madrid - getaria 4 - 6.09.2009

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back to the north, and more specificaly, back to the basque country. i will probably have repeated entries on this region for several reasons. the first being i have family ties to san sebastian and also, i believe it is a beautiful place, with beautiful people, not to mention the food and the great surf (specially during september and february).

there are changes since last entry on the same trip last year. the most obvious one would be the new section of the AP-1 express way that goes from vitoria to eibar, and if you are on a schedule and need to get to san sebastian, it will save you anything from 20 to 45 minutes for just under 6€. it can be a little tricky though to get on the right path. once the first section of the AP-1 is over around miranda de ebro, make sure you follow directions to vitoria/san sebastian on the E-5 (which you´ll see in a little green rectangle in the big blue road signs indicating the different directions). after you drive past vitoria (do not go into the city if you dont need/want to visit vitoria) pay attention to the indications to get on to the AP-1 to san sebastian.

the tricky part

again, when i got to my final destination i did the same route to san sebastian through igueldo as i did last year. there are changes on this road to since they built a new access to the A-8 from the N-634 around orio. you will see a big roundabout past orio on the way to san sebastian, with all the necessary indications. make sure you follow the directions towards igueldo.

thanks eugenia for taking the pic :)
you will see this building at the roundabout on the way to san sebastian from orio on the N-634 take a left here

earlier this summer, i met austin and sara. they are traveling around the world and ended in san sebastian almost by chance. after an unfortunate series of events which brought them from rome to santander and then san sebastian. it all ended up being not unfortunate at all and gave me and my younguest brother the chance to meet two of the most amazing persons ive come across ever. sara is a great photographer and austin is a great surfer and a talented video artist. they were nice enough to make an incredible video of me and my ride on a road that has a special meaning to me since i was a kid.



thanks so much guys :)

we spent the morning on the road, took some time in san sebastian to do things that needed to be done and spent the afternoon in zarautz at the san miguel pro surf world championship.



i had not been to this event in years. it used to happen early in september and used to be sponsored by o.p. instead. then they stopped organising it and now its back. it brought back great memories from the past, and i have to recommend zarautz during this time of the year, there are a lot less people and the weather is usually great. not too hot but still being able to swim in the ocean.

last time i wrote about guetaria i dont think i mentioned my favourite restaurant. if you like fish, you cant leave town without having dinner at "astillero", a familly owned restaurant with the friendliest service and of course, the best food. it will set you back between 30 to 50€ per person, but it is worth every cent. if you are lucky you might get one of the tables overlooking the port of getaria, which is small but absolutely beautiful.

there is another great place for lunch in the san prudencio hostel. a small hostel sorrounded by vineyards and from which you can see the hills falling into the sea. this one is a cheaper option and a great place if you visit the little village of azkizu.


i must insist, this is a great weekend trip from madrid, and i cant wait to do it again, maybe before the cold arrives. i really want to ride arround jaizkibel to fuenterrabia and see the bidasoa river (separates spain from france) from the top of the hill. so ill leave that on my "to do" list for now.

almería

once again i pack my bags and get on the bike. it has been a pretty relaxed summer, so far and the rocket queen has been in the shop with clutch problems for almost a month now not being able to take advantage of the great weather conditions we are having this year.

for the last 2 years i have meant to take a ride along the south of spain with some friends, but i have always had something come up that would not allow me to join them. this year i almost had to miss it, but i managed to make arrangements to join them 3 days into the trip.

the initial plan was to go from madrid to carboneras (almería) to el palmar (cadiz) and back to madrid. due to a little problem plans changed and we stayed in almería the whole time.



before i continue, i will say this has been the very best ride ive taken to date, by far.

the adventure started with me taking out my bike from the workshop after 3 and 1/2 weeks due to clutch discs problems and a tire change. so i loaded my stuff on the bike and off towards almería.

the trip would have been nothing special if it wasn´t for the failure of the clutch as i was approaching la roda (albacete).



i phoned the insurance company and was told that they would cover the tow truck cost to alicante or madrid where the nearest official Harley Davidson Service centre was, however, me and official H.D.S.C. do not get along well, so i decided to pay for the remaining distance to Carboneras. It was an easy decision. I could not let anything stand between me and this trip one more time. so i finally towed the bike all the way and left it at harley dees.



the place is run by tim and julie, a very nice couple that somehow ended in almería and set up this amazing joint where you can have a cold beer, get a tatoo or have your bike serviced. they are closed on mondays and tuesdays, so i left the bike parked there over night and they were nice enought to come and check out what was wrong on tuesday morning.

while my bike was at harley dees, my friend decided to rest while i borrowed his heritage softail deluxe.


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the softail was incredible. i was shocked to find out how easy it is to handle and how ligght it was, regardless of its appearance. it was my first time on a softail and now i really would like to buy one.

the tour was a really nice combination of arid landscapes and sea, and extremely hot temperatures.

agua amarga has a nice beach and its a great place to9 have a cold drink in the town´s "plaza".

as you ride past fernan pérez you come across abandoned villages, quaries... great sites for taking really cool pictures.

For lunch or dinner i highly recommend la isleta, where you can taste some of the local flavours while overlooking the sea. it is a little pricey, but worth every cent.

our next stop was cabo de gata. a protected national park with breathtaking views of the mediterranean coast.



some of the places in the area have been chosen as film locations for great movies in the past. near cabo de gata, in san josé, there is monsul, where the famous indiana jones and the last crusade scene where sean connery scares the seaguls with an umbrella, was shot. also lawrence of arabia and doctor zhivago had scenes shot in the area.



if you take a tour to tabernas as we did once tim, from harley dees, fixed my bike, you can go to the filming locations of most spaghetti western movies shot in the 60´s and 70´s. 3 of the main old film sets are still there. we chose "western leone" and we found out it was the right choice.



the people were really friendly, and at the time we were there there were absolutely no tourists, which allowed the stunt doubles to tell us all sort of stories and experiences.


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riding to tabernas i experienced the hottest temperatures i have ever felt. at one point i almost stopped the bike because i thought it was on fire. i started checking the engine for flames, the tank... everything seemed to be fine other than me, i was burning due to the hot air in the desert. the landscape also felt like nevada or new mexico. had i been riding a horse i would have really felt like a real cowboy...



at night we tried several places, but the award has to go to no other than jo´s bar. this place is hard to find, but when you do get there you literaly ride into a one of a kind place turned into a pirate village for bikers. if you get there by bike, you can ride your bike into the place. if you drive there there is a car park outside. bar tenders are really friendly and just like real pirates, you can ask to taste their own personal brand of rum. music is rock of course and they are open 23:30 till 4:30 am aproximately.

after jo´s closes, you can always take a short 2 minute ride to "la haima" just by the beach, or if you preffer a more clubby atmosphere, you can ride up to mojacar where you´ll find loads of different places to have a few drinks and dance till the early hours in the morning. the road to mojacar is a lot of fun on the bike during the day, perfect for a short ride before you jump into the beach.

the last night, when we were on the way back to carboneras, we saw this huge red glow coming out of the mountains near carboneras. it was a bush fire that caused the town of mojacar to be evacuated and loads of families had to find refuge in carboneras´public schools... the next morning we had breakfas while we saw the fire fighting planes collect water from the sea to put the fire out, after which we got on the road back to madrid.



all in all, i have to say, next year i would love to come back to almería for a few days. it has been a great experience i would love to repeat.

pastrana

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today i talk about a short route worth exploring.

the reason behind this route is a good friend´s wedding, which took place in an old convent in pastrana. i have to say, the place was fantastic and provided the guests with a great way to spend a summers night under a sky full of stars and far from madrid´s heat.

pastrana is known for being the place where Philip II of Spain imprisoned the Princess of Éboli during the late 1500´s.

the town has great places to eat and are easy to find. the town ain´t too big. its also very nice to walk around and apreciate the different buildings left behind by the middle ages.

i originally planned to take a ride around the area, but was not able to due to the busy schedule and the need to help the groom with last details before the ceremony. however, there are 2 reservoirs in the area and 2 nuclear powerplants which provide with pretty interesting sights.

most of the area is sorounded by fields dedicated to hunting and small villages. loads of turns and plenty of ingredients for an enjoyable ride.



i will post the route i originally planned in case it is of any use and i will add it to my to do list... i would love to take a dip in any of the 2 manmade lakes.


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to do : madrid - burgos - fuente dé

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this route ive done over the last weekend by car.

i started in madrid, but since the way till burgos is all highway i should emphasize the road between burgos and fuente dé.



this road has beautiful landscapes. roads runing between huge mountains, cliffs and rocks... along valleys, small canyons and rivers carrying water from the ice melting in the mountains... its packed with history, full of oportunities to appreciate some of the most important romanic architecture you can see and of course, great food.

i will not say i unfortunately came by car because of the meaning and the reasons behind driving this weekend, but i will definitely have to do this on the queen during this summer.



places you must stop at...

potes, you can have dinner at casa cayo and walk around this beautiful town.

santo toribio de liébana, where you can see the monastery, and take pictures at the top, there is really a great view and a small chappel worth visiting.



mogrovejo, a beautiful little town with more breathtaking views, this time from the bottom.



fuente dé... this is the final destination. we stayed at the parador which was spectacular! the area is fantastic if you like nature, or if you just want to ride around... it is even better if you love your good food ;)



one thing you should do is take the cable car (next to the parador) to the top and take the 14km hike back down. come prepared, with a camera, water and some food. remember the mountain is no joke, but it is an experience you wont forget. there is a restaurant and a hotel along the path, but you never know when you will burn all the sugar you have and bringing a little something is always helpful, specially if you just wanna sit down and appreciate the peace and calm of the mountains.

this trip becomes so much better with good company :)

mallorca

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easter holidays seem to be a perfecrt post cold weather long weekend trip. sun has been out for a month, then hiding for the last 2 weeks but teasing... the day before leaving madrid on the way to the islands, the weather was still unclear. some people said rain while others placed their bets on the sunny option maybe out of optimism rather than realism. however, after all, weather was pretty ok. no rain, sunny but cold. some times a few clouds threatened but never executed.

the way there was simple. again (i have done this quite a few times now) i headed east on the A-3 towards valencia... you can take the AP-36 for which youll have to pay, so i preffer the low budjet tour (note this is a weekend trip, otherwise highways would be AVOIDED). just before hitting valencia, i headed south on the AP-7 towards denia where i boarded the ferry to palma de mallorca. the ferry is 5 hours in total including a 1 or 1.5 hours stopover in ibiza. this is the fast ferry and if you smoke, you can only go out on deck to smoke while arriving at the port and while the boat has stopped. the long one allows you to go out on deck but takes 11 hours. You can board a ferry to palma de mallorca from denia, valencia or barcelona, denia being the shortest ride.

the strech from valencia to denia has great landscapes and well... i just love it when you start seeing and smelling the sea after a long road trip.

if i have any advise for the ferry, earphones or earplugs woud be it. unless you get yourself a first class ticket you are going to be sorrounded by people from the rural and not so rural areas of spain that think that there is absolutely no one else on the boat apart from them.

once you are through with the ferry, the real story starts.

mallorca is the biggest of the balearic islands and this time, i went to meet up with a bunch of friends from the spanish sportster portal.

as soon as i got to palma, 2 very nice friends picked me up from the port to bring me to have dinner at lo de seba. this was followed by leaving the luggage in the hotel and drinks at the flinstones which was near the hotel and allowed us to get our fair share of drinks without having to think of "how much can i drink before im unable to ride back?"

i was the last one to arrive to the island so friday was my first real riding day in the island.

friday 10.04.2009


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our starting point was the hotel. we were picked up by a motorcycle group called "angeles guardianes" formed by police and military bikers who would serve as our tour guides for the next 2 days. the route went roughly from portals towards inca and alcudia before heading to cabo formentor.

photo by "lemon"

narrow roads with old stone walls on the sides separating the road from the farmers´ fields made it quite a unique landscape. the backdrop slowly changed as we went north, cloudy rocky mountains gradualy turned into a beautiful coastal postcard with breathtaking views from the island´s cliffs.

cabo formentor

the problem of being such a big group is that i would have loved to stop over in more places, but having everything organised and being a group of about 50 bikes made this extremely dificult. we did stop somewhere around inca at a bar called la guarida, where more bikers from the area joined us.

lunch was in alcudia where i would have liked to spend some more time to walk around the port and explore the area, but i could only add it to my to do list. I need to come back to the island on my own or with a much smaller group of people.

after lunch we all headed to the "arenal" where we wraped up the day at a bar right by the beach. this area looks like the perfect place to have an early dinner, not far from palma. if you like to walk by the beach, this is one place you will enjoy for sure.

s'arenal

dinner on friday was something i should recommend. "las terrazas beach club" is not too far from palma in the town of illetas. it is a little pricey, but worth every single penny and the service is effective and friendly. we were there just for dinner, but i bet its a perfect place to have a few drinks and maybe chill by the sea at their lounge.

we chose to head down to palma for drinks after dinner and ended at motown at the "paseo marítimo". if you like 50´s, 60´s and 70´s rock... this is your place. we were lucky enough to be there for a great concert by a local band playing hits by elvis and artists alike. great atmosphere at a small sized venue with a friendly staff. i must mention the very good looking waitresses that ended up dancing on the bar, "coyote ugly style"!

saturday 11.04.2009


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saturday is by far, the day that made me want to go back to mallorca for more. the road around the south of the island and "costa de los pinos" was something i need to do with more time. one morning is definitely not enough. one day does not seem like it would be enough.

the landscapes are much more arid looking, lacking in mountains but rich in tranquility. we did stop somewhere on the way to port colom just by the road and looked over a massive cliff on the coast. not like cabo formentor, but still, breathtaking.

photo by "salva"

porto colom was our next stop. this is a beautiful small town. very quiet and a very nice little port. we had only a few minutes to grab a drink before we continued our way to lunch, which in my opinion was our biggest mistake this weekend. i wanted to stay here, for lunch, dinner and overnight had i known!

portocolom

lunch was in a town called petra just next to manacor (birthplace of worlds number 1 tennis player, rafael nadal). i´m not sure if it was out of frustration that i was not impressed at all. i kept thinking of how much of the island we had toured and how little we had seen. so i expressed myself, told a bunch of guys i wanted to go somewhere and take my time to take some pics and maybe walk around. some wanted to join, in fact, i was surprised because the group ended up being bigger than i thought. the initial idea was 2, maybe 4 bikes, and a total of 9 bikes ended up joining.

we headed towards soller, another small port with great views and sorrounded by mountains. there we were threatened by a dark cloud but we ended not seeing the rain. we chilled by the sea for some time before heading back to the hotel before dinner, and that really helped my mood (note to self, travel in small groups when possible).

soller

saturday evening was looked at with caution. we had scheduled dinner at Es3 in palma, and i had to board my ferry back to denia at 7:00am. i knew that i would risk missing the ferry if i went to bed late, and spanish dinners finish late almost always. so i went for dinner, then drinks near the hotel again and decided to go straight to the ferry with no sleep so i could sleep through the whole trip all the way to denia and be rested for the hardest part back to madrid.

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the way back from denia to madrid i did with 2 good friends. we decided to avoid the A3 to stay away from heavy traffic caused by people returning from their holy week holidays.

we rode to xátiva which was nice enough and then to albacete and la roda. if you have a chance you should try the typical cakes in la roda (miguelitos). here we got on the AP36 which i avoided on the way to denia which for just over 13€ took us all the way to ocaña. then we were in madrid in a heartbeat.

overall, i loved this trip. i would have loved more time to myself and less organization. however i need to say thank you to olga, salva, pepe and edgar for organising and the rest of the guys and girls that joined the trip, we did have a blast and are all looking forward to repeat next year.