And it’s hotter today than yesterday. Peak temp was 36C. In the shade. But I left early. Breakfast was cheese, ham, yoghurt and orange juice. And coffee. On the road before 9am heading out of Pamplona for a large loop and then East. N135 North then NA140 East and then South for a while stopping at Lumbier for a drink. Then East on what appears at times to be an old Roman road, the NA2240 to Jaca which passes alongside a lake. I see cars stopped and occasionally glimpse people sunbathing or swimming in the green waters. I’m tempted to stop but know that I’ll never get the leathers off and back on again in this heat. I’ll be stuck there until night fall and maybe not even then.
So I press on stopping only to ride round in circles in Sabiñánigo as I can’t find an airconditioned bar to stop in. That’s a name you’ll struggle to write in the SatNav if you’re English. The middle is too long. Onto the mountains on the famous N260. Famous among motorcyclists it seems. For me the town of Gavin and Fiscal are the key draws. Oh and the amazing scenery.
I took this one shortly after waving goodbye to a French chap on a KTM who was going incredibly quickly given he had a pillion and luggage. I saw his bike slide on the road repairs, shimmy under braking and accelerate hard. Given I was solo on a great bike I could keep up without the same degree of risk. After 20 km (of corners, nothing but corners and only one car to overtake!) he pulled over. I stopped alongside to give a quick thumbs up and wave goodbye. His hand made the universal sign of “it was ok but not great” and waved goodbye. Best bit – waking his pillion up with a downshift and throttle blip in a tunnel. Worst bit – every tight left turn when their heads were on the wrong side of the road and there wasn’t that much room for manoeuvre if something came the other way. I held back to ensure I wasn’t pushing him to make a mistake.
This is a hotel. A very nice hotel. And I’m not stopping there. I must be crazy. A car park with new cars and even another R1200RT (in red though which isn’t a good colour). Clearly it’s a good place but there is nowhere nearby and I’ve no swimming trunks to take advantage of the huge pool. Oh and it’s £160 a night with neither breakfast nor dinner included. I think I’d rather save that sort of expenditure until I’m with Ioana and we can enjoy it together. I book a £70 place another 45 minutes away.
I didn’t take pictures of the road that followed this but it was spectacular. Fast sweeping turns followed by a narrow ride in a canyon followed by roads clinging to the edge of a mountain with fingers of rock on the other side of the canyon and then the ride in the trees down to the town. It was good that I was tired and didn’t ride hard. I got to enjoy the spectacular scenery.
I’ve stopped in El Pont de Suert. Which appears to have the strangest church I’ve ever seen. The hotel gave me directions to the open restaurant. They were “next to the church”. The town isn’t big and they’ve got a church, but what a church. A copper roof and a copper dome and an egg alongside. How on earth this got funded in what appears to be a quiet rural town I will never understand.
Gluten free beer. They had gluten free beer!
I had dinner and after I stopped by the hotel in the bar in the square and asked for Aperol. Nope. Campari? They’ve got that but they serve it neat, which is pretty strong stuff. I think I might be the first person to order this in a while. And then I discovered I had my t shirt on inside out……
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