Time for some motorcycling in Europe.
The journey started by heading Southwest to Plymouth, to catch the ferry to Santander in Northern Spain.
From there, I headed inland into the mountains and hills, spending my first night in the hilltop town of Laguardia in the Rioja wine-making region.
From there, I took a back roads route back to the coast, just over the border in France at Hendaye from where I picked up the Route Des Cols Des Pyrenees, a road of passes across the Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.
Over a number of days, I rode some fantastic roads (roads that sometimes scare you), mostly in France but sometimes crossing into Spain, plus a detour into Andorra, staying overnight at Lourdes, Gavarnie, Bagneres Du Luchon, Llivia (a tiny Spanish enclave, or “exclave” surrounded by France) and Collioure.
From there, I crossed back into Spain and travelled to Barcelona to meet Amanda and Zac for a few days, to enjoy the city and to attend the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya just outside the city. We enjoyed our time there and the event itself.
Afterwards, I travelled onwards across central Southern Spain, visiting Belchite enroute to stay at Albarracin, then the city of Toledo, and then into the region of Extremadura via the Cabaneros National Park, taking in Trujillo, Merida, Badajoz and the wide-open spaces of this thinly populated region, followed by an overnight stay just over the border at Esperanca in Portugal.
Next was a ride heading vaguely due North through Extremadura and into Portugal, to stay at Freixo De Espada A Cinta in Portugal, then heading up to the edge of the Picos de Europa Mountains in Northern Spain at the spectacularly located town of Riano for a couple of nights.
After Riano, I moved to the town of Potes for a three night stay, and continued with some enjoyable explorations of the region.
At the, it was a return ride to Santander followed by an overnight stay onboard ahead of disembarking at Plymouth. En route home, it detoured into Totnes to catch our friend Heidi, and then into Payhembury (near Honiton) to see Fuzz, to arrange our visits to Knepp.