Motorcycle Touring in the Pyrenees of Spain: Getting Our Curve On

In June, my wife and I took two motorcycle tours in Europe in celebration of our 35th anniversary.  This was the second tour of our trip. You can read about the first one, “A Motorcycle Tour of Eastern Europe: “Combat Touring” in the Balkans“.

Due to the rains and flooding in Europe in June, the river boat cruise on the Danube river we had planned to take between motorcycle tours was cancelled.  So we spent time in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Munich, Germany and then caught our connection in Nuremberg to Barcelona which is the start of the Pyrenees “Rock and Roll” tour provided by Hispania Tours.  This is our second guided Hispania Tour as we had so much fun on the first one the Extremadura tour, which now is a self-guided tour.

Sight Seeing in Barcelona

We arrived several days early to see some of the sights in Barcelona and stayed in the same hotel Hispania uses for the tour.  The hotel is in the Olympic Village area as is the Hispania Tours Barcelona office. The Mediterranean is just down the street.

Bacelona, View fromRoom

Barcelona, View from Room in Hotel Icaria

Barcelona Beach

Barcelona, View of the Mediterranian

My wife had visited Barcelona before so she took care of the in town sight seeing planning.

Antoni Gaudi’s Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia

Gaudi was a very famous architect at the turn of the 20th century. We visited two of his Barcelona projects, Parc Guell and the world famous Sagrada Familia Bascillica. Sagrada Familia started in 1882 and is still under construction more than 100 years later.  His architecture is original, stunning and life-affirming.  You MUST see these if you get to Barcelona.

Barcelona, Spain Park Guell

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s Park Guell

Barcelona, Spain Park Guell Lizard

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s Park Guell

Barcelona, Spain Park Guell Sculpture

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s Park Guell

Barcelona, Spain Sagrada Familia

Barcelona, Spain Sagrada Familia

Barcelona, Spain Sagrada Familia

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Bascilica, Exterior

Barcelona, Spain Sagrada Familia Ceiling

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Bascilica, Ceiling

Barcelona, Spain Sagrada Familia Alter

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, Altar

 

Gothic Section

We walked through the Gothic section of Barcelona visiting the church of Santa Maria del Pi.  We also took a tour of a home Gaudi designed, La Pedrera of Casa Mila. The design uses catenary arches in the attic, an undulating roof and air shaft atriums.  Examples of the furniture and hardware he designed for the apartments fit the human form very well. In the attic are exhibits of his work and design for Sagarada Familia.

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi La Pedrera House

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s La Pedrera House

Barcelona, Spain Gaudi La Pedrera House Entrance

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s La Pedrera House Entrance

Barcelona, Spain Gaudi La Pedrera House Roof

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s La Pedrera House Roof

Barcelona, Spain Gaudi La Pedrera House Chair

Barcelona, Spain-Gaudi’s La Pedrera House, Chair

 

La Rambla and Dinner

The next day was the arrival day for the tour with a welcome dinner in the evening. After breakfast, we walked along the La Rambla seeing the sights including the mimes. They are motionless until someone puts a tip in their jar.

Our dinner was at a restaurant on the water with the “other” guest who was riding on this tour. So, we ended up with an almost private motorcycle tour.  🙂

Barcelona, La Rambla Mime

Barcelona, La Rambla Mime

Barcelona, La Rambla Facade

Barcelona, La Rambla Facade

Barcelona, La Rambla St. Joseph Market

Barcelona, La Rambla St. Joseph Market

Barcelona, Hispania Dinner Sunset

Barcelona, Sunset from the Restaurant Deck

 

Pyrenees Tour

Rochelle had a lot of pain in the left wrist and thumb during our Adriatic tour.  Although several weeks had passed, she wasn’t sure if she could ride her own bike comfortably. Volker, our guide, made arrangements to have her bike in the van so she could ride any day or part of a day she wanted to.  We both really appreciated the customer service.

Barcelona, Brook & Rochelle Two  Up

Barcelona, Brook & Rochelle Two Up on BMW F-800GS

[When we got back home, she visited her doctor and the x-rays showed her thumb was dislocated.  Apparently, it was slipping out of the joint when stressed.  No wonder her thumb and wrist hurt.]

Sunday: Leaving Barcelona

Traffic in Barcelona is “free spirited”, according to my wife.  But on Sunday, the traffic was light and we left on a divided highway to the north.  Very quickly we were in the foothills and valleys winding our way up into the mountains.  Rochelle decided to ride on my bike today and get another day of rest for her thumb.

Pyrenees View

View from the Foothills of the Pyrenees

We stopped for coffee at old stone home winding up a dirt road to the front yard.  The owner took care of us and provided first class coffee and pastries for a late morning pick-me up.

Pyrenees, Coffee Stop

Pyrenees, Coffee Stop

Pyrenees, Snapdragons

Pyrenees, Snapdragons

We continued our way up into the mountains riding through towns and up and down the mountain sides. The weather was overcast, but we avoided rain. Due to the summer solstic, many of the towns were setting up fireworks to celebrate.

Pyrenees, Village

Pyrenees, Village Street & Mountain Side

Pyrenees

Framed Motorcycles

Pyrenees, Valley & Road

Pyrenees, Valley & the Road we Rode

We arrived at the hotel in Puigcerda with a small lake in front of the hotel and enjoyed our first “end of day” beer and wine. The day had cooled and it was cold that evening so we didn’t stay out to join those watching the fireworks in the evening.

Pyrenees, Hotel Villa Paulita View from Room

Pyrenees, Hotel Villa Paulita View from Room

 

Monday: On the Way to Vihala

We woke to cool, clear morning that was a bit nippy. After breakfast, Volker and Jesus, our van driver, motorcycle racer and mechanic par excellance, got Rochelle’s bike out of the van so she could ride. Today is a shorter ride, very scenic with great roads, so she wanted to join us.

We enter the small country of Andorra which is “owned” by the Bishop of Urquell in conjunction with the President of France.  It’s history goes back to 900 AD.  Today, it’s noted for being a tax haven resulting in a lot of “commercial Disneyland” type developments among the jaw-dropping natural beauty of the Pyrenees.  It’s often quite jarring to round a corner and be met with commercialism writ large.

Pyrenees View

Morning Ride in the Pyrenees

Pyrenees Low Temperature

Pyrenees Low Temperature 5 C (41 F)

Pyrenees Where We Rode

Looking Down The Valley We Rode Through

Pyrenees Where We Came From !!!

Where We Came From – Curvealicious!!!

Pyrenees Rochelle in Andorra

Rochelle in Andorra With Snow

Pyrenees Jesus & Rochelle

Jesus & Rochelle at the Pass in Andorra

After entering Andorra, the ride continued to stay cool and clear as we carved up one mountain side and then down the next.  It was a day for motorcycle riding and the scenery was stunning.  As today was a national holiday, we did have to hunt to find a restaurant for lunch.  Volker guided us to great location for our early afternoon coffee stop and siesta.

Pyrenees Lunch Stop Siesta

Pyrenees Lunch Stop & Volker Siesta

During the afternoon ride, we continued to stay very high in the mountains with a lot of snow still hanging around even though it was late June.

Pyrenees Lots of Snow

Pyrenees Snow Banks At the Top of The Passes

Pyrenees Our Road

Route Through the Valley

By late afternoon we arrived at our stop for the day in Viehla, the Parador de Vielha. The view from the back patio made a great backdrop as we enjoyed another well earned round of “end of the day” refreshments.

Pyrenees Parador de Vielha View from our Room

View from our Room at Parador de Vielha

Parador de Vielha View of Mountain Peaks

Parador de Vielha View of Mountain Peaks

 

 

Tuesday: Riding to Casa de St. Martin via France

The mountains behind the Parador were even more spectacular as the morning light flooded the peaks and the morning ride was still cool and with brilliant sunshine.

Pyrenees Mountains

Pyrenees Mountains in the Morning Sunshine

Pyrenees Valley View

Pyrenees Valley View

Yesterday we had passed places where the road was damaged from the river and this morning, the damage was much more extensive. The storms that had flooded the Danube had also been dumping rain in the Pyrenees the week before and Volker said he would have cancelled this tour if it had been scheduled for last week due to the mud slides and closed roads. At one place, an old stone bridge over the river had a huge gaping hole in the stones on one side, likely from trees, debris and the force of the water driving them into it. Trees, rocks and debris were strewn along the river bed and the water was still an angry grey and brown color from the hillside erosion.

Pyrenees Mountains Flood Damage

Flood Damage Beside the Road

Pyrenees River Still Running Fast & Furious

River Still Running Fast & Furious

As we headed up to the mountain tops and border with France, we left the devastation of the river and returned to impossibly green valleys.

Pyrenees Mountains Road

Hairpins and Curves from the Valley Below

We stopped for morning coffee and crepes just inside France at the top of a pass, Col de Peyres Sourde. This route is used for the upcoming Tour De France, and we passed many riders peddling their way to the top. But this week, the road was open for us as well as the bicycles.

Pyrenees Mountains Pass Entering France

Col de Peyre Sourde

Pyrenees Mountains Coffee Stop in France

Coffee Stop in France at Col de Peyre Sourde

After our break, we road to the Col de Aspin pass. I have nothing by the utmost admiration for anyone who rides this route on a bicycle, let alone a race.

Pyrenees Mountains Pass

Col d’Aspin on the Tour De France Route

Pyrenees Mountains

Pyrenees Mountains In Fog at top of Col d’ Aspen

Pyrenees Mountain Road We Road

The Road Behind

One road Volker usually takes was closed so we detoured to Lourdes and had our lunch break and then we were back into the mountains again as we headed toward the boarder with Spain.

At Col de Soulor, we were in the clouds with fog, mist and a light rain. We were met by a head of sheep as we rode along the ridge of the mountains on a narrow road with no guard rails, and drop offs of hundreds of meters to the valley below.

Pyrenees Mountains Pass

Col du Soulor Pass on the Tour de France Route

Pyrenees Mountain Sheep At Top of Pass

Sheep At Top of Col de Soulor

This combination of weather and road kept my attention firmly on negotiating safely to our next rest stop at Col d’Aubisque.

Pyrenees Mountains Fog We Rode In

Fog on the road from Col de Soulor to Col d’Aubisque

Pyrenees Mountains Pass with Fog

Col d’Aubisque

As we went down the other side of Col d’Aubisque, we descended below the cloud deck and eventually were greeted with sunshine and views to soaring mountain peaks as crossed back into Spain.

Pyrenees Mountains View

Down out of the Clouds, Sunshine and Rushing Streams

Pyrenees Mountains Top of Pass

Meadow at the Top of the Mountains

Pyrenees Mountains Pass

Snow and Lush Green Meadows

Several hours later we turned off the highway onto a dirt road to our accommodation for the next two nights, Casa de San Martin. After about 3 miles, we rounded a corner and looked down on the the old stone monastery that has been refurbished, updated and now operates as a hotel with gourmet breakfast and dinners. The property is over 1,000 years old and the monastery once belonged to the Abbot of San Victoria, the oldest monastery in Spain. Our rooms opened onto a deck overlooking the valley below. We enjoyed the traditional end-of-the-day beer and wine on the lower level patio and felt not a care in the world.

Pyrenees Mountains Hotel Casa de San Martin

Hotel Casa de San Martin Overlooking the Valley

Pyrenees Mountains Hotel Casa de San Martin

Hotel Casa de San Martin Entrance Drive

Pyrenees Mountains Hotel Casa de San Martin Patio

Enjoying Refreshment on the Patio of Casa de San Martin

Dinner, one of the best meals on the tour, was served at 8:00 pm in a stone walled dinning room with no rush or fuss. Simply superb.

 

Wednesday: Sight Seeing in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park

We woke very refreshed by the setting, absolute quiet, and stunning early morning sunshine in the valley.

Pyrenees Mountains Hotel Casa de San Martin View

Hotel Casa de San Martin Morning View Across the Valley

We are going to ride in the Monte Perdido National Park and hike along one of the canyons.  Rochelle decided to ride her bike today and enjoy the mountain roads of the canyon.

The road is one lane and supposed to be one way into the canyon with a separate one lane, one-way road out of the canyon. However, we encountered a traffic jam at a tunnel on our way in due to several vehicles heading the wrong way. On motorcycles, we were were able to squeeze by the offending car and camper.

Monte Perdido Traffic Jam

Perdido Canyon Traffic Jam

The rode down the canyon was carved into the walls and provided spectacular views as we wound our way down to the river below.

Monte Perdido View

Perdido River

Monte Perdido

Monte Perdido Canyon

Monte Perdido Brook & Rochelle

Brook & Rochelle in Monte Perdido Canyon

At the end of the road was a parking area with trails to hike along the river. It was nice to do some walking and leg stretching. Along the path, we came across an overhang with a stone chapel built inside of it reminiscent of the Meas Verde cliff dwellings in our home state of Colorado.

Monte Perdido Stone Church

Monte Perdido Stone Church

Monte Perdido Flowers

Monte Perdido Flowers

Monte Perdido Flowers

Monte Perdido Flowers

Monte Perdido River

Monte Perdido River

After several hours of hiking along the river, we returned to mount up and head out on the other “one-way” route out of the canyon. We are headed to lunch in a smaller town with a Fortress. The lunch was an unexpected delight with excellent, nouveau cuisine served in a courtyard under a canopy of trees. After our meal, we walked through the village and toured the stone fortress.

Monte Perdido Tunnel

Monte Perdido Tunnel on One Lane, One Way Road

Village in the Monte Perdido Mountains

Village in the Monte Perdido Mountains

Monte Perdido Lunch, Artistic & Excellent

Lunch, Artistic & Excellent

Monte Perdido Village

Medieval Village Cobble Stone Street

Monte Perdido Fortress

Fortress Walls: Man’s Feeble Attempt and Nature’s Towering One

Late in the afternoon, we headed back to Hotel Casa San Martin with anticipation of another superb meal preceded by adult beverages and relaxing on the patio overlooking the valley. Axel and Rochelle both love potato chips and it was decided that upon returning the Hotel Casa San Martin, they would relax and indulge in their joint addiction.

Monte Perdido Hotel San Martin Sign

Hotel San Martin Sign

Pyrenees Hotel Casa de San Martin View

Hotel Casa de San Martin View

Pyrenees, You Shall Not Pass!!!

You Shall Not Pass!!!

Axel and Rochelle Potato Chip Pig Out

Axel and Rochelle Potato Chip Pig Out

 

 

Thursday: Riding to Peramola

Today will be a long ride to Peramola. We really enjoyed to relaxing and quiet at Hotel Casa de San Martin and are a bit reluctant to leave this morning.  Nonetheless, adventure awaits.  It has been steadily warming up each day and this morning is perfect riding temperature.

Pyrenees, Morning at Hotel Casa de San Martin

Morning at Hotel Casa de San Martin

Rochelle is going to ride with me today due to the number of corners, hairpins and required use of her left hand on the clutch. Although the Perdido river canyon yesterday didn’t show signs of flooding, we had a graphic demonstration of just how much rain had fallen last week when we rode past a dam with the spillway wide open and a mountainous torrent of water thundering from the sides of the mountain.

Pyrenees Dam With Spillway Wide Open!!

Pyrenees Dam With Spillway Wide Open!!

I had never seen a dam with its spillway wide open to keep the water from topping the dam. The power from that cascade was tremendous.

The route Volker took us on were roads he hadn’t ridden before and wanted to scout as possible additions to this ride. They were great, up and down hill and mountains sides, through fields and with curves, curves, hairpins and then more curves.

Pyrenees Brook & Rochelle Two Up

Brook & Rochelle Two Up on a Road Less Traveled

Pyrenees Fields and the Road

Road Winding Through Hillside Fields

By mid-afternoon we arrived at our destination, the Hotel Can Boix which is nestled in the side of a canyon. It was a fabulous location, and almost entirely deserted.

Pyrenees Hotel Can  Boix

Hotel Can Boix

As we parked out bikes in an empty garage, another couple arrived on a BMW R1200-GS. This Austrian couple had been on a self-guided tour provisioned by Volker and the plan was for them to join us this evening and then ride with us to Barcelona tomorrow.  The language of the evening was German as Rochelle and I were the only non-German speakers. But after almost six weeks in Europe, we had grown accustomed to hearing numerous languages and inferring the general flow from gestures, tonal inflections and the wide range of non-verbal queues that are common regardless of one’s native tongue.

 

 

Friday, Final Day and Return to Barcelona

This morning we are going to ride to the town of Oliana and visit a motorcycle museum with a very wide collection of vintage and classic bikes.  Many of the exhibits are Spanish bikes as this part of Spain was home to a large number of motorcycle companies including Bultaco, Ossa, Montessa and other lesser names.

Pyrenees, Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain

Motorcycle Museum, Oliana Spain

I found a nice exhibit of my first motorcycle, a Bultaco Metralla done up in Spanish livery.

Pyrenees, Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain My 1st MC, Bultaco Metralla

Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain: My 1st MC, Bultaco Metralla

The exhibit had a great selection of motorcycles from around the world, some short-lived revolutionary designs and others that became the mainstream.

Pyrenees, Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain, DKW Wankel

Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain: DKW Wankel Engine Bike

Pyrenees, Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain, FN Inline 4

Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain: FN Inline 4

Pyrenees, Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain Indian w/ Side Car

Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain: Bright Red Indian with Side Car

Pyrenees, Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain BMW

Motorcycle Museum Oliana Spain: Vintage BMW Design Still Endures

Then, it was on the road again with another healthy helping of curves, corners and mountain roads as we headed closer to Barcelona and the end of our tour.

Pyrenees, Mountain View

Mountain Lake on the Road to Barcelona

Pyrenees, Outside Barcelona

Jagged Peaks Outside Barcelona

Pyrenees, Santa Maria de Montserrat

Santa Maria de Montserrat Outside Barcelona

It was Friday evening when we arrived at the outskirts of Barcelona. The traffic was going to be “interesting” as we were going to cross the city from the hills behind the city to the harbor where Hispania Tours office is located. We girded for the battle ahead, and then, like salmon swimming upstream, dove into the traffic with Volker leading the way.

Pyrenees, Barcelona Skyline

Barcelona Skyline: We Have To Get All the Way to the Water!!!

At one point, as we headed out of a roundabout, a large red city tour bus next to us decided to move over into our lane. I accelerated with gusto to get out of his way and heard Rochelle’s exclamation as the front fender of the bus passed an inch or two by her right elbow. Space is tight in the city and folks seem comfortable using every inch of it. And, scooters are everywhere and like minnows in a stream, seem to fill any and all available space around the other vehicles. It’s expected that scooters and motorcycles should lane split at red lights and move to the head of the line. And if two motorcycles are next to each other with enough room to squeeze a scooter in between, expect that space to be filled.

Pyrenees, Barcelona Scooter Riders

Barcelona Mother and Son Scooter Riders

We arrived back at the Hispania Tour office and had our last “end-of-day” beer standing around and recounting the highlights of our ride. Then, we reluctantly handed over the keys and unpacked our gear from the van. A fair well dinner at the hotel with toasts and celebration rounded out a most excellent week riding the spectacular scenery of the Pyrenees.

 

Favorite Lake Powell Pictures

I enjoy the process of taking pictures. I usually try to compose an image and then take the picture with some hope the image I get will match the one I envisioned.

Back when I started with photography in the 7th grade, I was fortunate that my junior high school had a darkroom complete with enlarger. But, composing the picture was just the beginning. You had to develop the film. And that starts with learning how to unload the exposed film from your camera and wind it on a spool that goes into a light-tight can. But, you have to do this in pitch darkness so stray light won’t fog the film.  It’s done by sense of touch and could be frustrating when the film refuses to feed smoothly into the spool.

Then, you pour various chemicals into the can spinning the spool around to develop the film. When done, you open the can and take out a film strip with negatives (whites are black and blacks are white, and no, I could not afford color film or processing but those negatives show “negative” color for the three primary colors used).

Using the enlarger, you expose the print paper for a few seconds to light that you shine through the negative. This creates a negative, negative so once again black is black and white is white. But, when you turn off the enlarger light, there is no image visible on the paper. You have to take the paper and slosh it in trays of similar chemical solutions to get a print. There is magic in watching a piece of white paper slowly transform into an emerging image that finally comes into sharp focus.

The time from composing a picture to seeing the print for the first time was often several weeks as it took me awhile to shoot a roll of 12 images. I was very deliberate of what I took pictures of due to the cost of film and the labor of creating a print.

Today, with digital imaging, I get to see the picture “immediately” and I shoot many more pictures than I did with film. As with film, what I get is never quite what I saw in my mind’s eay. Sometimes its better.

Here are my favorites. And this link takes you to some more from Devin.
http://wordpress.reams.me/2012/lake-powell-2012/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Zealand MC Tour Article-BMW Owner’s News

BMW Owner's News Article

BMW Owner’s News Article

The BMW Owners Association (BMWMOA) publishes a monthly magazine, BMW Owners News.  I submited an article about a motorcycle tour my wife and I took in New Zealand on the South Island in February 2004.  This trip was a wedding anniversary present to ourselves.

The BMW Owner’s News  published my article in the May, 2009 issue. You will find good information about MC touring on the South Island, and can read about some of our adventures as an Antarctic low crossed the South Island in the summer time.