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 !!

The timing is perfect. At least for us. June 18th to 20th. Let me explain you why I say that the timing is perfect for us. Our first tour, around the pyrenees, called Twists&Twins, will take us Coast to Coast, through the Pyrenees, from San Sebastian to Barcelona, arriving at Barcelona….(make a guess !!) ….JUST on time to celebrate the Barcelona Harley Days, in the evening of June 18th. I made a bet. And I’ve won. Perfect timing.

This is yet another reason to come to this tour. It’s not only the roads we’ll ride, or the nice hotels we’ll be sleeping at, or the Spanish food you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy, but you’ll also have a chance to book an extra night at the hotel and be part of this great event (on the 1st edition of the Barcelona Harley Days,  on 2008, the numbers were amazing: more than 300.000 visitors, and more than 10.000 bikes on Sunday’s Parade…) in the beautiful and sunny city of Barcelona.

Two years ago I was there, since the first European Posse Ride -- where I was the only Spanish rider -- finished at Barcelona, just in time for the party, and it was huge. All kind of vendors, big concerts, demo rides, custom show….you name it !! It was great fun among great friends after two great weeks on the road…It was great !! Even a local TV from Barcelona rode with us the last kilometers, and put together a TV program with our entrance on the Barcelona Harley Days. Here is the video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1IfKBBj1sE

For sure this year is going to be a great success too. Even bigger than 2008 some say. So I hope to see you there, wether you come with us on the tour with your Harley, or you prefer to go directly to the event on your own. Do as you want, but make sure to be at Barcelona this weekend. And let me know that you’re there. We’ll share a beer or two, and some road stories…

See you on the road !!

OK, probably it’s not the best bike for our touring rides for Harleys around Spain, but you have to admit that it’s a great looking bike. Old-school, S&S shovel-looking engine, medium apes, solo seat, retro pipes, no front fender and short rear fender, kick-start, white-walled wheels….nice !!

Don’t you think?

See you on the road !!