Spain in July 2009 any takers ?

[r1-nut]

Hi guys and gals,

I am considering doing a tour for a week or two in Spain this year and was wondering if there was anybody else considering doing the same or would like to do it so we could possibly get some kind of trip arranged as it would be nice to have a riding buddy for the time spent out there.

I was thinking of maybe getting the ferry to bilbao and heading to andilucia or somwhere similier as a base but if you are more adventurous then maybe camp along the way aswell ? i dont mind what we do.

I woul like to try and get a day on the valencia track at some point on the trip aswell.
Nothing realy planned yet so if your interested we can start to chat about an itinery and routes/destinations, dates etc so that we all get what we want from the trip.

Cheers.
Jim.

[Charlie]

Is the Bilbo ferry much cheaper than the Santander ferry? The Santander is a lot faster and uses a more modern clean ship.
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Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

[Itchy]

Bilbao ferry has a long way to travel and the costs are higher because a cabin is compulsory , while on the Pont Aven you can slum it for £6 a night in the reclining seat lounge see my 2008 tour thread.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[G]

Worth considering seeing if anyone will ship the bikes for a reasonable fee, maybe.

It cost us just over £200 for a (subsidised) bike transport to spain a couple of years ago.
I'm looking at an option for later in the year that will cost £500 for transport to the south of spain. While it may seem a lot when you include flights as well, it means I get two to three days more riding for my holiday time and if your aim is to get further south, you're going to be spending a chunk on fuel too.

[Charlie]

Only south Spain G? Why not Morrocco while you're down there? It is great fun

I have never really understood why someone would get the Bilbo ferry over the Santander one... the extra time it takes to get to Plymouth must be worth it.
____________________
Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

[Itchy]

[G]

[r1-nut]

Thanks for the replys people

To tell the truth i hadnt really heard of the santander ferry as you can probably tell im new to touring. i rode to the nurburgring last year and spent a couple of days on track there with a friend and kind of caught the bug so to speak unfortunately my friend didnt hence the asking for riding buddies.

I will look into the santander ferry so thanks

G. i want to ride to spain really as for me thats part of the appeal about it all getting lost on the way there and stumbling across some magnificent sights that you would miss if you fly. but appreciate the idea/input all most welcome.

does anybody have any suggestions on places to visit whilst out there or some great roads that you have come across ?
all ideas/suggestions very welcome.

Jim..

[Itchy]

Have a read of my tour write up.

a few favourites are the N260 N240 near Pamplona and Andorra.

All that area is good.

South A315 -> A316 is a good one , A315 is BLIND (trees everywhere) A317 , is where I went nuts (I think) and started getting angry and hot and started to take it dangerously everywhere.
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[r1-nut]

[dodger]

As Itchy suggested, if you go anywhere near Andorra the N260 is absolutely essential. Biking nirvana...
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My Bikes: Piaggio NRG| Aprilia RS 125| Suzuki GSX-R 600|Yamaha Fazer Ducati 848
Europe 2008

[Blunet600]

I've never done a tour before, havent even done any long distance or touring in the UK yet. I would love to though and sounds like a good idea riding to and through spain. I would be up for it, i'll be able to put some miles on my hornet.
When were you thinking? end of the year?

[r1-nut]

Thanks for that dodger i shall most definatly look into the n260 then and see if i can work that into the schedule.

nsrdude,
I was looking then end of July, August kind of time but as mentioned its still in early days so if you wanted to come and wanted to leave abit later we could work somthing out to suit us both im sure.
don't worry its all new to me aswell but thats half of the fun i think looking into routes and not knowing what to expect is all exciting stuff. if your definatly interested then we can start talking dates were free and start getting cost info together etc.

Jim.

[Blunet600]

How old are ya Jim?
August time, i just think that going abroad when the whether in England is good is a little silly, going abroad when weather in England is shite makes more sense.
I also like the idea of just packing a bag and tent, and riding and dossing where we need to or where we choose to.
Would be good if there was a group of us.

[r1-nut]

I'm 26 bud, you ?

Yeah i see your point about the weather situation might be nice to get away when the weather is a bit crappy over here
The reason i said around that time was because the weather will be nicer in spain around those times and less chance of any rain etc but then i suppose that could happen anytime realy.

Jim.

[Blunet600]

21.
Thats true, wouldnt want to get to spain and find its raining. Have you though about the south of france as well? or instead of spain?

[r1-nut]

yeah i had thought about southern france and we could possibly work that into the spain tour or if you have any ideas you feel are better for france than spain then i will be more than happy to sort somthing out. maybe do southern france and nip across to spain for a couple of days ? im open to suggestions.

im glad you like the idea of wild camping as i think thats what i want to do as it could save alot of cash off of the trip and it adds to the feeling of an adventure

Where abouts in the country are you bud ?

jim.

[Itchy]

[Blunet600]

Im in Biggin Hill.
I dont mind where we would go, only conditions i have are that we go somewhere that is less and unlikely to rain, and that we do not miss out on good english weather.

[r1-nut]

Itchy..

I shall most definatly take many a photo i like to have them to look back on and rmember the thing i have done so there are no worries in that department and i shall do my best to do a write up im not the best at it but ill give it a whirl

nsrdude,
That sounds fine to me but good english weather (thats a joke right)
no thats fair and i would prefer to go somwhere its less likely to rain. well i will get the maps out tonight and have a look at hwat there is and see if i can get somthing rolling route wise. and we could also do with trying to come up with a date roughly so we can look at ferry costs at that time of year etc. so what about end of september time beggining of october ?

Jim

[Blunet600]

sounds good to me. Hopefully my mate will be back on his bike by then and may join us.
We should meet up during the summer or something.

[r1-nut]

that would be good if your mate is back on the road intime the more the merrier and all that

meeting up sounds like a plan could maybe do a longish run a couple of times to prepare for the trip.
i have been looking at a few routes and some interesting places i realy fancy visiting gibralter as i used to live there when i was a wee boy so would like to go and visit as i dont remember much. maybe see the monkeys

ill keep looking at post up a couple of ideas as soon as i feel its coming together then you can have a look over it and see what ya think and add or change to suit us all.

Jim