Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Holaaaaa Amigos!!
Seems I was bit by the need to escape the continent again....yes rum was involved....and I am trying something a bit different this time. If you want to hang on for the adventure good on ya, I'll try not to bore ya!
Yes it seems I do get bit by the travel bug a bit more than the average bloke....ask my boss. When ever I mention I think I am going to do a get away the conversation always starts along the lines of "You still have vacation time left???" Heh heh.....definitely requires a bit of planning to optimize getaways in the year. What I find more amazing is I usually am tanked when I plan a trip....LOL...as did this one start. I was sipping some rum and again made the mistake of turning on me laptop....I felt bad I had not been to Europe this year.
Well with that I made the mistake of just peeking to see what flights might be out there that fit the bill....dang it...first try found a cool flight to Barcelona and it was a good deal. Why Spain you ask....I've been there before....true dat, however, I've unfinished business. Should you have read me Spain trip adventure...and it was a fun one.....after I left Barcelona I headed north to see a bit of the Pyrenees. The bit I saw was awesome, I was having fun and ended up distracted by of all things a pub....just shy of Andorra I found out later that eve after I turned south to ultimately get back to Madrid. Had I not stopped at that pub I pondered on occasion. Either way the taste of the Pyrenees I got left me wanting more. For those not in the know this is a mountain range that basically separates France and Spain along the border. Some of the best biking roads in Europe can be found there, they even run sections of the Tour de France there...the tough ones.
Fassssst forward.......not long ago...a few months with rum in hand I am thinking flight to Barcelona, all I need is a bike and I am good to go. So I find the outfit...that had the bike and they also do tours. This does seem common I find. So guess what they offer....wait for it.......yup....a tour that basically does exactly and I mean exactly what I want to do and to further make me ponder it starts the day I would be in Barcelona...frig.
I've never toured with a group before....my rip through Italy with Mike does not constitute a tour group......new turf. Sooo in this process I sent some emails, they seem very nice....and they say they know where the best food an pubs are (hard to argue with that) and the guides are a blast. Somewhere in this process reality slapped and I needed to get away for a ride no matter what. Long story short....I just booked some time off with no plan other than to hop on the bike and go, well seems the big BMW bike rally of the year was in Billings Montana right when I am slated to hop on da bike to head south...never did that before so off I trotted to Billings (first long ride with me new RT).
Okay....the Rally was cool...more Beemers than you could shake a stick at but why am I bothering you with drivel about this you ask....wait for it......well...seems the outfit I was conversing with had a booth there and Scott the President (awesome guy) was manning it, Ryan the chap I was emailing told him about me and to look out for me, he knew all about me so him and I had a great chat and he invited me to the reunion supper that they have.
What a blast, everyone there raved on and on and about how much fun they had and some of these guys and gals put my travels to shame....sooooo guess who booked a tour, The Perfect Pyrenees Tour with IMTBikes. So basically I fly to Barcelona, they pick me up, plant me on an RT just like mine and with a few others off we go. All hotels meals etc are done I just need to really find the hotel at the end of each day and can go off on me own if I want (they sent me the gps files for the routes). I tapped the book it button on the lap top.....and no rum was not involved....rather Apple Ale....of the 8% content type lol. Closed laptop...face planted into pillow and ZZZZZZZZ...... woke up with no buyers remorse so stomach must be saying was a good thing. We shall see........and with that I pointed me bike tire southwest for a rip with no idea where I was going and made it to the California border. Saw some cooool stuff through Oregon and Washington and crazy roads and I can report that me tires made it through the trip and were basically done as I pulled into me driveway...just under 10k. My bike is a champ on the mountain roads and we have bonded very well.
So that is how I booked this tour, fast forward to now, out of office notification went out on the email, I scrambled like a mad man to get to the airport for my Nexus meeting (ya I caved and signed up but booked the time wrong in my calender which I discovered rather frantically and yes you can make it to the airport in under 20 minutes from my place if motivated enough. I did have a rather sedate ride back though to make up for it, ying and yang...universe in balance.
To add to the stress of the day Zoe had a lil problem that I had to resolve in the morning with a trip to the vet (yes panic was involved) but antibiotics are the cure (lil bladder infection it seems), Not sure about why things like that happen at probably the worst time, all good though, could not sleep with myself if I was not able to get her sorted before I left, even considered having to cancel last minute. I've a great Vet that seems to really care and they got it all sorted and she is in great hands whilst I am away!!! With all that done, all I had to do was pack something I sort of started the weekend before buttttt not really but sorta...there always seems to be something better to do as .... crap I hate packing!!!! But I knuckled down and now its done...bags in bags and I am taking less and less each time it seems. Wish I could do a bike trip with carry on but yaaaa not gunna happen.
With that....it begins...hope I don't bore ya with me drivel.......gunna be some cool passes......
- comments
Shannon Always enjoy reading about your adventures Ride safe
Angie Interesting to read and can't wait for an update!
Dk Awsome look forward to your trip