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Thanks guys.
Europe, Day 10. Barcelona (Spain) to Bilbao (Spain) – 380+miles
Not quite to the ferry port as still about 35min from there. This was a hard slog as I was so settled in the previous campsite, I also only wanted to pitch the tent once more so knew I had to get as close to the ferry port as I could in one hit so I could do as short a journey as possible to catch the ferry on the 21st. It was however in places the best part of the whole journey due to me wanting food and fuel so left the motorway into a sleepy village that just had a bar/restaurant and a petrol station, unfortunately they were both closed lol. My satnav now perked up once again and gave me a new route. I expected it to just take me back on to the motorway at the next junction, it had other ideas tho and OMG what a route! It took me back into the mountains and it really was breathtaking; it looked just like the old spaghetti westerns with beautiful rock formations, old bridges that were now forgotten and ruined, reservoirs, dams, rapids, kayaks, underwater trees… there were so many different birds of prey too, am sure I spooked an eagle which escorted me away from its nest flying at the same height as me no more than 10m away for over 50m or so, it was huge!
Catherine, you would have loved the rapids, the kayaking looked so much fun
. The water was beautiful and mesmerising as it was reflecting the colours of the sky with such an eary glow. As I got closer to another set of mountains the weather became more and more storm like and the temp dropped quite a bit. There was fresh snow on the peaks and it started to rain quite hard so I braced myself to get very cold and very wet…. then, once again, my awesome satnav for no reason at all sent me off the road I was on and took me around the clouds away from the rain until we had passed it, then about 10miles later it put me back on the original road beyond the reach of the bad weather! This holiday has been an amazing adventure, made so perfect by my rash (others may say stupid) choices and a total overwhelming amount of shear luck and good fortune. I honestly can’t imagine how I have been so lucky, it makes no sense at all, but WOW, yes please, I’ll take all the good luck going while it lasts! Even the route into the campsite had no open petrol stations until I really was worrying I was gonna run out with over 185 miles already ridden on the current tank full. I was doing everything I could to conserve fuel, even not slowing down for corners so I’d not have to accelerate again after. When I really thought there was no way it could keep running I came across a Repsol forecourt and filled up. Turned out I still had around 5l in the tank and could have probs gone another 60miles, but I didn’t know that till then. What a bloody fantastic bike
As I pulled into the campsite I was greeted by a thick Dublin accent and a smile, Paul and his lovely wife Clare,were just at the end of their holiday too so we shared stories and laughs and even their beer!
Another chap called Trevor who was from London but now lives in Tenerife and an ex-Para heard us chatting so joined us too. It rained quite hard in the night but my tent kept the water out, it was soaking on the outside tho so really needs a good airing: “Look after your tent and your tent will look after you!” I am sure my dad taught me that? In times while I have been writing this diary I have honestly been close to tears of joy. If you love bikes and want to go on an adventure just go out and get it done! I am not saying leave your textiles/leathers/towel/spare clothes at home like I did (this was just how I wanted to do this trip), but just find a route and go explore! Thanks to Mic, Catherine, Marco, The owner of the campsite that gave me a lift, Bernardo and Fredrick, John, Paul and Clare, Trevor, Douglas, Bill and most of all my satnav that made the whole thing work out properly