Picos & Pyrenees 2017

Friday 1st September 2017 In the morning I go for a stroll. I'm not sure I want to pay the eye-watering price for breakfast in the Parador so I find a little cake shop in a nearby alley and enjoy two coffees and a Danish pastry. That'll do. Breakfast stop It's a pity I have no extra carrying capacity as I could buy a 5-litre Rioja wine box on offer at a local shop for €6.95. In the bars and restaurants a glass of very decent wine can be had for €1.60, the same price as a cup of coffee. I'm on the road at 10am. The motorway is a couple of miles away and I am soon heading for Pamplona via Logrono. It is a fast road across the plain. As I approach Pamplona the mountains are getting closer and the road sweeps into the foothills of the Pyrenees. Logrono is a busy industrial city. The motorway runs through it and is busy for a while. But mostly I am alone on the road, overtaking the occasional wagon and slower car. Like everywhere in Europe the big Mercs, ...

Saturday 2nd September 2017 After an unimpressive breakfast I saddle up and leave the Hotel Isaba. The road climbs up a pass and over the border into France just 10 miles north of Isaba. Then I spend the day riding the lonely and wild Cols of the French Pyrenees. High in the French Pyrenees  At one point I am on Le Route de Fromage, the cheese road. These are pretty high and wild mountain roads in the French style with no edge barriers and tunnels blasted through the rock where necessary. It is a desolate and very underpopulated area. The Col d'Aubisque ilies at 1709m. There are a few bikers up here and a lot of cyclists gathered at the cafe at the summit. I stop for coffee and take a few photographs. They have stickers so I buy one for the K. At the top of the Col d'Aubisque  There may not be many people up here but there are plenty of farm animals on the road. Sheep first and then cows.  Col de Soulor is 1479m. It has a beautiful road surface, I ...

Sunday 3rd September 2017 I leave the Rencluse early in the morning after an indifferent breakfast. France is definitely not the place to go for good morning eating. It is also interesting that just a few miles from spain, where the evening meal is not usually available until 20:30 or later, here in France you may not find dinner if you are not seated before 9 in the evening.    I head back into Spain, over a pass and down the wide sweeping road following the Val d'Aran. Viewpoint looking down the Val d'Aran  Port de la Bonaigua is 2072m, a windswept rocky summit. The next pass is called El Canto and is 1720.8m (the sign actually has the decimal, maybe there is another one in the region recorded as 1720 and they are determined to beat it!) Port de la Bonaigua Then into Andorra. I had forgotten what a horrible place this is. Essentially it is a big shopping centre for the Pyrenees. Tax free discounting everywhere and huge traffic jams as a result as th...

 Monday 4th September 2017 Leaving the Hotel Confort in bright sunshine I leave the hotel Confort at 10:30am. It is a sunny morning but quite chilly in the crisp mountain air. The climb up to the Col de Port (elevation 1249m) is on a narrow and twisty back road with four or five hairpins and tight curves at the top. The surface is rather bumpy so I'm riding with care. The sun is heating up the world nicely now and I stop at the top to take off the Windstopper fleece. At the summit of the Col de Port I continue riding west down from the summit until I see a sign for Col de Peguere. It is a single track road winding up the mountain but has a reasonable surface so I turn right to explore. At the top of the Col de Peguere The road up to the top is through dense forest. I meet no traffic on the narrow climb and emerge at Le Col de Peguere (1375m). At the summit there is a left turn signed Col de Portel. It looks ok so I give it a try. I'm in no hurry ...

Tuesday 5th September 2017 I am not familiar with this region of France at all. My normal routes to and from the Alps are a long way to the east of here. Many years ago when my children were small we had a holiday in Les Sables d'Olonne on the east coast just north of La Rochelle. But apart from that I have never visited this region before. Pi stop on the way to Bergerac The R1200s is not the most comfortable bike for long road trips. It is great for jinking around on winding roads when you are shifting around on the seat for every corner, but sitting on the hard gel seat for mile after mile is another matter altogether. So with a numb bum I pile on the kilometres in a mostly northern direction. I'm avoiding the autoroutes so I can appreciate the feel of the place a little more, but today I am not very impressed! I recognise one or two of the areas I travel through as a result of my extensive research into fine wines. Bergerac for example .As well as being famous ...

Wednesday 6th September 2017 I leave the busy city of Poitiers and am soon on the back roads through central western France. It is a cloudy morning with the expectation of rain but for now the roads remain dry. The town gate into Richelieu Richelieu town square My route takes me through Richelieu where the cardinal hailed from. It is a historic town.  "He created from scratch a walled town on a grid arrangement, and, enclosing within its volumes the modest home of his childhood, an adjacent palace, the Château de Richelieu " - wikipedia . In the centre there is a square with imposing buildings built around a fountain. I stop for coffee in the square before heading north again. Willing'ham ? On a bypass near Le Mans I notice a sign pointing to Le Grand-Lucé. I recognise the name as this village is twinned with Cherry Willingham near Lincoln, where my parents lived for many years. Intrigued I turn off the main road and ride into the village to ta...

Thursday 7th September 2017 In the morning I walk round the corner back to the guest house where breakfast is on offer. Today I am going to visit a few of the more famous landing beaches before heading up to Calais on the route home. Remnants of Mulberry harbour I leave Arromanches at 10am and ride west to Omaha Beach. This was the main landing site for American forces and the setting for the opening sequences of the Saving Private Ryan film. Omaha Beach Then east and back past Arromanches and Gold Beach to Juno beaches where the New Zealanders landed. On the way I stop at the memorial site up above Arramanches and see salvaged parts of the Mulberry constructions. It is all very humbling Memorial site above Arromanches Finally I head back to the motorway for the run up to Les Ballastieres, an old haunt of mine and close to the tunnel. I am booked in for a night in the Hayloft there, a sort of indoor camping experience and pleasantly cheap. It's good to s...