Day 2 - Santander to El Campu

Monday 02/05/2016

Had a good night on the boat and slept well. The boat arrived as planned, but as always it was carnage on the motorbike parking deck... Hundreds of bikes packed in so tight that it was almost impossible to walk over and get to our bike. Anyway, the weather was good and within minutes we were on the back roads heading for the Picos. Weather was nice and warm but there was still snow by the side of the road at 1500m. Met some cross country ski guys who were down from Leon for the weekend. Lots of snow high-up.

The twisty roads were hard-work on an under-powered and overloaded bike. We got to see the bronze deer statue though which was nice but were flagging after skipping breakfast. We stopped for a late lunch in a little village in the mountains which was nice and gave us the energy we were missing.

Got to Riano where we planned to camp at a nice place overlooking a big lake. Apparently the snow had only just cleared a week ago so the place was shut. There was nowhere else to camp so we rode on about an hour and checked into a nice rural hotel above a pub full of old boys. Nice enough but no idea what it will cost as nobody speaks English! Have a feeling that we won't be camping much as it's not really on the main tourist route and it's only because of the pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago route that there are any places at all to stay at.

Despite not really being hungry, we ordered another set meal. We got a ridiculous amount of food - proper US portions! Bread, fried bread cake thing, a massive bowl of salad, all before the gargantuan main courses. €12 each - total bargain!

Tomorrow we may try and make-up some time and try to push on to Camino, if possible. The small mountain roads are epic..... as long as you don't have to cover any distance.

Mileage: 330
Beers: 6 + wierd coctail + 3 big vodka's + 3 big red vinos
Ass pain: 4/10 (Krysia) / 1/10 (Me)
Mechanical issues: 0
Accidents: 0
Coldness: 1/10

Day 1 - Swindon to Plymouth

Sunday 01/05/2016

We set off nice and early to catch the boat from Plymouth to Santander. The weather was a little chilly but it was dry, initially. Our son Konrad was parachuting at Dunkeswell down in Devon so we did a slight detour and caught-up with him there - having missed his very early jump.
The weather started turning bad so we carried on to Exeter and the A38. As we got closer to Plymouth it started raining so we just ploughed-on and managed an easy 200 miles on the petrol I already had in the tank. It took an age to get onto the boat which wasn't ideal as the rain worsened.

In any case, our cabin is nice, so we will need to make the most of it before we start roughing it in the tent.

Met a bunch of faces we knew from Swindon on the boat, a lot of chat and funny recollections over a few beers. Good evening.

Great to escape, particularly having left my last job recently and feeling a bit tired in general. Nice to have a bit of freedom. No accommodation booked, only a rough route plan - we will travel where the road leads us with the only real deadline being to make the return crossing!

Mileage: 177
Beers: 6 + wierd coctail + 3 big vodka's
Ass pain: 1/10
Mechanical issues: 0
Accidents: 0
Coldness: 3/10

2 days to go - packing time!

Decided to give the bike a quick once-over and start packing all the important stuff. Noticed that the cush-drive rubbers were half shot again (after a few thousand miles). Shocking, Yamaha must make them out of chocolate..... Did the usual fix of chopping an old inner-tube up and packing the rubber strips in between the sprocket holder and the original cush-drive rubbers. Gives a nice tight fit and should prevent any further wear and slop in the drive-line.

Also spotted that the gear lever was very loose. Awkward access, but it's a nice and tight fit now.

Tyres are not great, but they will do until we get back home. Pumped them up to just above the maximum 2-up pressure as I don't want them over-heating....

Other than that, the bike is fine - having been serviced recently. A bit of checking, oiling, greasing, lubing and unnecessary fettling and she's good to go.

Fixed my tent (replaced a broken pole) and then started putting all of the camping and cooking gear into my new massive LOMO 100 litre dry-bag. Filled the entire bag! It looks silly and encroaches on the rear seat a little - but what can you do when you need to get 2 people's stuff onto one bike.... Might have to re-think this when on the road - I have my old Ortlieb bag in there so may go for a twin stacked arrangement to see if that helps.

Got a couple of spare tubes and some tools loaded-up so we should be OK with any minor issues.

Put a few essentials into the panniers and then pointed-out that the remaining space in one of the panniers was all that my wife is getting for all of her personal items. Looks like she will also be taking a small ruck-sack! I don't need much stuff beyond my bike 'compression' clothing which I can wash on the road and it will dry overnight - so I just need a T-shirt or two and my Bear Grylls survival trousers!

We're good to go!

Route / Plan

Always good to have a plan. Sometimes best not to stick to it too rigidly, but you gotta start somewhere. Here's a starter for 10: -

Day 1 – Sun. 01/05/16 - Swindon > Plymouth ~165 miles (3 hours)

Plymouth to Santander boat sails at 15:45 so we leave Swindon at 09:00 via Bristol / Dunkeswell to visit older son at Uni / Parachuting.

Day 2 – Mon. 02/05/16 (Bank Holiday) – Santander > San Vicente de la Barquera A8 > Unquera N621

> Buelles N-621 > La Hermida N621 > Potes > La Vega > Vejo > Portilla de la Reina
> Riano ~105 miles (4 hours)

Boat arrives in Santander at 12:15 – Road cuts through Picos Mountains

Day 3 – Tue. 03/05/16 – Riano > Retuerto N625 > Casielles > Canga de Onis > Oviedo > Ribadeo ~195

miles (<7 hours)

Camp by the sea somewhere.

Day 4 – Wed. 04/05/16 – Ribadeo > Lugo > Santiago de Compostela > Vigo ~180 miles (5 hours)

Check-out pilgrimage destination and try to cover some distance.

Day 5 – Thu. 05/05/16 – Vigo > Moncao (P) > Braga > Porto > Vila Nova de Gaia ~105 miles (4 hours)

Camp outside of Porto by the beach and get the bus into town for drinks.

Day 6 – Fri. 06/05/16 – Vila Nova de Gaia > Peso da Regua N222 > Pinhao > Macedo de Cavaleiros

> Braganca ~190 miles (<6 hours)

Road runs along first part of Douro Valley before heading North towards Spain

This is where we run out of time so may need to do 2 days in one if we haven't already made-up time:

Day 7 – Sat. 07/05/16 – Braganca > Ponferrada (E) > Villablino ~150 miles (4 hours)

Day 7! – Sat. 07/05/16 –Villablino > Vanes > Aguilar de Campoo ~145 miles (3.5 hours)


Get back into the Picos Mountains for an easy run back to the port.

Day 8 – Sun. 08/05/16 – Aguilar de Campoo > Corconte > Santander ~75 miles (2.5 hours)

Boat leaves at 17:15 so we head-out slowly and stop for lunch en-route.

Day 9 – Mon. 09/05/16 – Portsmouth > Swindon ~80 miles (2 hours)

Boat arrives at 20:45 so we ride straight home.

8 days to go.... but where to go?

This year my bike trip plans didn't really pan-out as expected.....

Plan A - The original plan was for a bike trip that would bring together a lot of my old pals for a drunken adventure around my favourite bike destination - Morocco. This would be the funniest trip of all time as we are all the best of friends since childhood and the possibilities for fun are endless.

Plan B - With limited holiday availability we all decided that perhaps it would make more sense to do something a little closer to home. Boat to Spain and then a loose plan from there.

Weeks passed and it became clear that not everyone could commit the time, money and / or they couldn't get hold of a bike.... On top of that, the Plymouth / Portsmouth to Santander / Bilbao tickets were selling-out fast so a decision had to be made. The alcohol inspired plan was falling apart at the seams.....

Plan C - Does Dino fancy another trip to the continent? Unfortunately Dino's father passed-away so he had to burn a lot of his leave on sorting-out his late father's estate. Dino was out.

Plan D - Go Nomad. I am happy travelling on my own. Whilst not having anyone to share the experience with, you do engage more with the locals, get a better feel for a place and you can do what you want, how you want, when you want. That said, suddenly having to pay a load of extra money for cabins, accommodation, etc. seemed a bit wasteful which led to......

Plan E - Take the wife as a pillion! I normally do these trips as a bit of an escape and I don't mind roughing-it so why take someone who prefers home comforts and doesn't like motorbikes..... I would have even less space for my gear and the bike riding fun would be reduced but: -

1). It didn't cost much more than going solo, so it would be a cheap 'holiday treat' for her.
2). I will have someone who can cook for me.
3). The distances are pretty short so I shouldn't get too many complaints.
4). My mum was happy to 'baby-sit' our 13-yr old.
5). I will have someone to drink Port with in Porto.

So, boat from Plymouth to Santander. Picos de Europa. North Coast of Spain (mostly back-roads). Santiago de Compostela. Northern Portugal and down to Porto. Douro Valley. Back via Spanish back-roads and through the Picos. Ferry from Santander to Portsmouth and home. So only about 1500 miles or so in 9 days (2 days on the boat). Easy.....