25th aniversary, big twin club - spain

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It has been my first time in castellon´s big twin club gathering. i have always heard of it but for one reason or another i was never able to make it.

the trip, once again, was simple and pretty fast, considering we could only count with the luxury of a weekend for the trip (i need a holiday). on this occasion, we were 4 bikes for most of the trip. of course it is always a lot more fun when there is good company, but other than that, the journey was pretty much the same as the one to alicante. however, i would like to mention... there is a servired a.t.m. at "el rebollar". you can refuel, eat, buy cigarettes and withdraw some cash should you need it. i thought this would be a useful piece of information since i have seen myself in situations where im on the road and i only have a credit card but no actual cash. so there.

around sagunto, we met up with other friends who had started the ride slightly before us. the group grew in number of riders from 4 bikes to 10. most of us went to a hotel in the city centre, and a couple decided to camp.

dropped our stuff in the hotel and headed for the show. you probably know the drill... beer, concerts, bikes, parts, clothes... first night we took it fairly easy.



saturday we were back in the show by 1pm. had a little ride to "parque del meridiano" where the organisers had arranged some beer and paella for everyone. thumbs up for them, that was one tasty paella with rabbit they served.

later me and my friends rode to the port area, sat down at a "terraza" opposite a bar called la pacheca. la pacheca was closed and unfortunately our only option was that bar on the corner with crap drinks and a horrible service. avoid the horchateria in the corner.



back to the show to see the actual contest. there were bikes from all over the world, including the u.s. of a., italy, germany, france and of course, plenty of local bikes. i loved the one presented by 1903 biker store.



a vary tastefully constructed bobber, originally a softail springer with an indian larry gas tank and a great paint job.



txus is also the guy who has done most of the work on my ride, except for the handle bar.

the winner was this very cool but uncomfortable looking build by t-sable from mejorada del campo in madrid.

note the space between the spokes is covered with stingray skin or galuchat. it also had other details covered in this beautiful material such as grips and some screws. gas goes in the frame itself although i tend to wonder how much gas goes into this anyway considering how hard it must be to ride this.

after all the bikes were displayed i wondered around the venue looking at all sorts of rides and people in the search of that one great shot, looking for t-shirts and other things and accessories i probably didnt need. luckily for my wallet, i ended up limiting my activities to people watching and admiring a couple of rides which were not showcased in the contest.



before the prizes were awarded for the bikes, i bumped into my friends again and we headed back to "la pacheca". we met up with a couple more friends who came late on saturday, one of which i had not seen in a long time. enjoyed some nice and cold beers dressed with a very pleasant conversation... which is what makes thes meets so wonderful after all.

well... one thing i was convinced this blog was lacking... places to eat. let me just say, i would have never imagined i would find such place so near la pacheca or in castellon.

this is important. if you find yourself in this city, make it a point to find a restaurant called "mesón el paso" in alvaro de bazan 3. i had a great "guisado de toro" (bull stew) and a beer. not only it was one of the best stews i have ever tried in a restaurant, but it was also very cheap. i paid for my drink the stew and some bread that came with the stew the crazy amount of €5.30!!!!!

this price today, in spain... is unheard of. at least in a city. really worth a try if you ask me.

the rest of the night went as smooth as the previous one, with the difference that we managed to see deep purple play a pretty ok concert, considering how old they are already!



back home by 2.30am and rest for the way back.

it was 9 bikes riding back to madrid with the occasional tag along that joined for a couple of miles before taking a detour to their final destination.

all in all... again i cant talk much about the riding itself since it was pretty much the same as the alicante one. but still, a great weekend trip with great people.

madrid on 2 wheels

as an exception to the norm... i would like to dedicate an entry to madrid, the city where i was born. it is also a city i absolutely love and i consider many people from madrid do not know as well as they could. it is a city with character and a lot of secrets... i know, plenty of cities have character and secrets, but i like the ones in madrid very much. it is after all a personal opinion, may be biased and maybe not. i could also mention things i don't like about this city, and i may point them out a little later as things to avoid, just bear in mind, you might end up liking the things i don't, but i will be as objective as possible.

for some time now, me and a couple of good friends dedicate thursday nights to good food, good cañas, and good music (there goes my objectivity). for those not familiar with spanish culture, a caña, is a fairly small glass of beer (compared to the size of glasses and jugs our neighbours in the north of europe are used to), and we do take a lot of pride in our cañas... like a pint of guiness, you don´t just pour it... it has to be served the right way. so let me start with a couple of places you might want to try a well poured caña in madrid.


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a good place to start would be "el doble" (A) which is in c/ponzano 58. its a small neighbourhood traditional bar and they are probably the best at serving cañas. on the downside... dont expect the traditional free tapa to go with it, if you eat something you will probably have to pay for it.

el cantabrico, in c/padilla 39 (B) is another place where you will have the chance to try one of the best cañas in the city. this neighbourhood bar is specialised in seafood and for a reasonable price you will have access to some of the best seafood you can get away from the coast.

my favourite place in this part of the city however, has to be "cazorla". note there are 4 "branches" of this bar/restaurant. i have only tried 3 of them and they are walking distance from each other. i will recomend the one next to "cantábrico". it´s just down the road on the corner of c/padilla and c/general pardiñas (B).

here you will be able to have some very impressive cañas and probably the best typical southern spanish food to be found in madrid. i would have to recommend that you never leave without trying the "cazon en adobo".

my next stop would have to be la latina. this neighbourhood has been gaining popularity over the last couple of years and it has become the epicentre of the bohemian and artistic characters of the city who always seem to bring with them a series of more irrelevant spectators who are there to see and be seen without really providing any originality to the area.

you will find a generally young and trendy crowd here, although variety would be a more appropiate term to describe the many bars, pubs, cafes and clubs that populate one of the oldest parts of the spanish capital.

park your bikes where c/del almendro intersects with c/costanilla de san pedro (C) and enjoy. once you hit this area you will find it difficult to stop and go home.

a good place to start would be "la mulata", just down c/del almendro where you will be able to enjoy good drinks, including wine, and some pretty good bites... if you have not had dinner and you think it might be too late to find a place... try la mulata.

on the way back to where you left your bikes... still on c/del almendro, you have "la turuleta", one of the few places you can still have a nice cappuccino at a very strange time of the night.

opposite la turuleta you have el mentidero and well... pretty much any place on that street will allow you to indulge in some of the best food you might try in madrid.

a classic is el almendro 13, but during lunch and dinner hours it is virtually impossible to find a table and you might have to wait for a long long time. go early, its worth it for the "huevos rotos" and its "roscas".

the best mojitos you can try in the country might just be a stone throws away... in this little but always packed deli/bar called "delic" (plaza de la paja). also famous for their cakes and great atmosphere, if you are lucky you might be able to sit outside for a more comfortable experience, but i think its more fun inside ;)

also on plaza de la paja, you have the bar "timon" although this might be more suitable for when you are not so sure if you should be getting back on the bike. a good point to visit before heading to "marula cafe" in c/ caños viejos 3 (D). this is probably my favourite club in the neighbourhood (i still have to visit the very famous berlin cabaret). its not big, it has a terrace to sit outside in the summer months and they serve great drinks. if you like gin & tonics try it with hendrick´s gin and a slice of cucumber instead of lemon. music will probably be some great rn´b (the real one, not the one you hear in mtv), funk and some good house at times. you will definitely have plenty of reasons to dance ;)

you can pretty much end the night in marula or leave when its packed at 2 or 3am. then i would head to "el junco" which is in plaza de santa barbara (E). similar to marula, but slightly bigger. if you are there earlier you might catch a live band and they are regularly pretty good.

if you still have energy or you feel that you need to refuel... have a meal... hey!!! its somewhere in the range of 5 to 7 am!!!! where can you have a meal in this city????

thats when you head to lady pepa (F).

this would be worthy of a post by itself. i cant think of anywhere else where you can enjoy a nice plate of spaghetti, callos (if you like them) or lentils at 5, 6 or 7am...

you might read/hear things like "the best spaghetti in madrid...", "it is not a restaurant, it is a treasure..."

it might seem like they are the best spaghetti in the world considering your likely state by the time you hit this legend. one thing is for sure, you will never forget this experience.

go to c/ de san lorenzo and look for the "cafe teatro lady pepa", knock on the door and when it opens, tell him/her/it you are going for dinner, yes, tell them what i said regardless of the time... you will be shown the way downstairs towards a narrow long room with tables on the sides where, if there is enough space, you will be seated. its not cheap, but at those weeeeeee hours... who cares?

if you are lucky you might see someone who spontaneously decides to start playing the piano located at the end of the room, or someone playing guitar... most times everyone ends up joining and singing and clapping... until it gets too loud and isaac, the owner exercises his authority to keep noise levels down. he will confiscate the guitars if he has to, so have fun but don't get carried away. its part of the game.

by the time you are done... you will be done, literally... go home, go back to your hotel and be happy you survived.

more on madrid in a near future.

madrid - alicante

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i am not sure if i should name this post "highway to hell", it was a 5 hour ride for a not very pretty part of the country. the downside in travelling relatively long distances over the weekend has to be the lack of time to take a more interesting road, however, there are a few highways that run through the iberian peninsula which are surrounded by impressive landscapes. on the way to alicante from madrid, one can enjoy the vast plains of the provinces of toledo and albacete in castilla la mancha. i like the scenery along this route for its colours, varied and suddenly changing as you ride through some of the most arid parts of the country. you can go from a vast piece of land where fiery red and ocres dominate the landscape to a combination of greens on the farms´fields and pastel tones in the sky during sunset. riding in the evening towards the south east of spain can be compared to walking in a museum admiring a series of paintings. of course, the experience would have been 10,000 times better on smaller roads going through the small towns and villages of the region... oh well, next time.

once in alicante its a tough choice. it is far from being my favourite part of the country. the east of spain, or rather what is known as "levante"(1), is famous for its rice. note it is important that you know, paella, not payella like some people insist in pronouncing, is typical from valencia, while in alicante, they are very proud of their rice, and if you see something that looks like a paella, it might just be a rice dish.

having said that, i have to say, the big problem with this area is tourism. cheap and absolutely massified tourism, both international and domestic. there are plenty of very popular destinations for english/german/scandinavian retired people combined with some of the most uneducated domestic crowd (this might sound horrible and elitist, but if you do go, and are a little knowledgeable in spanish culture, you will understand. the shoreline in some cities and towns have been developed and bombarded with huge skyscrapers, which makes a pretty crowded and horrible looking coast, but there are little oasis where you can escape this and immerse yourself in a beautiful enclave of tranquillity and natural beauty.


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i decided to go to cabo de palos on saturday. i took the n-332 south from alicante to cartagena. my biggest mistake was to do this during the month of august. if you really want to enjoy this area, its advisable to come during the second week of september, after everybody has returned to their cities of origin or during may, before everybody in spain decides to go on holiday at the same time. weather is a little colder, but still good enough to go for a dip in the sea, not to mention prices are almost half all over the place.



other than the ridiculous traffic i encountered on this road, the only highlight i could possibly mention are the salt mines you encounter in and around torrevieja. some say flamingos frequent the area, but i did not see any.

tired of traffic and roundabouts, as i passed san pedro del pinatar, i took the expressway to reach my final destination.

cabo de palos aint big, its a small village which is, in a way, the beginning of "la manga del mar menor" another over exploited and over developed tourist destination. if you are looking for a little privacy and lonely contemplation, you can ride along the marina in cabo de palos, towards the light house, make a right and you will find a place to park. from there you can walk and find a nice cove to swim in the mediterranean. you can go scuba diving in this area, if you are not, careful with the sea urchins... if you are, don expect the corals and marine life of the philippines, but its probably the best place to dive in spain.



i enjoyed my lunch at a relative´s so i wont be able to recommend any place, but i remember seeing small bars/restaurants at the marina, and the fish in the area is fantastic, so do give that a try.

the way back to alicante was done throught the expressway. i almost made it on time for dinner. had arranged a dinner with friends around playa de san juan before hitting the local bars.

we went to a place called italia & asia... being in alicante i reckon you should avoid this place. the starters were ridiculously small, i ordered a mushroom risotto as a main and it was ALSO so small it was not even big enough to be a side dish... the dessert was tasty, but again... small... i was so hungry by the end of dinner i wish i could have found one more place to have something else, but we headed to this bar called frontera where my hunger was killed by a couple of beers...

the bar was decorated with a biker theme, the band was pretty good as well... and the dj who played after the band was great as well. good, friendly atmosphere... great ingredients for a good night that made up for the horrible dinner.

the way back to madrid was done through the same route except for the last half, where i decided to take the toll way. much less traffic for not a very high price.

i also stopped for some food in a little town 14 km before reaching albacete. the place is chinchilla. very friendly people, great food and they seem to know their bikes. regardless of it being a really small town there is an apparently important motorcycling group. so don't be surprised to see plenty of bikes and bikers in town meeting up at the bar for a little gathering among friends.

again, travelling in spain can be a delicate thing during the last weekend of august, there are loads of people returning home from their summer holidays causing loads of congestion on the road, also watch out for careless drivers who don't respect bikes... this time i did not see as much traffic as i expected, the economical situation and fuel prices must have something to do, still... september is so much better for long trips.

on a last note... this is the first trip with the new 12" Z-bar... much more comfortable than the stock, i love the riding position although it feels a little more unstable when turns in speeds of 140 - 160 km/h. it is still fairly easy to handle, and hands are at shoulder height. also, removing the hand controls and using smaller buttons for lights and horn has proved to be very comfortable to and not only better looking. it might take a while to get used to the new situation of the buttons but it is definitely worth it. i´m seeing the bike turn into what i had in mind slowly :)