And then reality hits you hard in the face. When you thought everything was under control, an invisible enemy you thought you were save from, proves you you are just another rider on the road. The day before yesterday I was enjoying the road, enjoying the ride in good company, and didn’t want to stop for other reason than to refuel. And that was my mistake, because althought I didn’t feel it, temperatures were close to 40*C most of the day. But I wasn’t conscious until we got to our destination. Then, all the heat of the day stroke me. I was dehydrated and starting to have symptoms of a heat stroke (dizziness, high body temperature, I even puked…), and that is no joke, my friends.

Fortunately it wasn’t serious and I’m fine now, after two days, but it could have been something way more dangerous, that could’ve been avoided had I done what intelligent people do: stop often and drink. As simple as that.

I’m serious with that. The last hours have been horrible. I’ve felt like shit. Powerless, sick, and exhausted. I promise you is a feeling you don’t want to experience yourself. Trust me. So, my dear friends, learn from my stupidity, and don’t repeat my mistake. Stop often and drink. Don’t wait to be thirsty, that will be too late. Don’t think that this is something that only happens to newbies, because is not. It can happen to you too. Be smart. Let me be the only stupid on the road.

Take care out there.

See you on the road!!

And doing more miles is an easy task. There is always a secondary road that take you to your destination…. but taking the long way. And our bikes tend to have a good “nose” for those detours, so we’re quite often having an extra dose of extra miles. No complains so far.

Our tour has a great combination of roads, so we can have some time to ride fast (it may sound weird, because 110kms/h is our fastest register so far, but we call that fast…), and spend some time on solitary roads too, enjoying the magnificent views at really slow speeds. Besides that, since we are following Cid Campeador’s footsteps, we are constantly passing by casttles, old monastirs and walled cities in different state (from total ruins to perfectly conserved ones) so we have plenty of excuses to stop, take pictures, and imagine the battles fougth there centuries ago…

The weather is also respecting us, and today we’ve had a sunny day, with no clouds at sight. It is forecasted to stay like that for the rest of week. We hope the weather man has done his homework right, since we had enough rain on the first day…

Today we are sleeping at Daroca, and tomorrow we plan to get to Albarracin, and sleep at El Rincon De La Talega, a small house I’m really looking forward to visit, since I’ve heard lots of nice things about it (and about Santi, his owner).

We have another five or six hours on the saddle tomorrow, but before that, we’ll have a “Pacharan” on the rocks, to sleep better… )

Take care out there.

See you on the road !!

The first day was an intense one. Not because it was a long day (indeed it wasn’t), but because we had 4 different storms on our way to our destination. Actually, on the first 75 kms, we had to stop three times and look for shelter, since it was raining so hard we could hardly see the road ahead.

Anyhow, we kept going, full rain gear on, and in the end we reached our destination: Vivar del Cid, the starting point of the Camino del Cid, that will take us to Valencia in a week. Once there, we founded the “Legua 0″, and the owner of the “mesón” – now retired – joined us as soon as he heard the sound of our Harleys and our laughs, and even brought with him a replica of “Tizona”, Cid’s sword. We had a beer with him and his wife, to try to compensate the litters of water we’ve been forced to drink while under the rain, and then go to find a place to sleep. We did, at a nice guest house just a few meters from there, and that put a nice ending to our first day on the road.

Today the weather was totally different. Sunny and fresh in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon, but not to the point of being too warm. So, we’ve had a fantastic day on the road, even tough we’ve found some road works on our way that made the ride a little uncomfortable and dusty some times.

We are now at Atienza. A small town surveilled by a big casttle, that can’t deny it was the landscape for some epic battles back in the days. The weather forecast for tomorrow is also good, so we’re pretty sure we’ll have fun. Even if the forecast is unaccurate, we’ll have fun, because life’s good when you are on the road, with friends, on your Harleys. We’ll keep the motor rollin’…. and that will keep our smiles growing…

Take care out there.

See you on the road!!

Only one day left to hit the road again !! This time we’re going to follow the Cid Campeador’s footsteps, and will be riding from Burgos to Valencia. It’s going to be a 2.000kms ride, mainly on secondary roads full of spanish history.

Here is the route plan we’ll be following along

I’ll try to update the blog everyday with news and pictures.

Looping forward to feel the air in my face again….

See you on the road !!

Lately – and by lately I mean the last 6 months or more… – I’ve been working way too much, not on Spain On Twins, but on my other company, and hitting the road way too little. This situation is affecting my nerves, my sense of humour, my creativity, my motivation… my everything. I need a brake, and I need it now, and on this break, I need to go for a ride.

So, I’ll stop thinking about it, and start acting. I’ve decided that I’m taking the first week of July off, and I’ll be hitting the road again. I need to feel the black line of tarmac flowing beneath me. I need to feel the air in my face, the music of the pipes in my ears and my heart pumping with the twist of the throttle. I’ll follow the “Camino del Cid” (Cid’s Way), which is the way the El Cid Campeador, the Spanish medieval hero par excellance,  followed when he was thrown out of the kingdom. Basically I’ll cross Spain North-South, from Burgos to Murcia.

I have prepared nothing. I haven’t checked for hotels. I haven’t prepared the route, or divided the whole trip into journeys. Truth is I have no time for that. But I’m sure I’ll have fun. I’ll travel with a map, a guide, a tank full of gas, and some cash for beer. Fair enough to reset my mind and recharge batteries. And I need precisely that.

I’ve told my plans to a couple of friends, and they’ll be joining me. And who knows, maybe some more friends joins the crew and take the same road we’ll take. That would be great !

It’s a pitty that I can’t find the time to invest in this project. I started it a couple years ago because I know Harleys are my passion, and to make a living on them would be a dream come true. But it takes time and money to turn a project like this into a profitable company. And, fortunately I have to admit, my other project – I make my living as a Marketing Consultant on Social Media – is going well, and leaves no time for preparing the best routes for Harleys at Spain. But I prefer to take things positively and not think  on what I’m not doing, but on what I’ll be doing soon. And that’s firing up my Harley and hitting the road with some friends. With a vague idea of the destination, and a lot of time to enjoy the ride. I love that !!

See you on the road !!

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

See you on the road !!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL7rIyc0jOU

See you on the road !!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCjrQFNMqa8

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 !!