4 days of riding in Spain was one of the best trips that I’ve ever taken. For my long-time readers, you know that’s saying a lot. It helps to have great scenery and a great route (even if you have to adjust it on the fly), but what was most important was riding with friends. We spent no more than 4 hours each day on the bikes, leaving plenty of time to hang out and socialize. And knowing that I was riding with friends gave me a sense of security and safety that I wouldn’t have had on my own or may not have had if I had been riding with a tour group. But there was a lot more to the ride than just that.
The route we took was scenic and would have been beautiful in a car. But on a bike, it’s different. You’re exposed to the environment; the sights are closer and you feel like part of the scenery. In a car, even with all the windows down, there’s still a physical barrier between you and your environment which doesn’t exist when you’re on a motorcycle. I know it sounds like common sense, but experiencing it is completely different. Oh, and the smells. Rounding a corner and getting hit full-on by the scent of warm manure isn’t enjoyable, but it makes the trip more real.
One thing that we all commented on was how courteous Spanish drivers were. We spent a fair bit of time on two lane highways, and we quickly learned the patterns of Spanish driving. They stay in the right lane unless they need to pass, and if they pass, they do so quickly and return to the right lane. If they’re in the right lane and an on-ramp is coming up and cars are trying to merge, they’ll get into the left lane to allow the merging cars room to merge and then they’ll get back in the right lane when there’s space. It’s civilized and practical. But more importantly, it’s predictable. As a motorcycle rider, you’re exposed to the same possible dangers in traffic as cars are, but the risks are higher. Any element of doubt or uncertainty is multiplied when you’re on two wheels. But with Spanish drivers, not only could we accurately predict what the car in front of me was going to do, but also what the car in front of them was going to do. That took a lot of questions out of the equation and made the ride far safer and more enjoyable than it otherwise could have been.
Glenn and John both commented on how well the roads were maintained. Coming from the DC area, where potholes are frequent enough that they’re not even brought up in conversation, the ride was smooth and comfortable on every paved road. The cobblestone streets in the smaller towns being the notable and uncomfortable exception, of course.
I wish I had video of the ride to share with you, but we don’t have any. We brought a GoPro along to try to get some good footage, but, as with the rest of our plans, it didn’t work out as well as hoped. On day 1, we completely forgot about the GoPro and it stayed in my bag. On day 2, we realized that the head mount wouldn’t fit over a motorcycle helmet. On the morning of day 3, we went to a store in Cadiz and bought a clamp mount to attach the GoPro to the handlbars of the bike, between Glenn and the windscreen, only to discover that the battery was dead. Finally, on day 4, the last day of riding, we got it mounted and running, just in time for the gorgeous ride from Ronda to Gibraltar. Spectacular scenery, with the mountains on one side, an expansive valley on the other, and beautiful winding roads. The problem is that we forgot to clean the windscreen on the motorcycle, so all of the footage we have is of the Spanish countryside obscured by splatters of dead bugs.
When all was said and done, we did about 480 miles in 4 days, hitting 4 cities, and seeing some of the most amazing Spanish countryside scenery imaginable. We rounded off the trip with some time in Malaga followed by a train ride up to Madrid for an evening and then caught our flight home. We had some fantastic food and drink in both Malaga and Madrid, which was icing on the cake. No sooner had we returned the bikes that we were starting to talk about doing a trip like this again. Between now and then, I may need to get some more miles under my belt, but another trip like this is one that I would gladly welcome.
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