New bikes and Motorcycle Live at NEC

I’m returning to London after a day at Motorcycle Live at the NEC Birmingham. Though I’ve turned up at the similar show in the Excel Centre in east London for quite a few years, this is the first time I’ve been to the larger event. These are always minor treats to look forward to in the winter months. I can imagine if it was held in July I probably would not bother to go. That said, for me the main pull is the chance to throw a leg across some new motorcycles, usually of bikes I would never buy like a Ducati Panigale, but this year some that I am in the market for, or rather will be next year. People do come away in droves from these events, with large carrier bags of gear bought at slight discount at the show, but I rarely do because the kind of equipment I decide I want (after painstaking research) is usually a little out of the mainstream to be hanging up in the racks of Infinity or other retailers – like the Klim Forecast rain gear which had to be imported from the Netherlands.

But back to the bikes. For a while I have been curious about getting a second bike, something far smaller than the 1200gs.

And last year’s travels in northern Spain on accidental tracks and the more deliberate gravel road of the Bardenas Reales made me a bit more interested in the idea of off road riding. You realise there is a biking subculture of ‘light is right’ exiles from the large adventure bike community. Suddenly those ever-heavier bikes with huge aluminium panniers seem less cool and desirable. Light is right has its own market niche of course with apparel, soft luggage, preferred GPS models and bikes of course that seem to keep turning up on websites and YouTube. I made a shortlist of three: a Honda 450L, KTM 690 Enduro R and Husqvana 701.

I had ruled out the Honda because, though it got some glowing reviews and inspired some rhyming couplets from Austin Vince (who was there in Birmingham in his overalls with his own muddy Honda – I’ve thought of things I wish I had asked him about), its range, its price of over £9000 plus the seat height (930cms) ruled it out for me.

The KTM catches my imagination. It seems capable, and popular among those doing long trips with off road stretches. The Huqvana was at the show but it was intimidating and flashy. I could not imagine being seen with that bike. I would want the earth to open and swallow me up whenever I parked it. The KTM was extremely nice though tall – I’d want it lowered I think. I spent a lot of time sitting on it, looking closely at it and photographing various parts. But the surprise was the Honda which was a lower ride, with a slightly more comfortable seat than the KTM, though on paper, taller. I will look at its spec again when I get home. But compared to the gs – and to the Royal Enfield Himalayan which I also tried and was captivated by (it is completely unintimidating and costs less than £5000, you perch on top of these bikes, rather than sit in them. (Not to mention the BMW 310GS which I sat on and feels good but is a little boring).

Also the larger KTM790, more of a conventional adventure bike, is lower-seated and much more comfortable. I’m not sure what scope there is for after-market customisation with the Enfield. There is a huge industry aimed specifically at customising or adventurising the KTM690 – which makes it much more of a fun option. I also tried the much talked about Yamaha Tenere 700 but found it bulky and more like a heavy adventure bike than the lightweight agile off-road gem it is meant to be.

Also in the light is right department was the small Mosko Moto stall with some of their soft saddle and tank bags mounted, in a nice bit of marketing, on extremely dirty bikes. Touratech don’t seem to turn up at these events any more. I am not sure why. I always used to look forward to their latest catalogue. Now I keep my old copy safely – its the last one with pictures of Herbert and Ramona Schwartz.

New maps, new dreams

One of my minor Saturday treats when I lived in Cambridge was to walk up to one of the city’s bookshops and browse through maps of places I planned to or dreamed about travelling to on my motorcycle, opening them out on the floor or struggling with their folds in some other way. Now in London I have the amazing Stanfords map shop. I preferred its old shop but the new place still sells the same maps.

One of those little dreams that won’t go away is of riding to Russia. And to Lake Baikal in particular. Its just north of Mongolia if you don’t know. Basically it is about 10,000k by road from London. Hmmm. Maybe the idea was planted by watching the Long Way Round videos in the days after I passed my motorcycle test but plenty of other motorcycle-riders have been that way both before and after LWR, including the unsung hero Pavlin, a Bulgarian YouTube blogger who rides a Yamaha XT 660, completely fearlessly.

So when will I do this? After I leave my current job for sure as it is a long trip.

In the mean time, I have plans for next summer. Where can I start? Maybe by displaying the maps I bought on Saturday (both for my dream and for 2020).

My riding in Spain back in the summer ignited the joys and frustrations of some riding down gravel roads and other tracks – both by choice and by accident. To cut a long story short, I realised that losing some weight, not from my body, but from the choice of bike and what I carry, was a priority. Pursuing ‘light is right’ on Google leads you quickly to the symbiotic Trans European Trails and AdventureSpec, a supplier of clothing and other trail-type merch. Riding a motorcycle on tracks and trails is not without controversy, even when legal. Walkers, dog owners, horse riders and others don’t like it. And I can completely understand it. Motorcycle riders seems to have forgotten how intimidating and even aggressive, speed and noisy motorbikes can seem to everyone else who is not riding them. Luckily, to fit in with my conflict-avoiding character, I understand that the ‘trails’ across Germany (where I feel at home genetically) are all paved (I know – it seems a contradiction). And there is a route from the Netherlands, across the north of Germany, over to Poland, a country I want to visit out of curiosity and a vague sense that my ancestry on my mother’s side is from there. So that is my plan for Summer 2020. I want to camp again but to slim down so that I can travel without a top box. That’s the first step to much lighter future travel.

Ride up to Snettisham Beach

After an early start and a migrane at London Bridge station, I rode up from Cambridge to my friend’s beach hut at Snettisham. the weather was good – warmish but sunny. The bike felt so much better with all the heavy luggage off – even the topbox which usually goes everywhere. It gave me the confidence to do lots of overtaking and make some progress on the way up the A10. I had a recommendation to take a newly opened alternative bypass around Ely on the way back, via Queen Adelaide which was a really enjoyable road for riding, right next to the river higher than the road as it runs dead straight toward Ely. The total ride was 111 miles.

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Looking at my track from the GPS I can see I didn’t take the road I should have. I remember the advice was ‘don’t cross the river’ and that’s what I did. Next time I will get it right.

The last day riding to Bilbao, on the boat and riding back to London

Thursday 25^th July

I’m writing at 3.30 in the afternoon as the boat leaves the harbour and Bilbao and heads out into the open sea toward home. I’m watching the white oil containers and warehouses move past the window (I chose an outside birth for this journey in the hours of daylight). I have a good feeling about this trip and about motorcycling. I think riding the Bardenas Reales was a bit of a turning point that opened up a new vista of riding and I got a glimpse of what off-roading is like. Though this was barely off road it was very different to riding on the highway. This linked up with all the other unplanned off-road experiences on a bike that is, in theory, designed for this kind of terrain though, in practice, rather heavy. In the usual queue of motorcyclists waiting for the ferry to dock and then to board, I talked to a wiry guy about his beautifully tricked out new 1250GS Rallye (BMW have finally got a colour scheme right). He has a real eye for the extra and advised me with a smile to check out Ali Express for its knock-off of much more expensive Touratech extra parts – which I started to do on my phone as I waited. I’d love to trade up to one of these (a new 1250gs) but the project – in concept at the moment – is the lighter weight modified off road bike. In a group bikers can seem a bit off-putting but when you actually talk to them one at a time, you find really sweet helpful guys (nearly all are men – though a lot of them are riding with their partners) who really love their bikes and talking about them.

The last day went exquisitely to plan with an early breakfast, quick payment (this last hotel was cheap as well as being so good – cool, relaxed, unpretentious, quite busy with good meals), easy packing up and a direct and uneventful journey from start to finish (there was a traffic jam just between Bilbao and the port and slightly warming temperature – just up to 30 at the hottest – but good signposting to the ferry terminal). (This boat is moving up and down a lot more than I remember on the way out, perhaps it is going faster). It was so great to get on (my ride down the steep ramp was a bit wobbly with a bit of foot trailing) and great to get into the cool of the boat, then have a shower and make a late lunch from the last food I had bought yesterday. Now I have 24 hours to do nothing, read to the end of my book, eat, sleep, get up eat again and then head back up from Portsmouth to home. Number one project when home, after cleaning the bike, is to fix the 30 year old toaster that has broken in my absence.

Next morning: Well, last night was rough, so rough that I didn’t feel like going to eat, and neither did many others by the sound of the constant requests over the loudspeakers for people to come to take up their bookings in the restaurant. So after eating a block of halva that I forgot I had, washed down with a little spirit, I lay down on my bed but each time that the boat made a heavy lurch my heart was in my mouth. Perhaps this would be that exceptional event of a regular ferry capsizing, the one in a thousand chance. But it wasn’t of course, and generally by the time I woke at 7.30 ship time, things were calmer and I went up to get a bar breakfast amid people talking about the previous night.

With some wifi I had a chance to catch up on UK and world news which is dispiriting at the moment. And I could see from Google maps that we were just rounding that corner of France that sticks out and soon to turn right into the English Channel. We are due to dock at 2.15. I am in a different headspace to yesterday already, and though I have a few things to attend to, I have most of the next month before having to return to work.

With more than an hour to dock I got onto a UK phone network and learnt that the land I could see out of my cabin was the Isle of Wight. Although we docked at 2.15, it was getting on for 3 before they unloaded the bikes. On this particular ship, the Cap Finistere, the bikes are down in the absolute bowels of the ship. Talking to some other bike riders I learned that there was widespread apprehension about riding up the steep metal ramp onto the main car deck – it isn’t just me.

Riding the 75 miles back to London was straightforward, though from around Merton things slow down tediously and there is the normal road racing between young guys in zippy little BMWs and Audi’s to contend with.

Another trip is over. It has left me with a curiosity for more off-road riding. My dream of rebuilding a light enduro type bike for longer travel is kindled. Also parking in line with, among other bikes, the brand new R1250GS in Rallye colours (and with some very nice add-ons and general farkles) has given me terrible bike dissatisfaction. That’s how the wheels of capitalism grind on, with me as its fodder.

Mileages

15^th	Home to Portsmouth	75 miles
16^th	From the port of Bilbao to Carrion de los Condes	169 miles
17^th	Around the Picos de Europe	229 miles
18^th	From Carrion de los Condes to Casa Camino	218 miles
19^th	From Casa Camino to Santiago	91 miles
20^th	Walking no mileage
21^st	From Galicia to Palacio hotel	213 miles
22^nd	From Palacio hotel to Ribadesella	60 miles
23^rd	From Asturias to Navarra	285 miles
24^th	Around Bardenas Reales	81 miles
25^th	Navarra to Bilbao port	152 miles
26^th	Portsmouth to home	75 miles

That’s a total of 1,648 miles (2652 km)

Riding the Bardenas Reales

Day 9 Wednesday 24^th July

Today was an easy day, just riding 80 odd miles to, around, and back from the Bardenas Reales, a place that has fascinated me since I first saw pictures of it quite a few years ago. Everything went according to plan. I set an alarm and when I arrived downstairs for breakfast at opening time, one person was already leaving and another well into their meal. Unlike my last restaurant there was someone there to serve. Every time I think about when to leave tomorrow to get back to the port to catch the boat I find myself deciding to leave earlier. Now it is 8.30. I was practising my French (they speak some French here – very little English) to ask for special dispensation to check out early but I can see that won’t be necessary. An early start might beat the worst of the temperature as it really starts to rise at lunch time. The boat is due to leave at 3.30 but maybe we can board much earlier – if we are lucky.

Back to today. It takes about 20 minutes or so to get to the town where you can find the road that leads onto the Bardenas Reales. It is all dry and agricultural/industrial around here. On either side of the road you can see the dust rising from the wheels of vehicles on farms and industrial estates. Once you turn into the national park there is a visitor centre with a large car park – with huge spaces for buses. A few people were there already, though it was only 9 in the morning. You carry on a narrow tarmac road until you get to a fenced off military centre where you have to chose whether to take the gravel track to the left or the right. I chose left, to ride clockwise around the area and to branch off to the north on the way. The desert landscape with its bizarre rock formations and a number of deserted shacks seems more like a constructed film set than a natural feature. It is strange, and strange to be breathing its air, feeling the bumps of the road and experiencing its heat (it wasn’t too bad – between 26 and 30 degrees) when I have seen so many photographs. I stopped a few times too, to take obligatory photographs and got some good footage of the ride. I headed up the northern track towards El Paso though I turned back before I got there in order to continue to ride in the desert. One great thing about the ride is the confidence I got riding on gravel all morning. To start with I was riding tensely and in second gear. By the end I was sailing along at 30 (over the speed limit) enjoying every slip and slide. So that later in the day when I had to make a U-turn into roadside gravel I did not hesitate. This was a really enjoyable, stress-free, part of the whole trip. I must find more similar challenges – predictable ones not the crazy narrow tracks that end up going nowhere from earlier in the week.

I stopped at the end to visit the information centre with the expectation of getting a cup of tea and a cake – but it seems that they only have some stony artefacts and a list of rules about where you can and cannot drive and what you must be wearing even, to go into their building. That answers my puzzle as to why I saw people returning very quickly to their cars after walking into the entrance.

So, I decided to head for Tudela, about 10k away to find something to eat, a supermarket with air-conditioning and easy parking. I was looking for the Spanish Gin that I drank in Casa Camino – but despite visiting two large grocery stores, that did have air-con and ample parking, none was to be found. I got back at soon after 1pm with the ingredients for a fresh lunch and for tomorrow’s journey though I am not sure how well it will travel in the heat. I still have a packet of figs that I bought at Arjuna before I left. I opened it at Portsmouth waiting for the ferry. I picked out a wiggling maggot from the top and, as I was hungry, ate one or two figs. But I have not been so enthusiastic since then, probably because I have not been that hungry since then.

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/untitled-document–192

From the north to Navarra

This is another post that starts with ‘phew’. It was a mammoth day of travel from coastal Asturias down to Navarra, next door to the desert of Bardenas Reales. Although according to the GPS, I rode only 278 miles over 5 hours and 5 minutes, it feels like much longer. Luckily today there were no hitches but the dramatic rise in temperature took me by surprise. After a cool misty start and 22 degrees, I began to notice near to Bilbao that the air was starting to feel hot. It was 33 degrees and it gradually climbed to high 30s and even 40 degrees which is what it is outside now. But I am sitting in my hotel room at Hospederia de Alesves where I arrived at about 4.45. The shutters were firmly shut against the sun and the air-conditioning is on high when the owner showed me into the room – and it has stayed like that ever since, with the lights on in this high ceilinged room that has matching grey carpet on the floor and one wall. The place is a historic building but converted in a contemporary way with no attempt to recreate some fantasy of history and nostalgia (well, there are a few antique items placed around the staircase).

I had no idea how problematic a high temperature is – although I have memories of having two small children in hot, hot South Australia. Everything on the bike was hot – and the bits I brought in, the GPS, baggage, the food in a pannier and all warm and hot. My bottle of water, bought from the fridge in a petrol station was warm to taste an hour later. There was nowhere to park the bike in the shade outside. So the first thing I noticed when walking into the narrow bar, restaurant and reception was that it had air conditioning and was cool.

It seems crazy to be sitting in a darkened room with the lights on when it is bright sunshine outside but it is a matter of survival!

I am pleased to be away from Asturias, not because it isn’t beautiful but Garmin and that part of Spain do not seem to mix. Throw in a steep mountainous terrain and there are some problems with riding a large motorcycle. Strangely it felt liberating to get out onto large sweeping roads. Culture, or perhaps I should say tourist culture, is different over in this part of Spain. The two people who are running the hotel here seem more urban that their equivalents out west. I just had dinner in the restaurant – I was starving. The tables were quite busy and the food was fine – though I will avoid the steak tomorrow on my last evening in Spain. This was quite a trek to get over to this area but it marks a different style in this short trip – and I’ve been wanting to visit this area for many years. My plan is to get up early and leave early to be back here in my dark air-conditioned room by early afternoon. And the next day to also get an early start on my journey back up to the ferry terminal.

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