Let’s Goooo!
We are finally en route towards France ...
February | 2022
After a hectic day of emptying her apartment, sorting out issues with the tax authorities (NEVER be a representante fiscal for someone in Portugal!!) and the bike insurance, Steffi tried the same time to pack her panniers and finally at the end of the day her bike. The first attempt didn´t look too promising though!
On her way over to James she still had to drop off keys, so finally she arrived about midnight at James' home.
The next morning was for re-packing the two drybags behind, to downsize the luggage and space. After 2 hours in the lovely Algarvian sun, we finally got it all on Schimmelchen. Then was the time to say goodbye to James' mum and our doggies - all with a happy and a crying eye at the same time!
During travel, just 50kms away from home, James realised he forgot his only warm jumper! Nothing that a trip to a Chinese shop could resolve, but in his size, they only got simple hoodies; well, better than nothing!
We made it into Spain for our first night camping, south of Badajoz. We found a lovely camping spot along a farmers' track. SIDENOTE, James dropped his bike, but he denies it as there is, unfortunately, no photographic proof of it :-(
The next morning the sunshine didn’t get through, and it was only 13C, brrrr! It stayed pretty fresh during the morning ride, only around 12-13C, still no real sunshine. So after a cafe break, Steffi had to put some more warm layers on as the cold started to creep through the jacket. When we did our dinner shopping Steffi quickly went into a Chinese shop to buy a little warm children's jumper for some DIY tonight.
At lunchtime, the sun started to win against the clouds, and the temperature got up to 20C - lovely! We rode the lovely twisty road N-110 from Plascensia up towards Avila. Just south of Avila we found another fantastic camping spot next to a river, along a dirt track. We had just to pass a little river ... No problem for James, of course, but Steffi took a bit longer - but made it!!
It was getting really cold as soon as the sun had gone, so we went directly to our tent after dinner. There Steffi cut that little children jumper apart to use it as a lower back warmer. It was so cold in the night, that all was covered in frost the next morning. Unfortunately, the sun didn´t come through all day.
In the evening we did our little shopping at Soria and drove back to a parking area, where we pitched up the tent between the trees to be sheltered this time. This evening we had a little campfire which was nice for warming us up. During the night you could hear the lorries passing by on the N-122, so not much sleep this time.
The next morning we got up earlier as we had to do 500km to get south of Toulouse /France to stay with Mick and his family, old friends of James. Today the weather was really cold, between 4-10C and lots of side wind during the morning; another layer for Steffi to put on! We crossed into France via the A-138 through the Bielsa tunnel. What a lovely road along there! France welcomed us with -2C and fog, but as soon as we came out of the mountain the fog stopped. It was another good 2 hours to James' friends, so we arrived about 20h, right time for dinner all together ;-)
After chatting away in the evening, we all went about midnight to bed as tomorrow is another day ...
Places | Cities:
PORTUGAL:
Beja, Mourão
SPAIN:
Alconchel, Badajos, Caceres, Plascencia, Avila, Soria, Ainsa
FRANCE:
Lannemezan, Saint-Lys
Driven km | Trip:
From Home: 1390km
Maintenance | Breakdown:
Yamaha SuperTenere started a whining noise at front, only between 20-70km/h so James re-lubrificated the speedo cable in the hope that this will be the solution.
Health issues:
None :-)
Special thanks to:
Mick and his family for their fantastic hospitality!
The app OsmAnd for the fantastic camping spots