mcatrophy
Privileged to ride a 2018 FJR1300AS
Background
This is not a travelog, it is my impressions of a tour into Spain.
Once again, R and J have invited me to accompany them on a tour in Europe, this time in Spain. This is my third European trip with them, they are obviously gluttons for punishment.
R and J live on the island of Guernsy, and have to catch a ferry to England, from there taking the ferry to Santander, Spain. I meet them in Plymouth at the ferry terminal to catch the ferry.
I expect to do a bit over 2000 miles; no large mileage on any one day, and a couple of rest days (at least, staying in two of the hotels for two nights each).
Day -2, 22nd March: Snow in Derby
Left home Friday mid-day to catch the Sunday ferry. This was because we were being snowed in, and I had a small time window early Friday afternoon to get out whilst the first lot of snow had melted somewhat, and before the next lot came. In retrospect, it was a very wise decision, the snow came overnight and would have made getting out from home impossible for the next few days.
Fortunately I'd done a lot of my preparations earlier, including getting new tyres put on, also the time consuming task of protecting my tank from the tank bag by sticking duct tape over it. The only other bike preparation I managed was to check the tyre pressures. Didn't even look at the oil and water levels (well, this is an FJR, they're always Ok). Other than that, I just rapidly collected everything together and packed.
I booked in at a small pub in a place called Tarrent Monkton in Dorset, recommended by R, he'd stayed there more than once.
For the journey down I took the M1, not the shorter M40 route, because the weather forecast predicted snow on the M40 route. Better another 10 minutes than not getting there at all.
The journey down was pretty good, all things considered. The traffic, although heavy, kept moving, so no significant hold-ups. It was cold (3 to 5C, 37 to 41F), varying between rain, sleet, snow, and occasionally dry. No issues.
The pub is some 120 miles from the Ferry, easy to do on Sunday; Tomtom says about 2 hours 45 minutes, so to get there by (say) 14:30 for a 15:45 sailing is easy. So I stay Saturday night at the same pub.
Access to the pub is along a tiny road that goes through a ford. The notice by the ford said "Don't drive through the water", presumably because the water level was higher than usual. Normally I would ignore the notice, but there had been a lot of rain recently. The diversion was a couple of miles. So I went over the two-foot wide pedestrian bridge. Well, no-one else was using it.
199 miles (mileages are approximate).
Day -1, 23rd March: Time to kill
Nothing to do but time fill, so I went for a meander through some of the New Forest. Cold (3C, 37F all day), drizzly weather. Some of the scenery would have been outstanding if the weather had been nicer. Got some petrol and a sandwich at a supermarket. Happened to park beside another FJR, but the rider had gone by the time I returned.
(Click on image for larger view)
Snap (Mine's on the left)
I wanted to find somewhere nice to stop and eat, but, because the weather was so miserable, I went back to my room at the pub to eat it, watched the F1 qualifying. Read for a bit. Not the most exciting day of my life.
81 miles.
Day 0, 24th March: Catch a ferry
Rode from the pub to Plymouth ferry. Mostly 'A' roads, relatively little traffic, and able to maintain a good pace. Temperature remained mostly at 1C (34F) with occasional spells at 2C (35F). Very glad I have a heated vest. Heavily overcast, but no rain.
Had one peculiar issue with the bike. The throttle didn't close fully when stopping at some lights, the tick-over held at about 1400 rpm. After another stop it did the same, but I found I could force the throttle shut which brought it back to normal. After that it seemed to behave. Until I can lift the tank I won't know what might have happened. Initially I decided not to use the cruise control in case that was binding, but later I used it without any ill effect.
Arrived at the ferry terminal without further incident and in plenty of time, met up with R & J.
Waiting for the ferry
When we took the bikes to queue to board, we had to hang around for an hour or so. It was very cold, but at least it wasn't raining. Total of perhaps 20 bikes finally went on board, and for some reason mine got put where I'll have to back it a long way, and probably will be nearly the last off. But, we're in no particular hurry.
117(?) miles.
Day 1, 25th March: Santander to Salamanca
Got off the ferry, had to queue to get through immigration (in previous years it was just a glance at the passport, now it's check it with a scanner or whatever).
Weather was damp as we left the ferry port, but got colder and wetter. We decided to take the main road and just get to Salamanca. So, cold and wet. Better than cold and icy.
View from hotel window . . . . . . . Bridge
Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A lot of water flowing
244 miles (but it seemed further).
Ok, if you've read this far, you must be interested (or otherwise very bored). To read the rest, click here, or start from the beginning. Not very exciting pictures, but the full gallery is here.
Enjoy.
This is not a travelog, it is my impressions of a tour into Spain.
Once again, R and J have invited me to accompany them on a tour in Europe, this time in Spain. This is my third European trip with them, they are obviously gluttons for punishment.
R and J live on the island of Guernsy, and have to catch a ferry to England, from there taking the ferry to Santander, Spain. I meet them in Plymouth at the ferry terminal to catch the ferry.
I expect to do a bit over 2000 miles; no large mileage on any one day, and a couple of rest days (at least, staying in two of the hotels for two nights each).
Day -2, 22nd March: Snow in Derby
Left home Friday mid-day to catch the Sunday ferry. This was because we were being snowed in, and I had a small time window early Friday afternoon to get out whilst the first lot of snow had melted somewhat, and before the next lot came. In retrospect, it was a very wise decision, the snow came overnight and would have made getting out from home impossible for the next few days.
Fortunately I'd done a lot of my preparations earlier, including getting new tyres put on, also the time consuming task of protecting my tank from the tank bag by sticking duct tape over it. The only other bike preparation I managed was to check the tyre pressures. Didn't even look at the oil and water levels (well, this is an FJR, they're always Ok). Other than that, I just rapidly collected everything together and packed.
I booked in at a small pub in a place called Tarrent Monkton in Dorset, recommended by R, he'd stayed there more than once.
For the journey down I took the M1, not the shorter M40 route, because the weather forecast predicted snow on the M40 route. Better another 10 minutes than not getting there at all.
The journey down was pretty good, all things considered. The traffic, although heavy, kept moving, so no significant hold-ups. It was cold (3 to 5C, 37 to 41F), varying between rain, sleet, snow, and occasionally dry. No issues.
The pub is some 120 miles from the Ferry, easy to do on Sunday; Tomtom says about 2 hours 45 minutes, so to get there by (say) 14:30 for a 15:45 sailing is easy. So I stay Saturday night at the same pub.
Access to the pub is along a tiny road that goes through a ford. The notice by the ford said "Don't drive through the water", presumably because the water level was higher than usual. Normally I would ignore the notice, but there had been a lot of rain recently. The diversion was a couple of miles. So I went over the two-foot wide pedestrian bridge. Well, no-one else was using it.
199 miles (mileages are approximate).
Day -1, 23rd March: Time to kill
Nothing to do but time fill, so I went for a meander through some of the New Forest. Cold (3C, 37F all day), drizzly weather. Some of the scenery would have been outstanding if the weather had been nicer. Got some petrol and a sandwich at a supermarket. Happened to park beside another FJR, but the rider had gone by the time I returned.
(Click on image for larger view)
Snap (Mine's on the left)
I wanted to find somewhere nice to stop and eat, but, because the weather was so miserable, I went back to my room at the pub to eat it, watched the F1 qualifying. Read for a bit. Not the most exciting day of my life.
81 miles.
Day 0, 24th March: Catch a ferry
Rode from the pub to Plymouth ferry. Mostly 'A' roads, relatively little traffic, and able to maintain a good pace. Temperature remained mostly at 1C (34F) with occasional spells at 2C (35F). Very glad I have a heated vest. Heavily overcast, but no rain.
Had one peculiar issue with the bike. The throttle didn't close fully when stopping at some lights, the tick-over held at about 1400 rpm. After another stop it did the same, but I found I could force the throttle shut which brought it back to normal. After that it seemed to behave. Until I can lift the tank I won't know what might have happened. Initially I decided not to use the cruise control in case that was binding, but later I used it without any ill effect.
Arrived at the ferry terminal without further incident and in plenty of time, met up with R & J.
Waiting for the ferry
When we took the bikes to queue to board, we had to hang around for an hour or so. It was very cold, but at least it wasn't raining. Total of perhaps 20 bikes finally went on board, and for some reason mine got put where I'll have to back it a long way, and probably will be nearly the last off. But, we're in no particular hurry.
117(?) miles.
Day 1, 25th March: Santander to Salamanca
Got off the ferry, had to queue to get through immigration (in previous years it was just a glance at the passport, now it's check it with a scanner or whatever).
Weather was damp as we left the ferry port, but got colder and wetter. We decided to take the main road and just get to Salamanca. So, cold and wet. Better than cold and icy.
View from hotel window . . . . . . . Bridge
Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A lot of water flowing
244 miles (but it seemed further).
Ok, if you've read this far, you must be interested (or otherwise very bored). To read the rest, click here, or start from the beginning. Not very exciting pictures, but the full gallery is here.
Enjoy.
