I love this video as it really shows what is so fantastic about motorcycle touring.
At 20 minutes it is long, but they cram loads into it about their 6 months on their tour of South America. If this doesn’t make you want to go on your own motorcycle adventure, then nothing will. They even did it on an old Honda Transalp XL600V.
Winter is here and I am spending way too long thing about where to go on next years rides.
Planning to a motorcycle road trip in the US? Then you might want to read this guide.
As a Englishman who planned and then rode 21,000 miles in America on a road trip, I learnt a lot about what to consider if planning a motorcycle road trip in the US for the first time. Thinking it would be useful to others doing the same thing, I wrote about my views on this. If you are planning to visit the US from a different country and are going to ride a motorcycle while there, you might want to read my free guide giving tips and advice about planning such a trip.
Americans might find it useful as well, or you could let me know if I have missed anything.
Having been very busy with writing my book recently, I haven't done much in the way of putting much on my own blog, or commenting on others. I have been lurking though and reading many blogs, just not commenting.
That will remain the case for a while, while I press on with getting the book finished. I have now written 24 out of 33 of its chapters, so good progress has been made.
I am sorting and editing the photos that will be included in the book as I go, and my Cousins partner, Helen, has been editing my words on a chapter-by-chapter basis.
I hope to finish writing by the end of April, with the final editing and book layout completed by say June, printing done in say August, making the book available from about 1st October. That’s the target, anyway!
I haven't forgotten my promise for those that commented on my blog before or during my tour of America!
2012 will see two international motorcycle trips for me. Well, two and a half trips really.
In February, I will be travelling to Cuba, for a nine day organised motorcycle tour of the island. Three of us are going from the UK, myself, Paul Leeson and Ian Solley of 7 Ages Custom Motorcycles.
I am looking forward to seeing this island republic set in the Caribbean. Gladly, we don't need to do much in the way of organisation, as it will largely be done for us. We will be renting bikes out there.
Just 90 miles from the USA, Cuba is set in the past. That is one of the great things about Cuba where the word 'modernisation' probably doesn't exist. We certainly want to see this old-fashioned aspect of Cuban life, especially the old American cars that have been fixed up over the years to keep them running. I don't smoke, but I suspect some Cuban cigars might make their way back to England for my friends and family.
This is the route we are expecting to take.... click on the map for a better view.....
In June a small group of us are going to the Harley-Davidson rally in Portugal. Here is a video promoting the rally....
Those going to Portugal are Ian Solley (remember he and I went to Croatia together)....
Paul Rose (you might remember he rode with me in Maine and Spain)....
and my eldest son, Charlie (yet to take his bike test)....
We will be taking the 24 hour ferry from the UK to northern Spain and then riding the route below through Spain and Portugal. This will be about a 2,000 mile round trip....
Finally, the trip that counts only as half a trip, is to the H-D Euro Rally in St Tropez in southern France. The reason it is only half a trip? Shhhhhhh. We are going by car and having a bike shipped there on the back of a truck. Don't tell anyone! There is a good reason for this - Jackie and I will be delivering our car back to Spain the timing fits perfectly with the rally. So, we will stop on the way in St Tropez for the few days of the rally and then continue our journey south all the way down to Spain.
For those of us in more northerly places, the onset of winter normally brings the blues. The weather we have enjoyed in the summer and autumn slips away and the rain, cold and even snow and frost appear. Once the clocks go back and darkness falls ridiculously early, we tend to put our bikes away until the spring. We tend to miss our motorcycling passion and a mild form of depression normally sets in.
Not for me!
I love this time of year!
That is because It is around now I am planning my rides for the following year. This is what I have planned so far....
10 days riding around Cuba in February. I cannot wait to see all the old cars and motorbikes in this very unusual country.
In May, I will be returning to St. Tropez for the Harley-Davidson Euro Festival. Jackie and I will be driving in a car (our Cobra) on our way to take the car all the way back to southern Spain from London and we will be stopping in St. Tropez in southern France on the way. I will be shipping a bike to St. Tropez to use while we are there.
In June, four of us will be getting. Ferry from England to northern Spain and the riding our custom bikes about 900 miles to Cascais in southern Portugal for the main H-D European Rally, then back again. My son Charlie will be joining us on that ride along with friends Paul (who joined me for part of my USA tour last year) and Ian who I went to Croatia with.
At some stage I want to ride to St. Petersburg in Russia, but that might have to wait until 2013.
Planning these trips is great fun and keeps me sane at this time of year. It does however drive Jackie a little crazy as our office is often covered in maps and books and other stuff needed for road trip planning.
Concluding our trip in Spain, Paul and I soon reached the northern coast of Spain and prepared to get on board a ferry to take us back to the UK. The last few miles soon raced by as we went through the mountains to get to Bilbao, where the ferry port is located.
Before we arrived there, we had some terrific roads to ride on, set in spectacular scenery. We passed a lake with a very low water level....
We took roads that twisted through gaps in the mountains....
Here we had stopped to fix the GoPro video camera to my Harley-Davidson Road King while Paul checked his e-mails....
The gorge we rode through was very twisty and great fun. We came out the other end with big grins on our faces!....
Stopping for lunch on the northern coast of Spain, we had an exceptional view....
We stayed the night in Hondarribia, which is right on the frontier between Spain and France. This was the view from the hotel, with Spain on this side of the river and France on the other. One could say, the final frontier we saw....
Hondarribia is in the Basque country in northern Spain and this region is an Autonomous Community within Spain. It has its own language and this is immediately noticeable with road signs being very different from the majority of Spain. We stayed once again in a Parador hotel which was a converted from a 10th century fortress castle. The hotel has thankfully retained many of the castle’s original features, including one wall left in its original rubble condition....
A main dining room....
A massive stone staircase....
The bar area....
Paul and I walked into the main part of the town which being a Friday, was packed with many families, friends and groups all out enjoying the evening and the start of the weekend. The atmosphere was terrific and very laid back. We noticed this scooter, which very unusually, was a police bike! I have never seen a scooter like this before....
The next day, our ferry didn’t leave until the evening, so the two of us took a ride into France, to the town of Biarritz. Being on the Atlantic Ocean, the waves are often good enough for surfing, in a pretty spectacular setting....
More views along the coast as we made our way to the ferry....
In Bilbao, we went to see the famous Guggenheim Museum, a contemporary art museum designed by Frank Gehry. The building is known as one of the most important pieces of modern architecture in the world and it is easy to see why....
We didn’t go inside the museum, for it was the building we came to see.
Interesting public art outside the museum....
A final shot of the two of us on this trip....
And one of our bikes, which had performed tirelessly and without fault....
On the way to the ferry, we had to cross a river by a ‘flying transporter bridge’. Capable of carrying just 6 cars (or 5 cars and our two bikes) the bridge is not really a bridge at all, but a cable car that you drive into, slung beneath a tall steel structure across the river. This picture is looking back at the structure....
Paul, sitting on his bike paying the bridge attendant for the crossing....
From our ferry leaving Spain....
It was on the ferry that I discovered I had left my laptop behind in the last hotel we stayed at and a quick phone call confirmed it had been found in my room, where I had left it. It was a relatively easy job to get it couriered back to me in London.
As the ferry arrived back in Portsmouth on the south coast of England, we saw a passenger-carrying hovercraft and we passed a huge aircraft carrier, moored in the navy dockyard....
Paul and I had enjoyed an excellent motorbike tour of Spain. We had seen a great deal of the country, mainly from back-roads. It is a huge and fascinating place, full of history and character. We had travelled 2,659 miles / 4,279 kms and learned much of the way of life in many parts of Spain that the tourists rarely see. We had seen glorious weather and had only been rained on for about 30 seconds, just before leaving England.
As ever, Paul is a tremendous riding partner and we cheerfully waved each other farewell as we headed back to our own homes and our wives late on a Sunday night.
A few pointers about motorcycle touring in Spain....
The roads are of a very good quality
Beware of people walking on the roads, where very often there are no pavements / sidewalks
Away from the motorways and the main roads, there is almost no traffic
Away from the motorways, there are very few places to stay the night. Hotels and campsites are few and far between, so book ahead.
Away from motorways and especially on the back-roads, take every opportunity to fill up with fuel, especially on Sundays. Fuel filling is nearly always done by an attendant.
Beware of the lunchtime drinking culture, even by drivers. While we didn’t experience any problems at all, we did see many drivers (including truck rivers) drinking alcohol in the cafes and bars we stopped in for lunch
It can get very hot in July and August. Drink a lot and wear sun screen
Few restaurants serve dinner at night before 2030. Many don’t open until then.
Plan your motorbike ride to pass through mountain areas. The roads there are fantastic!
Away from the coast, very few people speak anything but Spanish, but this is okay. Learn 10 Spanish words and everyone will try to help you!
Just occasionally you find something that completely blows you away.
Depending on what you are like, that might be a painting, a beautiful woman or man, a sunset, a landscape or just about anything that is stunning.
In the final few days of our motorcycle trip across Spain, Paul and I found a city called Ávila that was truly amazing because of the medieval wall built around it.
At the top of a nearby hill, we climbed off our bikes and just stood and looked at the amazing sight of the city before us. It blew me away....
(if you have never double-clicked on a blog photo before, now is the time)......
A short un-edited video overlooking the city....
The medieval wall surrounds the whole city and is about 40 feet or 12 metres high. There are 88 of the semi-circular towers built into the wall....
Ávila dates back to the 5th century BC, when it was inhabited by The Vettones who were one of the pre-Roman Celtic peoples of the Iberian Peninsula. The main wall surrounding the city was started in 1090.
The city also contains a high number of Roman and Gothic churches, one of which is extraordinary. The main Cathedral took 300 years to build between the 12th and 15th centuries. It contains a mixture of designs, reflecting the change in styles over the period of it's construction. This is the main entrance facade....
Just inside the entrance is a wooden model of the Cathedral, which was helpful to get an overview of the complex shape and sizes of its various parts....
The symmetry of the stone ceilings cannot fail to impress....
The scale of the interior is very impressive....
There is a stone screen that divides one part of the Cathedral from the main altar. The carving on the screen is exquisite and took 12 stonemasons five years to complete....
A book of songs, from the 5th century....
Ávila is a truly amazing place and we walked around the myriad of small narrow streets just looking at the incredible buildings and places to see. What a place this is....
Even though we returned from Spain a few weeks ago, I wanted to include a couple of final posts of that trip. I am so behind in my blogging!
