certain whilst the seasons change.

The first days riding was great - twisty roads, scenic villages and towns, wonderful landscapes - if you weren't enjoying the view you were concentrating on riding the roads, it was good to have the choice. This first day included one mountain top that we rode over, at 6,400 feet, with snow on the side of the road. Thankfully we had crossed it in less than an hour, as we estimate at one point the temperature was below 3 degrees. John's GPS (mounted to the handle bars on his Triumph 955i) proved very useful at confirming the route, and altitude.

We hadn't booked accommodation for the first night, but knew where we wanted to stay, the Parador de Segovia. Segovia is located on a ridge in the middle of a gorgeously stark, undulating plain - and has outstanding Roman and medieval monuments. We found the Parador without much difficulty, but once there, seriously doubted whether we'd get a room - security was everywhere. Police and Spanish Military Forces had taken over - assuming they had rooms (which looked more doubtful by the minute) would they actually let us in. It felt intimidating riding up to the hotel reception. Whilst parking the bikes, and wondering who might shoot first, the bell captain came running over, looking very pleased to see us. He ushered us into the reception hall where we collected the keys to 2 rooms. This touring lark was turning out to be easy.

Before getting the luggage off the bikes the bell captain directed us to park the bikes round the back - it turned out to be an entrance to a secure underground car park with direct access into the hotel lobby - we pulled the luggage off the bikes and were shown to our rooms. We both had great panoramic views (from large balconies) of Segovia town and the snow capped mountains to the left, in the background. The first day had been so easy, and so much fun - I hoped the rest of our travels would be the same.

That night's meal was eaten in the hotel and was a fixed price menu of regional delights, including Sherry and Wine. Breakfast in the morning was a typical Mediterranean style, offering; cold meats and cheese, various rolls, Croissants, jam - something for everyone.

Having loaded up the bikes, next stop on our tour was Cordoba. Again it was another day of amazing scenery and wonderful roads, I could not believe just how many twisties we were getting to ride on. I had been worried about two things before coming; 1) I'd wanted to change my bike for a well faired tourer, and 2) I'd expected potholes all over the Spanish roads. Neither factor caused an issue, my bike turned out to be perfect for Spanish roads, and the potholes were few and far between, often easy to spot against light coloured road surfaces.

We arrived in Cordoba during rush hour, and then spent what felt like 2 to 3 hours trying to find a hotel. As was usual for us, we got to the city center first, parked up, then phoned on the mobile for the recommended hotels (using Fodor's Spanish Guide Book). The hotel we headed for should have been less than a mile away, but the often narrow, one way cobbled streets made it far from easy. Both us and the bikes were overheating, the youngsters on scooters were getting very impatient behind us - and we were starting to boil, my bike did, it popped a suspension cover at high velocity!!! Eventually we tried a new tactic, ignore the one way streets, stop every 100m and ask every 10th pedestrian - within a few minutes we were outside the hotel. We must have passed within 50 meters of it a dozen times in the last few hours, but the one way streets kept us at bay forcing us to retour the town each time we made a wrong turn.

Cordoba was both the Roman and Moorish capitol of Spain, and it's old quarter, clustered around the famous mosque (Mezquita), is where we were to stay. Once inside, we took our keys and took some time out to chill and freshen up, and were ready to explore the town. The hotel was situated across from the Mezquita, the biggest tourist attraction in town.

Next day we took a few hours in the morning to explore, I went round the Mezquita and John walked the old Jewish quarters. Then we left late morning for Granada, the biggest city in Spain that we'd planned to visit. Yet again the roads and scenery were great - we just couldn't believe our luck, I was beginning to worry about returning to British motorcycling, after experiencing Spain the A272 was losing it's appeal.

Granada rises majestically from a plain onto three hills, dwarfed by the mighty snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Atop one of these hills perches the pink-gold Allhambra palace. Granada turned out to be a very big city. Upon entering the outskirts, we began to have second thoughts (after the escapades round Cordoba searching for the hotel), it seemed too big, too much hustle and bustle and not an easy target for accommodation close to town center. Our first Hotel in the guide book was the Parador de San Francisco, unfortunately as the guide book said, it was booked out 6 months in advance. Next on the list was also booked out - so with the sheer size of the city, we decided to just head for the center and take a chance. Well it was worth it, we found the cheapest hotel of the whole trip, and it was only 15 minutes walk from the very center of town. Whilst it was the only hotel we stayed at without Garage parking it was up a quiet residential street, so with the bikes boxed in, in the small car park - we had no concerns, once I'd attached my big Squire lock and chain.

The town was a great experience, and the evening meal was good to. If I return, I'd stay longer than a night to give time to go round the palace - I've kept the hotel's name in case.

The next day we had no fixed destination, just see how far along we get, aiming between towns of Nerja and Ronda on the Costa del Sol. I'd wanted to go into the mountains of Granada, but time was short, and also the likelihood of encountering more snow (probably a lot of snow) made that plan a better idea for September, rather than April.

The first few miles of our route turned out to be the tightest of bends, through little villages perched high on the edge of the mountains - we assumed the villages were established here escape the heat lower down. It seemed strange to find these mini-towns all the way up these mountains in the middle of nowhere. With our progress this slow (but I was really enjoying these roads) we had to consider abandoning the recommended scenic twisties, and take the quicker route. Thankfully the bends got faster at just the right time, and we encountered what I thought were the best bends of the whole trip - I counted over 12 S-bends in a line, with a slight incline into each bend - it was bliss. I shall return to Granada on another trip, and spend several nights to fully explore the roads and villages south in the mountains, as well as the city itself.

Once we'd got to the coast it was a great sight - to see the sea, having traveled across land from the north to south of Spain - the feeling of achievement was a highlight of the trip. The next stint of road along the coast gave time to look at the scenery, although you were just a little to far in land to get the best views. On arriving into Marbella, late that afternoon - having bypassed Torremolinos and Malaga - we didn't spot much to keep us here initially, but then having found ourselves outside an apartment hotel with 'sea view' 2 bed apartments available, we checked in. This became a pleasant surprise, at Puerto Banus, playground to the rich and famous. With 915 berths, it's a gem of ostentatious wealth, Spain's answer to St. Tropex, we even saw an Jaguar XJ220 casually parked outside a restaurant.

Unfortunately Marbella saw the first of two reliability issues, when I spotted a screw in John's rear tyre (I have a habit of spotting these), so the next morning he was looking for a tire fitter. He was lucky enough to locate a Triumph dealer, whom he visited a second time a few days later, when his battery failed. I never did get to visit the local BMW dealer, not that I'm holding a grudge. Marbella is a good place to have bike problems as most dealerships can be found here.

That afternoon we set off for Ronda and the whitewashed villages of the mountains behind the Costa del Sol, one of Spain's most scenic and emblematic driving routes. Ronda is one of the oldest towns in Spain and is accordingly picturesque and dramatic. Our route was up the legendary N376, featured in Bike magazine - 33 miles of non-stop mountain pass where bikes have a great time, provided they can avoid the 3 abreast overtaking cars, typically nose to tail in queues - madness. Whilst arriving in town, a 5 minute heavy down pour started. It seemed at the time to limit our hotel choices, however Ronda is one of those places you need to book in advance for, especially if you want to stay in the Parador de Ronda. A particularly good Parador, an architectural feat, perched at the very edge of the Tajo gorge, 360ft deep and 210ft wide - we were able to book into a hotel a few hundred meters down the road.

That night we had a wonderful meal, at the type of restaurant worth planning for. It was a 7 course sample menu, at Tragabuches, just a 5 minute walk from the hotel - I thought it was excellent, a Fodor's recommendation.

The next day we returned to Marbella (no accommodation in Ronda), to the same apartments, this time staying for 3 nights from Saturday through to Tuesday morning. I was feeling under the weather at this stage, so took some more leisurely days. However we still fitted two day trips in, one to Gibraltar (Gib) and the other up in the hills between Ronda and Gib. Both were a lot of fun, Gib is a great place for a bike with British plates on, BMW's normally get all the attention anyway, but in Gib it raises to another level. You enter by driving across an airport runway, John didn't realise initially, so had pulled over to put away his passport - always check right and left for low flying airliners before parking!! Thankfully a bright yellow 955 is an easy spot for a pilot. The views from the top of the rock were stunning, and the playful apes made for Kodak moments. For me reaching Gib was the highlight of the trip, having traveled to it by motorcycle.

We went a little further west, around the peninsular and on to Tarifa. The Atlantic winds really make their presence felt here, the beaches may have the finest sand but the wind is too much of a drawback, no doubt it's why they put up such a mass of wind farms, they make for an impressive site, particularly being so close to the road, overlapping at times. From this coastal road you could see north Africa - now if I had a GS I think I'd want to venture across on the 2 hour ferry to Morocco.

Having stayed in Marbella longer than expected, and not been able to get a room in Ronda, it meant we had a lot further to go, missing out a stay in Caceres and going straight to Salamanca - a 411 mile ride which took it's toll, it was also the only road we'd not want to ride again in Spain. By most standards I'm sure it's a fine road, but against our last 7 days it couldn't compare. Still it served it's purpose to get us back up to northern Spain. Thankfully the hotel was easy to find, as we were exhausted - yet again we opted for a Parador, it was a fine hotel with a great view of the town. We didn't have time to explore the town so went for the hotel bar before crashing out. We did manage a 15 minute ride round town in the morning - but we couldn't stay long, we had to make our way to the Picos de Europa, and Fuente De.

Continued in the next edition of SAM Newsletter.

Anyone wanting further information on touring Spain can email me; kevin.boulden@btinternet.com. Check out the tour pictures at www.skylarkmeadows.com, and also a soon to be added route for a proposed September/October tour, anyone interested in a two week trip to Southern France and Northern Spain is welcome to contact me.

 

--- Route ---

Saturday 13th April - 8pm, Portsmouth to Bilbao sailing

Monday 15th April - 262 miles to Segovia Bilbao to Logrona (E5) to Soria (N111) to El Burgo (N120) to Segovia (N110)

Tuesday 16th April - 297 miles to Cordoba Segovia to Avila (N110) to Talavera (N502) to Almaden (N502) to Cordoba (N432)

Wed 17th April - 99 miles to Granada Cordoba to Baena (N432) to Granada (N432)

Thurs 18th April - 190 miles to Marbella Granada to Lanjaron (E902) to Cadiar (A348) to Albunol (A345) to Nerja (N340) to Marbella (N340)

Fri 19th April - 33 miles to Ronda Marbella to Ronda (N376)

Sat 20th April - 33 miles to Marbella Ronda to Marbella (N376)

Sun 21st - Marbella, day trip 131 miles Marbella to Estepona (N340) to Gibraltar (N340) to Tarifa (N340) to Marbella (N340)

Mon 22nd - Marbella, day trip 158 miles Marbella to Ronda (A376) to Jimena (A369) to Puerto de Galis (CA3331) to Ubrique (A375/A373) to Ronda (A374/A372/A376) to Marbella (A376)

Tuesday 23rd - 411 miles to Salamanca Marbella to Ronda (A376) to Sevilla (A376) to Merida (N630) to Caceres (N630) to Salamanca (N630)

Wed 24th - 210 miles to Fuente De Salamanca to Zamora (N630) bypassing Leon (N630) to Cistierna (N625) to Riano (N621) to Potes (N621) to Fuente De

Thursday 25th - Fuente De, day trip 143 miles Fuente De to Potes to Riano (N621) to Cangas (N625) to Panes (AS114) to Poter (N621) to Fuente De

Friday 26th - 195 miles to San Sebastian Fuente De to Santander (N621) to Bilao (A8) to San Sebastian (A8)

Saturday 27th April - San Sebastian, day trip 173 miles San Sebastian to Biriatou (A8) to Pamplona (N121a, N121b Irurita, N121a) to Roncesvalles (N135) to St Jean (D933) to Cambo (D918) to Biarritz (D932) to San Sebastian (N10/A8)

Sunday 28th April - 60 miles to Bilbao San Sebastian to Bilbao (N634)

Monday 29th April - 12:30, Bilbao to Portsmouth Ferry Tuesday 30th April - 16:30 arrival in Portsmouth (2395)

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