The "we been through every kind of rain" ride report

paintman

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I wanted to visit a pal in Lloret De Mar who stopped work in the UK in Jan 12, purchased an old Hymer wobble box and was last seen wobbling south in search of a alternative and warmer life. Noticing that the ever enthusiastic and all round good egg that is Wapping of this parish had planned one of his excellent wanders to Dijon I figured this was a good opportunity to stitch together a little ride.
Friday 24th May ( the big old fat rain day)
Left home around noon in rain, filtered miles on M25 mostly with my visor up as as my pinlock anti fog visor was fogged up :confused:ferried across to Calais and arrived at the highly recommended Ibis in St-Omer without riding a single dry mile.
Saturday 25th May ( occasional big old fat rain day)
Having met up with the other runners and riders on this jaunt we trundled down to Dijon, several very angry clouds mistimed their attack as we were stopped in a cafe for a break, but others got us with both barrels fair and square. We arrived at Wapping's pre selected Hotel de le Poste north of Dijon and near the source of the Seine in a rare moment of sunshine, however low evening temperatures determined that this lovely courtyard would remain unused tonight.:(


Sun 26th May ( although overcast with a few spots of rain, driest day of the week)
A fantastic day hooning around Cote D Ore on some of the finest roads in France, fast sweeping bends and very little traffic.

Mon 27th May (Little bitty stingin` rain.)
After plotting a scenic route across central France with Wappings help I bade fair well to my fellow travelers and set off, Autun-Roanne-St-Etienne the hard to find but fantastic D500 and on to Mende before the much traveled and photographed Georges du Tarn.





A very pleasant and dry day (so far) but as is often the way of things when taking the scenic route my sat nav ETA was getting away from me at an alarming rate, so I got on the toll road above Millau (A75)

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=231364&stc=1&d=1370215147

and pounded the motorway, as I approached the Spanish border the clouds gathered and down it came again,:rolleyes:

To be continued
 

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I can't ever see me on THAT bridge!

There's some good riding around your destination and I look forward to hearing where you went.
 
I can't ever see me on THAT bridge!

Why you say that?

Hugely impressive as a design and engineering achievement,it`s no great sensation or bother to actually traverse it.
True,on a clear day the views are stunning,but it just feels and looks like a slightly longer Flint road bridge.
I`m sure you`ve ridden THAT one okay.
 
Why you say that?

Hugely impressive as a design and engineering achievement,it`s no great sensation or bother to actually traverse it.
True,on a clear day the views are stunning,but it just feels and looks like a slightly longer Flint road bridge.
I`m sure you`ve ridden THAT one okay.

Yes they are very pretty but they do give me the collywobbles sometimes, and sometimes you just can't avoid them. :(
 
To be honest there are so many barriers on that bridge you cant see much over the sides, so no problem really.

The rain was pretty fierce as I skirted the Pyrenees's, arriving at my pals campsite in Lloret de Mar just after 9 pm, 750 fecking miles today, I was cattle trucked so a quick chinese and bed down in my posh tent (is there such a thing ?)


Tues 28th May (fat dry rain day)

I had worked with charlie for many years, when 18 months ago he told me he had had enough of feeling like the hamster in the ever spinning wheel, working ever harder to pay the ever increasing tax bills, his daughter had started work so he felt the time was right to do something different. He sold the house, bought a wobbly box and off he went with his wife Paula.
They have traveled mainly in Spain and Portugal although they wintered in Morroco this year, during this time they were offered seasonal work (6 mths approx) managing campsites, concerned about the rate their savings were being spent they decided to take the work, they started training a few weeks ago, and now manage a site in Lloret. We spent the day together catching up a having a walk into town, as usual it was raining.


Squeezed in between the Kabab shop and Mc Donalds was the church of Sant Roma.


The beach bed attendant had had enough and was packing the beds away at lunchtime so we followed suit and retired back to the campsite poolbar for a few beers and an ogle at the birds in the pool.


It was too cold even for the children, 10 degrees c and thunderstorms all night.

Weds 29th May ( white fluffy rain)
Time to move on although the morning sky did not encourage me.


A quick coffee, a goodby kiss and away we go.




Their parting retort was F off back home and take that fecking black cloud with you, which naturally I did.:(
Ps. My pals were delighted with the outcome of their decision and I have never seen them so content.
I headed north and picked up the N260 which runs along the south side of the Pyrenees, a road containing a mixture of sweeping bends, hairpins and a few cols which although they only rise to about 1500 mtrs it was sufficient to turn rain into snow above about 1200 mtrs, it was very cold and I learned later in the day that many roads were later to become impassable particularly near the French border and Andora. Sadly no pics today as the weather made for slow progress and my target town of Jaca at the end of the 260 was perhaps a bit ambitious given the conditions.
TBC
 
:thumb
Love the N260, must go back something.
More plz mister.....
 
Yes they are very pretty but they do give me the collywobbles sometimes, and sometimes you just can't avoid them. :(

hello mate - ive ridden over it on a windy day (and a lot of people kno whow i cant ride in crosswinds) and i found it was absolutely fine! It has wind screens up which work a treat. The bridge to the east of Caen is my worst scariest one ever :D I rode north bound on that one and nearly put my foot down as my brain wouldnt stop steering me into the kerb for some reason. I shit myself for no apparant reason.
 
Why you say that?

Hugely impressive as a design and engineering achievement,it`s no great sensation or bother to actually traverse it.
True,on a clear day the views are stunning,but it just feels and looks like a slightly longer Flint road bridge.
I`m sure you`ve ridden THAT one okay.
Sorry to carry on "off-topic", but I must say that I love the Millau bridge, one other thing that makes it unusual is the fact that it isn't straight, meaning that you can see it from the side even when you are crossing it. Most times when on a bridge you can only see its road surface and upper structure.

When I'm anywhere in the area I find myself drawn to it and always cross it a couple of times for the joy of it, it is gorgeous. :)
 
Someone on here had recommended hotel charle just north of Jaca

http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...=/search?q=hotel+charle+jaca&biw=1366&bih=596

and having visited my pal Charlie it seemed a good idea, and indeed it was, safe parking, English speaking and a fine restaurant to, so having showered for about 30 mins to warm up I went downstairs and was reminded of what a joy traveling on your own can be when an Aussie farmer and his wife started chating and invited me to join them for dinner, an interesting conversation followed, one of the topics discussed was what the hell do you have to do get vegetables in a Spain ? huge plates of meat and chips but no veg:confused:

Thursday 30th May Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath.

All hopes of a dry last day were soon dashed by by early morning weather reports on the TV, :eek at least I was able to put on my waterproof babygrow before getting wet for once:rolleyes: I set the gps for Bilbao and headed out of Jaca, before long I noticed folks in waterproofs next to the road trudging along heads down battling the rain and wind, these were pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago,
http://www.caminoadventures.com/
 

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It occurred to me that riding a bike across Spain in the rain was a darn sight easier than walking it!
It also occurred to me whoever said the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain probably had never been there.


I am no expert in water engineering but I doubt there will be a hosepipe ban in Northern Spain this year.


I Passed by Pamplona and wondered if the running of the bulls was happening than figured health and safety would probably not allow it in these conditions.;) before long I was in Bilbao port in a queue of a 50 or so very wet bikers.

Boarded the Cap Finistere bound for Portsmouth, took one last look back,


And for once was quite happy to be returning home, other than loudspeaker warnings of severe weather, outside decks closed and advice to remain seated or take great care when moving around.


TTFN
John.
 
Boy have you been unlucky with the weather another year and it could be a heat wave at that time.:eek
 
Aww feck, you couldn't have been more unlucky with the weather :eek: Still looks like you had fun though :)

If you even think about bringing your cloud with you this weekend............. :mad:

Andres
 
North west Spain rain

I wanted to visit a pal in Lloret De Mar who stopped work in the UK in Jan 12, purchased an old Hymer wobble box and was last seen wobbling south in search of a alternative and warmer life. Noticing that the ever enthusiastic and all round good egg that is Wapping of this parish had planned one of his excellent wanders to Dijon I figured this was a good opportunity to stitch together a little ride.
Friday 24th May ( the big old fat rain day)
Left home around noon in rain, filtered miles on M25 mostly with my visor up as as my pinlock anti fog visor was fogged up :confused:ferried across to Calais and arrived at the highly recommended Ibis in St-Omer without riding a single dry mile.
Saturday 25th May ( occasional big old fat rain day)
Having met up with the other runners and riders on this jaunt we trundled down to Dijon, several very angry clouds mistimed their attack as we were stopped in a cafe for a break, but others got us with both barrels fair and square. We arrived at Wapping's pre selected Hotel de le Poste north of Dijon and near the source of the Seine in a rare moment of sunshine, however low evening temperatures determined that this lovely courtyard would remain unused tonight.:(


Sun 26th May ( although overcast with a few spots of rain, driest day of the week)
A fantastic day hooning around Cote D Ore on some of the finest roads in France, fast sweeping bends and very little traffic. Camino de Santiago stages

Mon 27th May (Little bitty stingin` rain.)
After plotting a scenic route across central France with Wappings help I bade fair well to my fellow travelers and set off, Autun-Roanne-St-Etienne the hard to find but fantastic D500 and on to Mende before the much traveled and photographed Georges du Tarn.





A very pleasant and dry day (so far) but as is often the way of things when taking the scenic route my sat nav ETA was getting away from me at an alarming rate, so I got on the toll road above Millau (A75)

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=231364&stc=1&d=1370215147

and pounded the motorway, as I approached the Spanish border the clouds gathered and down it came again,:rolleyes:

To be continued


You haven't been through the northwest Spanish rain, it's quite similar to the Uk but less quantity and more constant... best part is how they're used to it!
 


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