Y eso no mola nada y hay que cambiarlo.

Ultimamente – y cuando digo últimamente puedo estar hablando perfectamente de los últimos 6 meses o  más… – he estado currando demasiado, y no en Spain On Twins, sino en mi otra empresa, y saliendo a carretera demasiado poco. Alguna escapada rápida. Ir a alguna reunión a Huesca en moto, pero poco más. Esta situación está ya afectandome demasiado. Estoy más nervisos, más serio, menos creativo, menos motivado…. Necesito salir a rodar con la gorda !!

Y como esto no puede seguir así, he decidido dejar de quejarme y ponerle remedio. Me dejo libre la primera semana de Julio, y me escapo de ruta por ahí. Necesito volver a sentir la carretera deslizándose bajo las botas. Necesito sentir el aire en la cara. La música de los escapes en los oidos y el corazón latiendo fuerte en cada acelerón. Me escapo a hacer el Camino del Cid. A recorrer entera la ruta que siguió El Cid Campeador en su destierro, desde Burgos hasta Murcia.

No he preparado nada. No he buscado hoteles ni he dividido la ruta en jornadas. Ni siquiera he preparado la ruta en el GPS. La verdad es que no he tenido tiempo ni para eso. Pero da igual. Estoy seguro que lo voy a pasar bien. Viajaré con un mapa, una guía de la ruta que me he comprado, el depósito lleno de gasolina, y algo de pasta para cerveza. Suficiente para vaciar la cabeza y recargar las pilas. Y eso es precisamente lo que necesito.

Le he contado mis planes a un par de amigos, que ya se vinieron una vez a hacer una de las rutas de Spain On Twins, y se unen al viajecillo. Y quien sabe, igual algún otro colega se anima a unirse a pasar una semanita de carretera. Estaría genial !

La verdad es que es una pena no tener tiempo para meterme a fondo a desarrollar este proyecto. Lo monté hace un par de años porque tengo claro que mi pasión son las Harleys, y que ganarme la vida rulando en Harley sería casi un sueño hecho realidad. Pero convertir un proyecto como éste en una empresa rentable lleva tiempo y pasta, y – afortunadamente, debería reconocer… – mi otro proyecto (me gano la vida como Consultor de Marketing y Redes Sociales en Zaragoza) va bastante bien, y no me deja tiempo para preparar rutas para Harleys en España. Pero prefiero ser positivo y no pensar en lo que no estoy haciendo, sino pensar en lo que voy a hacer en breve. Arrancar la Harley y salir de nuevo a carretera con amigos. Con una vaga idea del destino, y tiempo para disfrutar de la ruta. Y me encanta la idea !!

Nos vemos en la carretera !!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y-bl0gCnbg

Nos vemos en la carretera !!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL7rIyc0jOU

See you on the road !!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCjrQFNMqa8

See you on the road !

www.youtube.com/watch?v=99KKx7cB-Ok

See you on the road !

To get back to Spain I took a ferry at Rome, that in 20 hours took me to Barcelona, just 350 kms from home. I was lucky that I was not going to be on my own on it, because Ulrich and Kristen, a German couple I really enjoy being with, was also on the same boat. Actually, it was a real luck to have them on board, because thanks to them I could sleep on a real bed (their cabin had an extra bed), instead of on the seat I had reserved. We also met Tex and Anibal, two Spanish rat-bikers also on their way back home after a nice ride around Europe, so the night got a little longer than expected, sharing stories of our respective tours.

We got to Barcelona late in the afternoon, at 18:50, and I hit the road again, this time on the highway, to get home as fast as I could. Everything was going fine, the bike running smooth, and the temperature was much nicer than the steaming temperatures we had in Italy, but Spain has a surprise welcome party organized for me, and at just 100 kms from home suddenly the rain started to fall in massive quantities, lightnings iluminating the road and thunders being the only music I could hear. Quick stop at the first gas station, let the storm pass for 10 mins, rain gear on, and on the road again. I’m stronger than the rain !!

Finally, close to 23:00 I arrived home after 6.103 kms of pure joy. The EPR is officially over for me. Untill 2012. I’ll be there again. Wherever it is.

Today is Saturday. Only 5 days later, and I already miss my partners in crime. I’m feeling the EPR down, missing all the good moments we had on the open road, the great countries we visited, and the fun we had. At least I can see the pictures and smile again remembering our adventures.

Take care out there my friends

See you on the road !!

None of the riders in that group wish he had gone with the other group, because this area is really beautiful, and worth riding in it, even if it’s with temperatures over 40ºC. We couldn’t avoid all the highways, though, but we had a really great day on the road. Another great day on the road.

And here we are now, at Rome, under a historical heat wave, with temperatures well beyond the 40ºC barrier, the country being under alert and making it the first story in the news, since people is dying because of the heat, and the city is having problems to keep its rhythm with this unbearable heat. But we rode to here.

Now I’ll have three days off here. I’ll attend the closing ceremony on Saturday, try to visit one or two dealers to buy some T-shirts for my girlfriend (I wish she could have been with me in this fantastic touring ride…), and go sightseeing the beautiful city of Rome when the heat gets a little down in the evening. On monday night I’ll take a ferry boat that will take me and my Fatty straight to Barcelona in 20 hours, and from there is just a 350kms ride to be back home.

Today is a day of mixed feelings. Happiness for having finished it with no major problems, but also a bit of sadness because we’ll not be riding tomorrow, and because most of the people will leave soon, and it’ll be at least two years to get back on the road together, if they come to the next EPR. And I’ll sure miss most of them. I wish I had the time (and the money) to spend the next months visiting them in their countries to ride again some days with them. I’d love to be able to go to the USA, to Canada, to New Zealand, to Libanon, to Saudi Arabia, Holland, or Germany, to name just a few of the countries where I now I have friends. Harley riding friends. Good friends.

The European Posse Ride is over. It’s been a fantastic two week touring ride in the heart of Europe: Spain – Prague – Viena – Budapest – Lake Balaton – Zagreb – Zadar – Opatija – Lienz – Bolzano – Firenze – Perugia – Roma. Our Harleys can rest for a while now. But not for too long. There are still lots of great roads in the world waiting to be discovered and ridden on our bikes. And we’ll do it, because we live to ride, ride to live.

Take care out there, my friends,

See you on the road !!

Anyhow, we’ve had fun on the road, as we always do. Today three of us felt a little more adventurous, and decide to ride on our own, not in the groups. We wanted to have the chance to ride in Italy at our own pace, stopping whenever we felt like doing it, and we also wanted to navigate our route on the GPS and the road-book. The run from Florence to Sienna is really beautiful, nice curves, mostly nice pavement, and amazing landscape. Once we got to Sienna, we parked our bikes and went to visit the city. It’s really amazing. I went there 20 years ago, but I promise that I didn’t remember Sienna that beautiful.

We had lunch there, and hit the road again afterwards. From Sienna, most of the groups took the highway, to be early at the hotel, but we wanted to do the original plan, so we went again on our own onto secondary roads. The countryside and the roads  were really nice, although the land changed, and there were no more vineyards, but mainly cereal fields. The heat was the main problem, because riding at 40º or more, the risk of dehydration is really high, so I ended up putting a bottle of water into my vest, so I could take sips of water every now and then.

So, it’s been a hot day, a little more tiring than a normal day, but riding our Harley-Davidson in a country like Italy, among friends, is always a good day on the road.

Tomorrow we’ll do the final stage of this II European Posse Ride, from Perugia to Rome, and we’ll stay at Rome for the weekend, so it’ll sure going to be a fun.

I’ll keep you posted on our adventures.

Take care out there, my friend.

See you on the road !!

The local chapters have organized for us a special tour around the area of Chianti, a beautiful and scenic route. Some people stayed on the hotel, but most of us went for a ride. The problem is that is so hot now in here, that is almost unbearable. The thermometers are around 40ºC, and that’s way more than what you would consider reasonable.

So myself and a small group of riders decided to quit the tour at the lunch stop, and headed back to the hotel, because we were hearing the call of the pool…

In an hour or so, when the sun is a little lower, we’ll go for a walk into the city, and hopefully have some pasta or some pizza for dinner.

Tomorrow we’ll start our way down Italy, direction Rome, our final destination.

Take care out there, my friends.

See you on the road !!