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Well, I'd never been to Spain

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MacDaddy

MacDaddy

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So...I'd never been to Spain
But I kinda like the twisties
Say the riders are insane there
And they sure know how to ride there
(My license) I'm gonna abuse it
Hope I don't lose it
I can't refuse it.

So with that cheesy intro, I thought I'd share my trip in June of 2019 to northern Spain with my TWT family. The trip lasted 10 days and ran from Barcelona on the Mediterranean to San Sebastian at the Atlantic ocean and back. Oh yeah, and those Pyrenees mountains are kinda in the middle there.

www.imtbike.com

Pyrenees Coast to Coast Tour Spain | IMTBIKE

If you are the type who would spend 10 unforgettable, intense and exciting days on top of a motorcycle, this is the tour for you! The revered Pyrenees await
www.imtbike.com www.imtbike.com

This was part of an organized tour with IMTBIKE. I rode a BMW GS 750, which worked out well for me. This and the 1250GS were the most common choices followed by a couple of XR1000's. They were a wonderful company to work with and we had excellent accommodations.

I finally got some editing software to convert that Gopro footage into videos. I'm not really a computer guy, but I'm learning the system and what I can do as I start this project. I make no promises, but if you continue to follow along, you should notice rapid progress in my skills. The first one was pretty minimal but at least its short. I have just the one camera (bought for this trip) and it was mounted either off the left mirror or on the chin bar of my helmet. I had no thought of making some big production out this, just something for me to look back on later. But the roads and scenery are awesome so I thought I'd share.

I have a few videos done at the time of this writing and more will come as I find the time. There's no walking around talking or even talking while I'm riding, just a focus on the roads there. I'm be happy to answer any questions, but for the time being I'll let the video do the talking.

We started the trip by riding NW out of Barcelona on the highway and eventually turned NE onto some secondary roads. This video captures that as we get our first taste of that Spanish road goodness.



We turn north at Tossa De Mar on the GI-682, which is known in these parts as the "Road of the Year" for its 365 curves and ended at our hotel overlooking the sea.


On Day 2 we plotted our course NW inland towards hillier terrain.





 
There wasn't a bad day, okay maybe one on this whole trip. Riding in the Pyrenees and ticking off a couple of the Col's from the Tour de France was very special. It seems much easier to twist that throttle all day than it is to spin those pedals.


 
Nice!

I have a done couple rides in Spain and both were great. One in Northern Spain that crossed over into France and one in Southern Spain.

From Tour of Southern Spain in Rhonda in 2008.

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From Tour of the Pyrenees on the Gorges de Galamus in 2007.


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Simmons1 said:
Nice!

I have a done couple rides in Spain and both were great. One in Northern Spain that crossed over into France and one in Southern Spain.

From Tour of Southern Spain in Rhonda in 2008.

View attachment 281456

From Tour of the Pyrenees on the Gorges de Galamus in 2007.


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Great photos Rich. Completely different worlds from north to south aren’t they? You seem to cultured for a KLR. LOL.


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MacDaddy said:
Great photos Rich. Completely different worlds from north to south aren’t they? You seem to cultured for a KLR. LOL.


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Huh, me cultured? I rode V-Strom on one of those tours. LOL
 
What a great day for riding. Up until a couple of days ago I had never ridden in Spain. Well it had been an grand morning so far, but now it was time to experience at least a little bit of France and I had a ball. Trying to order lunch was difficult. My Spanish is bad but my French is non existent. Oh well, good times and more hills to climb.

 
What a fun day this has been! I'd seen the peyresoude so many times watching the Tour de France and now, to finally get a ride on the D618 was great. The two sides of the crest are so different. All this and great weather to boot! So far I'm liking this France thing.

 
The Col de Peyresourde got us going on these mountain passes and we couldn't resist leaving the prescribed route and taking on the nearby Col de Azet too. If you like roads with no lane markings and a sense of isolation, surrounded by immense beauty, this is one for you.

 
We woke up to the rain in Spain, and it was supposed to be wet all day over on the French side. The one day we were scheduled to ride some of the best summits in the Tour de France. The tour company made the right decision for the group and decided to just stay in Spain where it ended up pretty nice I'm told.

I had come to far not to at least ride them, even if I might not see much while I was there. That turned out to be pretty much the case but I'm still glad I soloed it. I got a lot less video due to the weather but oh well. The weather did clear out a little for about 20 minutes after I had stopped on top to the Tourmalet, and I was able to get a couple of pictures anyway.

The tough part in the mountains was when I got rain inside the shield. I had to ride with it open a crack, tilt my head back and then my glasses got soaked too. BTW, transition lenses and cloudy days don't work out!!!

Cols' de Aspin, de Soulor, de Aubisque and the pinnacle of the Pyrenees, Tourmalet were all ridden if not always seen this day.

 
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So, after a soggy day chasing Cols' in France I made it back to Spain and arrived at the hotel before everyone else. Much better weather on the Spanish side but what to do now? Well, earlier research suggested the nearby N260 to Broto should be entertaining so why not. And entertaining it was! A great way to finish off the day and a preview of part of the route going back to Barcelona later in the week.

 
On this day, we left Biescas to go to San Sebastian for our one rest day (optional riding day) and see the city. Today's route was a very green one with thick clouds most of the day as we traversed the hills on our way into France for a little while before bouncing back out and remaining in Spain. P.S. Some French drivers' don't like to get passed.

 
Time for some sightseeing on foot today and San Sebastian is our willing host. Our one "rest day" just happened to fall on San Juan (Saint John) Day and everyone here was in a festive mood with singing and dancing in the streets of old town. No motorcycle content but you get to see a neat city. Our hotel was the only one on the big hill and some of the footage was taken off our balcony.

 
San Sebastian is a beautiful city to visit but it was now our time to go to Pamplona. There was so much pretty scenery along the way with the green rolling hills guiding us most of the way. The NA-1740 was standout and featured here quite a bit. It gets pretty flat around Pamplona but the area has its own beauty for sure, just with a lot less curves. Spending a night in the center of the city was another highlight!

 
Pamplona sure was great, but I guess I'm back to providing my own bull for now. All I really knew is that we were headed east to some lodge up in the hills with plenty of curves until we get there. After the photo op at the Mirador de la Foz de Arbayún on NA-178 and down it's switchbacks, its off to Burgi Burgi downhill on the NA-214.

 
........while visions of twisty roads danced in their heads

Ive only watched the first 4 videos so far.... Some of those roads remind me of 191 in AZ....cept with lots of guardrails

The coast road seemed to have a lot more touristy traffic.

!Huuuuh

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I’m so impressed by the way you navigate through the twisties. It seems like you’ve been down these roads your whole life. How do you anticipate your entry speed on the blind turns? I’ve watched all the videos and I don’t hear much, if any, throttle until the end of the curve. Are you trail braking or some other magical trick? All I know is MSR technique.
 
RideSmart 2021 Trackday Schedule:

February 6 (Saturday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
February 28 (Sunday) MSRC (1.3Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
March 1 (Monday) MSRC (1.7Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
April 3 (Saturday) COTA (3.4Mi CCW) Circuit of The Americas
April 4 (Sunday) COTA (3.4Mi CCW) Circuit of The Americas
May 8 (Saturday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
June 5 (Saturday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
June 12 (Saturday) MSRC (1.3Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
June 13 (Sunday) MSRC (1.3Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
June 19 (Saturday) COTA (3.4Mi CCW) Circuit of The Americas
June 20 (Sunday) COTA (3.4Mi CCW) Circuit of The Americas
June 27 (Sunday) MSRC (1.3Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
June 28 (Monday) MSRC (1.7Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
July 10 (Saturday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
July 11 (Sunday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
July 17 (Saturday) MSRC (1.7Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
July 18 (Sunday) MSRC (1.7Mi CW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
July 31 (Saturday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
August 1 (Sunday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
August 7 (Saturday) MSRC (1.7Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
August 8 (Sunday) MSRC (1.7Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
August 21 (Saturday) COTA (3.4Mi CCW) Circuit of The Americas
August 22 (Sunday) COTA (3.4Mi CCW) Circuit of The Americas
September 12 (Sunday) MSRC (1.3Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
September 26 (Sunday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
October 16 (Saturday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
October 17 (Sunday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
October 24 (Sunday) MSRC (1.3Mi CCW) MotorSport Ranch Cresson
November 20 (Saturday) MSRH (2.4Mi CW) Motor Speedway Resort Houston
November 27 (Saturday) COTA (3.4Mi CCW) Circuit of The Americas
November 28 (Sunday) COTA (3.4Mi CCW) Circuit of The Americas

They offer the basic MacDaddy riding technique course :)
 
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EETTU said:
I’m so impressed by the way you navigate through the twisties. It seems like you’ve been down these roads your whole life. How do you anticipate your entry speed on the blind turns? I’ve watched all the videos and I don’t hear much, if any, throttle until the end of the curve. Are you trail braking or some other magical trick? All I know is MSR technique.
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Thank you for the kind words. You’re right, I do trail brake. At least anytime I’m riding half way spirited. I’m usually on the brakes halfway through the corner and occasionally most of the way around it, if I think I need more grip and load the tire that way.

I grew up riding dual sport and dirt bikes so I didn’t know I was supposed to be afraid of it. Lol. I find now that it adds a layer of fun or challenge that keeps me mentally stimulated. Just another obstacle to overcome if you will.

This I think allows me to keep up with guys with more hp and not work the motor as hard too. Most of what you’re seeing in the videos is me trying to have fun and sightsee. It’s hard to do both and I usually end up erring on the fun side.

Later, I’ll have about a 15 minute video where I chase down a guy in full leathers with knee pucks on a Ducati Panigale on a Canyon road. He can’t use all his 100 hp advantage on that road so I stood a chance. I may have been the only one who knew we were racing though. Anyhow, the trail braking was an advantage in that situation, especially since I (and maybe he) hadn’t ever been on that road before. Man that was fun!


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Mr2mch said:
........while visions of twisty roads danced in their heads

Ive only watched the first 4 videos so far.... Some of those roads remind me of 191 in AZ....cept with lots of guardrails

The coast road seemed to have a lot more touristy traffic.

!Huuuuh

Sent from my LML212VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yes, you’re right it does resemble 191 somewhat. Some of the terrain made me think of New Mexico.

Your right about the tourist traffic too. I guess there’s something about cool roads around around beautiful coastline that attract folks. I heard that PCH1 out in California is starting to catch too. Lol.


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Yeah...back in 07 on my PacNW trip... PCH 1 & 101 had lots of traffic in some areas...usually with visible coastline. Other spots were devoid of driving daydreamers

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And that spot you saw wasn’t that far north of Barcelona, obviously a dense population center. Some of these roads in Spain made Arkansas look congested.


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We purposely got of course and took the NA-176 instead of the prescribed route. What a little treat this turned out to be. Unbeknown to us however, the best was still yet to come. Like gorgeous National Parks and steep narrow cannons(2)! Stay tuned!

 
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