The plan was conceived at the beginning of the year when a colleague from work asked if i was interested in a trip to Morocco. It was a simple plan, leave on the 4th May with a ride down to Plymouth. Jump on the ferry to Santander ride through Spain in 2 days and cross from Algeciras to Ceuta. Then have 5 days playing in Morocco before the journey back. It started off with 4 of us agreeing on the trip which soon grew to 7. The bikes for the trip were to be x2 1150 GSAs, x2 660 Teneres, x1 1200 GS, x1 800 GS and a Triumph Adventure thingy.... 2 of the bikes had been bought specifically for this trip. The 1200 GS and the other 1150 GSA, this bike was an absolute minter. Only 8K on the clock and looked like it had just come out of the showroom and never ridden in the wet.. If any of you frequent Vines in Guildford you'd have seen this in the showroom a few months back.....
Any way as the day of departure grew closer we arranged to join Bakes on his Hot Cross Bun run as some of the guys had never been off road before. All went well with no dramas and we had a great days riding. However it soon became apparent that not all the riders would be joining us and 7 became 5 and then 5 became 4......
So, the day of departure arrived and we met at Chez Festers place for 0700 for the ride down to Plymouth. The weather was great, clear sky we soon found ourselves on the road...
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A quick stop at Exeter services for a well earned lunch, tosser style
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After lunch we arrived at Plymouth docs to see the arrival of our steed for the next 18 hours..
The bikes were parked up while we waited for the call to board and the sticker bombing started.....
http://
http://
http://
It was an uneventful crossing, very smooth waters and plenty of opportunity for photos...
http://
In no time at all we were all getting ready to disembark and we then realised how many bikes were with us...
http://
http://
On leaving the ferry all liners were removed, vents opened and bladders filled. The temp was in the high 20s to early 30s and was to stay like this for the duration. We found some amazing roads just south of Santander an made good progress towards our overnight accommodation in Toledo...
http://
http://
One of the team had booked hostels for the 2 nights in Spain. They were ok but not an option I would choose again. Just trying to find the one in Toledo was a bloody nightmare. We didn't arrive until after 2130 and wearing a dark visor, in the dark in Toledo with its cobbled streets and narrow paths was challenging to say the least...
http://
The following morning more sticker bombing ensued and the 2 Yams got a makeover.....
http://
We set off the following morning with more great roads on the way down to Estapona for our final night on Spanish soil...
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We arrived at the hostel which was better than the previous nights, chained the bikes up together - all 4 chained to each other through the front wheels and i also fitted my monster chain through the rear wheel and frame for additional security.. It was then time for a quick shower followed by an evening in Puerto Banus...
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14016621059" title="IMG_3656 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5539/14016621059_e43158f399_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3656"></a>
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14180151276" title="IMG_3657 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5271/14180151276_fbc171bf82_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3657"></a>
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14016619878" title="IMG_3659 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/14016619878_f2d436493d_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3659"></a>
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14203178024" title="IMG_3661 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2930/14203178024_ab01461ba4_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3661"></a>
When I was first told we would be staying Estapona I had my reservations. A few years ago my sister lived in Sotogrande for a while and it was a lovely area. Estapona on the other hand did not have a very good reputation so i was glad I took the additional chain with me.....
The following morning we came down to the bikes to prepare for the short ride down to Algeciras. As I was removing the monster lock and chain Mark gasped and shouted to us all that the chain used to secure all the front wheels together had been cut... That could have been the end of the trip......
More to follow
Any way as the day of departure grew closer we arranged to join Bakes on his Hot Cross Bun run as some of the guys had never been off road before. All went well with no dramas and we had a great days riding. However it soon became apparent that not all the riders would be joining us and 7 became 5 and then 5 became 4......
So, the day of departure arrived and we met at Chez Festers place for 0700 for the ride down to Plymouth. The weather was great, clear sky we soon found ourselves on the road...
http://
A quick stop at Exeter services for a well earned lunch, tosser style
http://
After lunch we arrived at Plymouth docs to see the arrival of our steed for the next 18 hours..
The bikes were parked up while we waited for the call to board and the sticker bombing started.....
http://
http://
http://
It was an uneventful crossing, very smooth waters and plenty of opportunity for photos...
http://
In no time at all we were all getting ready to disembark and we then realised how many bikes were with us...
http://
http://
On leaving the ferry all liners were removed, vents opened and bladders filled. The temp was in the high 20s to early 30s and was to stay like this for the duration. We found some amazing roads just south of Santander an made good progress towards our overnight accommodation in Toledo...
http://
http://
One of the team had booked hostels for the 2 nights in Spain. They were ok but not an option I would choose again. Just trying to find the one in Toledo was a bloody nightmare. We didn't arrive until after 2130 and wearing a dark visor, in the dark in Toledo with its cobbled streets and narrow paths was challenging to say the least...
http://
The following morning more sticker bombing ensued and the 2 Yams got a makeover.....
http://
We set off the following morning with more great roads on the way down to Estapona for our final night on Spanish soil...
http://<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="225" data="https://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf" classid="clsid<img src=" images="" smilies="" biggrin.gif"="" border="0" alt="" title="Big Grin" smilieid="4" class="inlineimg">27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000">
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http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14200785582" title="IMG_3635 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2932/14200785582_4e94dc3821_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3635"></a>
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14223427453" title="IMG_3639 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5152/14223427453_2184c0455d_o.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="IMG_3639"></a>
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14223428143" title="IMG_3647 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5589/14223428143_5b41033308_o.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="IMG_3647"></a>
We arrived at the hostel which was better than the previous nights, chained the bikes up together - all 4 chained to each other through the front wheels and i also fitted my monster chain through the rear wheel and frame for additional security.. It was then time for a quick shower followed by an evening in Puerto Banus...
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14016621059" title="IMG_3656 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5539/14016621059_e43158f399_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3656"></a>
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14180151276" title="IMG_3657 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5271/14180151276_fbc171bf82_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3657"></a>
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14016619878" title="IMG_3659 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/14016619878_f2d436493d_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3659"></a>
http://<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/77911971@N06/14203178024" title="IMG_3661 by Chris Needham, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2930/14203178024_ab01461ba4_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_3661"></a>
When I was first told we would be staying Estapona I had my reservations. A few years ago my sister lived in Sotogrande for a while and it was a lovely area. Estapona on the other hand did not have a very good reputation so i was glad I took the additional chain with me.....
The following morning we came down to the bikes to prepare for the short ride down to Algeciras. As I was removing the monster lock and chain Mark gasped and shouted to us all that the chain used to secure all the front wheels together had been cut... That could have been the end of the trip......
More to follow