Author: Keith

We arrived in Gibraltar after 11 great days on the road. It’s been a a pretty crazy ride down. We’ve ridden in rain, wind, snow and sun. All of which were hard work apart from the sun. Overall a really great experience if not sometimes a tad challenging.

After leaving Andorra we rode to Deltebre national park where we decided to camp. The wind in this area was so strong that we were sometimes leaning at 45 degrees just to keep the bikes straight. It was a hard day fighting against the forces of nature. We then rode from Deltebre to Turre where we camped again before making our way down to Gibraltar. This was by far our best day riding down through Spain. The sun shone and the Spanish coast and geography opened up in all its splendour. It was fabulous riding through twisty mountainous roads from Turre to Carboneras. Later we passed the Sierra Nevada mountains and then Granada and Malaga before hitting the rock of Gibraltar.

We’ve dug our heels into Gibraltar for a few days as there was some bike maintenance to be tended to. My bash plate had almost cracked off and I needed my kick stand fitted. The latter will hopefully decrease the steady but embarrassing increase of the fallen bike score. Jeremy also needed bash plate work. Thanks go to Rob in Car Clinic for fitting us is!

On our second day on the rock we met Nigel, a fellow biker, who has introduced us to his wonderful family and friends, brought us on the road to Ronda with his mates and even had us over for Sunday roast.

The road to Ronda is a very famous mountainous biker route. It’s also the scene of my first ‘real’ accident. I rode around a corner a wee bit faster than I should have and then drifted wide into a stoney embankment. My bike then had the pleasure of meeting a large rock before we were violently separated and I went sailing over the handlebars and through the air. Luckily I landed rather gracefully with a tripple roll. Apart from a sprained thumb and a bruised ego I was fine. The bike wasn’t as fortunate as I. It’s all fixable though and I was able to continue riding on.

When we got back from Ronda Pete, one of Nigels mates and the organiser of the ride, brought us on a tour of the caves and tunnels of Gibraltar. Pete is an MBE and works in the army. The guy is an authority on Gibralter and especially its caves and tunnels. Some even refer to him as the mole. When he’s not on his bike or with his family the guy spends his time underground. Thanks Pete for the private tour. It was awesome!

Tomorrow the real adventure begins. We depart for Morocco. We’ll be sailing from Algeciras to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta sometime in the early morning.

Thanks to all the folks in Gibraltar for making our stay here a very memorable one. Nigel and his family, Pete, Karl, Diesel Dave and Mark. You won’t be forgotten!

Jeremy has uploaded some more pictures to the European Gallery. We’re being kicked out of this internet café so we’ll add the rest when we get to Morocco.

We have left Toulouse and are now in Andorra but before moving on many thanks must go to Ann Claire and her Mother for having us and being such great hosts. Thanks also to Vince, Elodie and François for a great dinner and an excellent evening. Elodie and Vince you guys must make London when I get back! I owe ya loads.

While in Toulouse I also had my Scotts steering damper fitted by the folks at KM Racing. This should keep me upright a bit more when off-road. Thanks go to Arnaud and Francois. Great guys!

In Andorra there´s snow on the slopes and as luck would have it heavy snow is wildly falling down. This is the second time I´ve been boarding with Jeremy and last time the weather took exactly the same turn. What can I say? he´s got his faults but the man´s a lucky talisman when it comes to snow. We´ve kitted out with two Burton twin-tipped free-style boards. Jeremy is riding a 164 and I´m on a slightly smaller 159. Mine should be good for a bit a messin around.

Fallen bike score now stands at Keith 6 Jeremy 2.

The first two days have flashed by and we are now in Toulouse. While here we’re going to take two days out to spend time with friends before hitting Andorra for a few days of boarding.

The beginning has been fun but not without its own dramas. Thus far Jeremy, while filtering, was T-Boned by a modped rider in London (what a great start). Thankfully both riders and bikes survived intact and without insult or injury.

I ran out of fuel not once but twice. My carb is leaking again and my bike’s fuel indicator is broken meaning I don’t receive any indication that I’m running low or empty. Embarrassingly I called the AA as I didn’t think it was a fuel problem. The AA guy just flipped my reserve switch! I looked and felt so silly. The only indication I get is my bike completely loses its power while I’m riding. This is not a great feeling when you’re on the speed lane of a motorway or on Paris’ peripherique, there is no breakdown lane. On both occasions Jeremy was on front which resulted in us losing each other and a lot of long and drawn out faffing around in order to find each other again.

We’ve now come 1100 kilometers down. That’s half of the European leg! Yipeee! We’ve decided we’ll take the east coast of Spain down to Gibralter as opposed to going around the north and west coasts of Spain and then on through Portugal.

Along the way we’ve met quite a few really cool people. A total stranger pulled up on the motorway to see if I needed any help. He was also a biker. The guy, Joe, waited around chatting with me until I was totally sorted out. We also had an old French man and his wife who helped me pick up my bike after it had fallen. Again not once but twice. I don’t believe in ones. The current fallen bike score is Keith 4 Jeremy 2.