After a fairly ordinary sleep, I set off from Ribadesella. A little over 200kms along the coast road got me to Bilbao. The ride was pleasant and the scenery at times was breathtaking. The mountains in this coastal stretch, erupt from the beach and stand tall over the sea. The area is as green as anywhere I have seen this trip. There is a lot of highway building going on adjacent to the existing road. Bridges, tunnels and cuttings are being done by men in fl...

After a late start I headed toward Bilbao this morning. It was quite cool and damp on my departure and I considered putting long johns on. I managed a few hundred Kms before I decided to pull up. The countryside is green here. The altitude is pretty high for an area so close to the coast. It is hard to believe that places like Seville are in the same country. All along the road, mostly non-highway, there were small farming communities and fields and wooded ...

So I have been dreading writing this entry because I am trying to stay positive. Oh we'll. the long and the short of it is, Lisbon is full of dickheads. I got my pockets dipped not long after I wrote my last entry and I am not happy about it. The damage was 300€. On the up side I only took cash with me and I don't have to deal with the issues of replacing cards etc from the other side of the globe. The morning after this happened I left Lisbon post haste...

I arrived in the city of Lisbon last night. My first impressions riding in through the city were positive. Big impressive buildings, monuments and open courtyards. But after the first three hours wandering the streets I started to dislike the place. Perhaps it was because of the wanna-be-gangsters fresh off the boat from Africa or the 20 Moroccans trying to sell me every drug conceivable or maybe it was too much of a change from the sleepy little town I had le...

Yesterday I picked up the bike in Cáceres and set about making plans for travel to Lisbon. I had an a last few beers in town then headed off to sleep. This morning I woke up and dragged my luggage down to the bike. The bloody fuel was leaking out the air filter box again. I was waiting at the bike shop when my little mate arrived. He was surprised to see me but was genuinely interested in helping me and getting it fixed. Two hours and a couple of perished "...