Neil's in…

So after my last post I caught the ferry over to Verdon-sur-Mer (I think), and rode very very slowly south through the pine forests (pictured below). Excuse the awesome looks.

I was a little hesitant at Biganos where there was a lot of things going in and out of… sorry about the pun. The roads were intended for slow use but everyone was racing through these idyllic places.

Currently at Arcachon, which I realize isn’t Pierre’s town so another expensive campsite.  More tomorrow.

Hey there!

After a crappy night in the campsite last night with people making sounds till late and then waking up in a storm at 2am (having only put my fly sheet up) and getting everything wet.. whilst fumbling to put the storm sheet over in the dark, would alone make a bad night. I was however also in a lot of pain from my wrist/neck which I wish not to nag about but was pretty painful and stopped me from getting much rest.

Anyhow, that said today I had a slow start and left the campsite at 11am after I had planned my journey and suchlike and made the necessary arrangements. After closely  studying google maps and chatting with Edurne I found that from where I was, I just had a 270km trip to get to where I wanted to be, which also fell on route to León (Pierre’s supposed town).

Miraculously, I hit León at exactly 1pm and that was just under half way there, after phoning Pierre and talking to him, I discovered I was nowhere near and that the deviation would be huge.

I settled down for a local restaurant’s menu of the day (which I recommend you do if you’re not cooking for yourself, good fresh food at affordable prices).  I got some regional mussels dish and chips … that’s right one of those gigantic pans (size of a bucket) filled with steamed muscles.

Onward, 2pm I was back on the road eating kilometers and fast approaching the Pyrenees. My absolutely atrocious map.. which I’d like to remind you is a 2008 Collins European Road map… which I had equal bad luck with last year. Proved to be a greater hindrance than a tool. I resorted to asking people for directions and taking educated guesses as to which road to take.

The topography began to start going up and down, and then soon, it started to cause the road to swerve left and then right… and then rivers started to form.. and then…. the road would be following a river.. and then the road was climbing mountains… and then border (Pictured. somewhere between the previous photo and this I lost my side stand prop that I very carefully crafted 3 minutes before setting off)

Anyhow the roads after the border got a whole lot more exciting, the road speeds dropped down to a juddering 30km/hr and even when you think you could take it faster you were proven wrong, they were too narrow, too steep, and too tight to take any faster and they  were accountable for the best fun roads I’ve ever ridden. The higher I climbed the deeper the fog/mist became and at the same time the bends were getting tighter.  I managed to overtake a few cars and eventually a motorcyclist who I later met at the top of the mountain we’d been climbing: Ibañeta (pictured below).

I got talking to the lone biker (Alex) when he arrived at the top; he was a Swedish guy riding a Transalp we got chatting for a fair while and forgot the time a little, anyhow we exchanged details and hopefully might meet up in Barcelona if things work out.

Anyhow,  from there I sped on down to Aoiz and had a time of my life riding the bendies in clearer weather and found the place no problem. The evening passed quickly into a pre-party party in Pamplona centre, watching people perform and thousands of people gather in the city centre.

That’s about it folks. Shattered! it’s 3/4am (think the clock is wrong)… very very tired. Niiiiight.

Hey there!

After what seems like an eternity of partying in the streets (2 days, no sleep). I finally came back to Edurne’s house in Aoiz to touch base and catch up with some essentials (shower, sleep, shave, proper meal and email checking).

The San Fermín fiestas are verrryyyyyy long. Still on going.  Pamplona city centre is pretty large, the people partying are in the tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands). It’s quite hard to imagine so many people dressed in white with red scarfs from all over the world; mostly Spanish, but a huge amount of Australians, and quite a lot of North American and British folk there too. It’s also hard to explain how it’s not about being brutishly cruel to bulls to someone who hasn’t been.  I was surprised to find out that the misconception about the customs/traditions of these fiestas couldn’t be more the opposite.  When the crowds cheer it’s for the bull and very rarely the man who jumps infront of one.  I guess I could write eons worth about how warped the understanding of the Spanish customs are, but I’m just here to say what I’m upto and what I’ve been doing for the past 3 days.

The day after I arrived (Sunday) I went to explore the dam the village has here in Aoiz, with Vidal. The problem with it being in this part of Spain is that owing to the terrorism threats of the Basque people (in particular small villages like this one). A lot of restrictions exist.  So Vidal and I had to make it by hook and by crook to get near the thing.

Some photos:

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We later went for a drive to some smaller village up near the border with some of Vidal’s friends to some retreat… not sure why but we did it all the same. Very beautiful area in the world.

So on with the San Fermín the Monday started off with the Chupinazo which basically marks the commencement of the fiestas with a big bang in a square with thousands of people crushed together, I didn’t participate, partly because I didn’t want to stand crushed in a square for hours to make sure I got a space to see it a rocket go off. I meanwhile, stayed with Vidal and had a kick-off breakfast at his friend’s house Luis, and followed that up by going into the centre and enjoy the after kick off soak up that thousands get involved with. Basically spray everyone with wine and suchlike drinks over their white clothes.  Quite enjoyable. Although I have to point out that I was told not to take my wallet or my camera as there are a lot of pick-pockets. So  all the pictures of the event are from my phone. I apologize for the poor quality and lack of plentiful photos.

Quick explaination of the people with pen on their faces… Vidal took some permanent markers with him in the event of (and with experience the actualization of..) sleeping tourists completely K.O.’d on the floor sleeping like the dead… we gave them a work of art then woke them up and photographed them… it is quite special.

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After a fantastic night last night (and arriving back at 10am) I got up at 5pm and packed my things and rode down to Covaleda.

More tomorrow.

Well we set out for Pamplona centre to live it up about 1 or 2 am and Caravan Place and Gregario de Luxe were playing. We’d never heard of them before but they were great, danced ourselves into a very silly mood and then hit the bars to talk and harass strangers until 9 when Poli had to catch the bus back to Soria.

What a night. *edit* there are 2 pages of photos… at the bottom you can  click onto the second page

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(photos from Edurne’s camera)

Well I’ve been kicking back and relaxing some since I got here, not been carrying my camera around and spending time with friends and family so not much to tell.  However, being self conscious of this, yesterday I took my camera with me out on an average day with my uncle Mariano…

Firstly, we went to drop some stuff off his pick-up to his finca/retreat. Where he has vegetables growing and is planning renovations on so  he can live there if he wishes.

Afterward we went upto La Caldera (the boiler/caldron) … where the water is near freezing all year round. For a swim, what else?

(pictured my uncle enjoying his jet wash)

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I had Spanish picnic yesterday with some of my friends from years back. They all have kids except one.

I ate so much that I felt ill…. (17 hours without eating still feeling rough) not to be repeated.

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So I took the plunge and rooooode 500+ km to Barcelona in one hit. I set off at dawn and made better progress than I had thought. The day started off pretty chilly and I was happy riding with my jacket and gloves on, obviously being early accounted for this. I circled the ring road of Zaragoza at around 11am and gave myself a chance to take a break at a truckers’ cafe.  The ride was pretty simple and uncomplicated to be honest, however the heat got stiffling by midday and at which point I hit a re-visit of Norway’s: “no-move traffic jam“; where the steady flow of trucks came to a unannounced halt and left me standing on a plain in an oven like climate waiting for something to happen.

By the end of the journey I had to stop a few times (finally in Montserrat) to clean my eyes from the sweat and sun lotion going into my eyes leaving me blind… it was quite odd to have this experience.

Anyhow arrived all well and good at 4:30pm and spent the evening with Bea hanging out with her friends and talking about bikes and stuff.

After faffing around yesterday doing this and that, and buying myself a new main jet for my carburettor, Bea and I took a ride upto Montserrat to enjoy the bendies. Now, I’m glad my face was full face, because my facial expression was similar to the day I rode into spain through the Pyrenees and any onward coming cars may have driven off the mountain edge in sheer terror of my demon posessed face.

However, the ascent helped prove a point about the carburation from see level to 1000m in 20 minutes caused the bike to pop a lot. I’ll be at over 2000m in a few days time and so far I’ve not been that high in this bike. I hope this works!

Anyhow here’s a couple of generic pictures of Bea and I taken near the top overlooking the mountains below.

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Just to point out, we both got sun burnt and I had a biker tan forming (insides of my legs have no colour… outsides are lobster red).

I felt obligated to see some Gaudí things before I left, even though my Barcelona experience was already good without doing the sight-seeing.

Firstly Bea and I went to the Parc de Guell and then to La Sagrada Familia. To be honest, if I ever want to feel  like a tourist I’ll catch an open top double-decker back home and sit on a bus with yanks and hear them yack away about the weather.

Anyhow,  two more things ticked off on my list of things, I’ve accomplished.

Today, I’m leaving Barcelona heading nothing to Andorra where I’m meeting Alex (the guy I met in the mist/fog on my way into Spain). I’ll be sad to leave my kind host and this amazing city but I got to keep going.

By the way those lovely Oakley sunglasses I bought in Porto… they went bye-bye. I’m a bit sad about that, but my fault, I clumbseyly left them on the bike seat outside Bea’s house and they would of vanished anywhere. Oh well, silly me.

Here’s the pictures:

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