How would a long neckpreclude one from sitting in a chair
?
The fulcrum would be much higher and you'd fall off backwards.
Trip to Portugal
- Thread starter Robarano
- Start date
The fulcrum would be much higher and you'd fall off backwards.
There really is no let up!!The fulcrum would be much higher and you'd fall off backwards.
Ypres is one of our favorites. Also got emotional at The Last Post, the Menin Gate is a sobering monument.Well, currently in Ypres, Belgium after 2 days at the Wildbad Weekender (Crap, but good for catching up with mates an won't do again . Next year ill do Adventure Bike Rider instead)
Just watched The Last Post at The Menin Gate and got quite emotional. Next stop, Omaha Beach tomorrow
View attachment 81938
We stayed here, very central, secure for the bikes - fab place and great bike owning / friendly hosts... free beer within 5 minutes of turning up...
Grillrestaurant De Voerman Ieper
ieper grillrestaurant met wekelijkse nieuwe suggesties en uitgebreide wijnkaart
www.devoerman.com
Did you get as wet yesterday as you did when you invaded Ireland?
with a scorchio 31 degrees, off into Portugal 
The temp hit 42 degrees in central Portugal 
today. Really uncomfortable at times. You actually try to avoid the wind as it warms you up
having your visor up is a no-no as it like someone had a hair dryer in your face 
loads of water stops when we found shade. 
Then about 30 miles from Albuifera the temp started to drop rapidly to about 29 degrees which felt cool
. We are talking about Istanbul next year and I’ll be investing in some mesh vented gear.
Now in an apartment for a couple of days and no riding tomorrow.
today. Really uncomfortable at times. You actually try to avoid the wind as it warms you up having your visor up is a no-no as it like someone had a hair dryer in your face loads of water stops when we found shade. Then about 30 miles from Albuifera the temp started to drop rapidly to about 29 degrees which felt cool
. We are talking about Istanbul next year and I’ll be investing in some mesh vented gear.Now in an apartment for a couple of days and no riding tomorrow.
Well, I've been back since midnight on Monday.
Thoughts and take aways from the trip.
Le Shuttle (Tunnel)
Really easy, quick to book in and get through customs. If you turn up before your departure time, it's possible to change at no cost and they'll just put you on the next train. 35 mins and you are in France.....
France
A slog to get through France as it's bloody huge. I'm sure there are some decent roads, but the whole ideas was to get to Spain, so did it in 2 days. I couldn't get a ferry with the times I needed to leave, hence not getting a return trip on the boat. It didn't help that the weather was rubbish for those 2 days.
Spain
The whole idea was to get to Portugal and spend little time in Spain, but it surprisingly good. Camped for one night in Santander and had hotels in Leon on the way & Astorga on the return.
Portugal
As I expected, the people are very friendly and we never struggled for anything. It was easy enough to find somewhere to eat. Albufeira is a tourist trap and there are more English than locals. Luckily the appartment we booked was about 1.2 miles from the main tourist area, so close enough to walk to, but far enough away to avoid it. The countryside is very plesant to look at.
Roads & Tolls
I had to get over France, as above, so it was a lot of dual carriageway riding. Spain had some fantastic roads, notably the ZA-125 & ZA-925 in the west, going into Portugal. Portugal itself had some great roads, although the surfaces were slightly worse than Spain. Notable roads I remember were the N238, N232, M511 & N222.
Coming out of France and into Spain, we hit a bit of the Picos. Far too busy and 'touristy'. Its legend doesn't match the reality, much like the Stelvio Pass. There were much better roads further along the route (as above).
In Portugal, especially, there can be corners with sand or gravel on them out in the sticks where a dirt road joins a main road. You get used to looking for them.
I got all the way there and back without using a 'peage' (Toll road)
Speed Limits
30kph (sometimes 20kph) in towns. You can recoginse these by the sign with the town name on it as you enter. There will be the same sign with a red line through it as you leave to let you know the speed limit increases. If you are dropping from 90kph, you'll get a 70kph, then 50kph sign prior to entering the town.
50kph through some rural areas with houses.
90kph on most rural roads
120kph on motroways and some dual carriageways.
We saw very few police, and it felt safe to go slightly over the 90kph out in the sticks. I stuck religously to the speed limits in towns.
Drivers
Usually OK. Cars in France, Spain & Portugal are bashed to f**k. As above, most drivers stick to the speed limits, especially in France (surprising). Drivers on French motorways do tend to overtake and leave their left indicator on. 
Oh, and it felt reassuringly like home, to find the tools who go loads over the speed limits and sit 2" from the rear bumper of the cars in front drove Audi's, BMW's and Mercedes-Benz's
Weather
We hit some terrible weather going through France and it pretty much rained for 2 days.
Once we got to Leon, the weather was fantastic for about 10 days without a cloud in the sky. We saw around 31 degrees in Leon and Albufeira, but in the Portuguese interior, we saw 42 degrees at one point, and a couple of days in the high 30's. Talking to a local English couple who live there, it was unseasonably hot at the time. We rode through a lot of areas that had been affected by the fires, up in the hills.
Your mule
Helga never missed a beat. Whether you were on the twisties, heading up a mountain in 40 degree heat, blasting down a motorway or sitting in traffic, noting fazed her.
I know we all love our Ducatis, but 2 things that are a must for me for touring are - Shaft drive (no messing about with chain maintenance), and luggage boxes that open from the top (Can't be doing with side opening boxes and stuff falling out.)
Tyres
I put a new Michelin Road 6 on the rear before I left with a partially worn Michelin Road 5 left on the front. No issues with either and loads of grip. When the temps got to 40 degrees, they could feel a little squiffy when leant over on the left, but I guess the road temperature at that point was well above this point. Lots of wear left on the rear when I got back.
Sat Nav
I used my TomTom Rider 550, instead of the BMW navigator, as it works better with my intercom. If I had it on the 'twisty' setting, it got ridiculous in the towns, basically taking you through back streets and crossing over the main route through the place to keep a winding route. I plotted the routes before hand, but found the 'fastest route' setting, but avoiding motorways and tolls worked the best to find good roads.
Intercom
Myself and my mate both have Packtalk Cardo systems. Invaluable if you are touring, as there were a few times you lose sight of each other. The rule of thumb is to keep going and stop when you are about to take a turning, so you don't lose each other, but they are handy to warn of gravel / sand on a road or if a car is coming when you have over taken something and they are still behind.
Riding gear
The only thing I would have changed was a standard Alpinestars jacket for a dedicated vented jacket in a lighter colour. I'll look at a Klim vented jacket for next time when touring in hotter climate. A white helmet is a must, my mate had a black one and it was like an oven at times. Motorcycle jeans are fine and boots no issues. I took some waterproof over clothing (jacket & bottoms), which was the correct decision, as apart from France, they stayed in the luggage.
Itinerary
We did it over 18 days, inc the 2 days at Wildbad Weekender. We had a day off the bike in Albufeira, but apart from that, rode every day. Doing it again for around 2 weeks, I'd probably plan 3 x days off the bike with 2 day stays in 3 x selected locations.
Fuel
Easy enough to find, apart from weirdly, on the faster roads, where you can go for 100km without seeing a service station. Prices are comparable with the UK, but you can get ripped off if using one on a motorway in France ! 95 RON is available everywhere and 98 RON in selected fuel stations if you fancy the good stuff.
Accommodation
Hotels - Mostly very good and all booked through Booking.com. Prices vary depending on the town / city, with some real gems found in Elvas, Chaves, & Astorga (strangely enough, the last 3 stayed in). Next time, I think I'd book 4 star hotels as if you choose the location correctly, the prices are reasonable.
Camping - 2 campsites, booked through Pitchup. They were what they were, but both had eating facilities and were decent. Both were busy, mainly with locals (Portuguese, Spanish and French).
Language
Some people spoke English, some didn't. But as usual, you point and gesture, and you can get what you need. Being English, our grasp of any foreign language is embarrassingly poor, although I'll have a go with a few words if I know them. I always say please and thank you in the local lingo. My mate point blank refuses to speak anything other than English, his logic being that he's paying.
Ferry
28 hours from Santander to Portsmouth. You are a captive audience, so expect to be ripped off (14 Euro for 2 pints and 2 bags of crisps. Breakfast in hotels is about 11 Euro, but was 18 Euro on the ship). Seasoned travellers took a load of food on board, and it's worth doing. You get 90 mins Wi-Fi for free, but it's terrible, and on that basis, I refuse to pay 25 Euro for the unlimited package, as I could see it being much of the same. Plus I paid around £440 for the trip, so it should have been included imo. I suppose if everyone has their noses in their phone, nobody is spending at the bar though!
It was clean and comfortable, but was a new ship (Brittany Ferries - Santona). We booked a 4 berth cabin for 2 people so plenty of space to chuck luggage on unused bunks. 4 people in there would have been a squeeze. The cabin had an en-suite toilet and shower, which was handy.
It is possible to travel without a cabin and kip in the lounge. Not for me!
The car deck crew strap your bike down (Usually I've done this myself), and the French bloke that did mine yanked it down with so much force, I though he was going to snap the side stand.
It stayed secure through the trip and no damage done, but I wasn't happy. He acually lifted the front wheel of my mate's GS off the floor, he used so much force on the strap.
I thought 'wow' when I saw the view when I entered the cabin.
Then tought....'Hang on, We're in an internal cabin' It was all smoke and mirrors, although I found myself walking to the 'window' once, trying to get a phone signal.
Costs
£900 in accommodation
£440 for the ferry
£600 for food & drink, but we ate out every night
£450 for fuel. A full tank for Helga each day at around 36 Euro
Thoughts and take aways from the trip.
Le Shuttle (Tunnel)
Really easy, quick to book in and get through customs. If you turn up before your departure time, it's possible to change at no cost and they'll just put you on the next train. 35 mins and you are in France.....
France
A slog to get through France as it's bloody huge. I'm sure there are some decent roads, but the whole ideas was to get to Spain, so did it in 2 days. I couldn't get a ferry with the times I needed to leave, hence not getting a return trip on the boat. It didn't help that the weather was rubbish for those 2 days.
Spain
The whole idea was to get to Portugal and spend little time in Spain, but it surprisingly good. Camped for one night in Santander and had hotels in Leon on the way & Astorga on the return.
Portugal
As I expected, the people are very friendly and we never struggled for anything. It was easy enough to find somewhere to eat. Albufeira is a tourist trap and there are more English than locals. Luckily the appartment we booked was about 1.2 miles from the main tourist area, so close enough to walk to, but far enough away to avoid it. The countryside is very plesant to look at.
Roads & Tolls
I had to get over France, as above, so it was a lot of dual carriageway riding. Spain had some fantastic roads, notably the ZA-125 & ZA-925 in the west, going into Portugal. Portugal itself had some great roads, although the surfaces were slightly worse than Spain. Notable roads I remember were the N238, N232, M511 & N222.
Coming out of France and into Spain, we hit a bit of the Picos. Far too busy and 'touristy'. Its legend doesn't match the reality, much like the Stelvio Pass. There were much better roads further along the route (as above).
In Portugal, especially, there can be corners with sand or gravel on them out in the sticks where a dirt road joins a main road. You get used to looking for them.
I got all the way there and back without using a 'peage' (Toll road)
Speed Limits
30kph (sometimes 20kph) in towns. You can recoginse these by the sign with the town name on it as you enter. There will be the same sign with a red line through it as you leave to let you know the speed limit increases. If you are dropping from 90kph, you'll get a 70kph, then 50kph sign prior to entering the town.
50kph through some rural areas with houses.
90kph on most rural roads
120kph on motroways and some dual carriageways.
We saw very few police, and it felt safe to go slightly over the 90kph out in the sticks. I stuck religously to the speed limits in towns.
Drivers
Usually OK. Cars in France, Spain & Portugal are bashed to f**k
. As above, most drivers stick to the speed limits, especially in France (surprising). Drivers on French motorways do tend to overtake and leave their left indicator on. Oh, and it felt reassuringly like home, to find the tools who go loads over the speed limits and sit 2" from the rear bumper of the cars in front drove Audi's, BMW's and Mercedes-Benz'sWeather
We hit some terrible weather going through France and it pretty much rained for 2 days.
Once we got to Leon, the weather was fantastic for about 10 days without a cloud in the sky. We saw around 31 degrees in Leon and Albufeira, but in the Portuguese interior, we saw 42 degrees at one point, and a couple of days in the high 30's. Talking to a local English couple who live there, it was unseasonably hot at the time. We rode through a lot of areas that had been affected by the fires, up in the hills. Your mule
Helga never missed a beat. Whether you were on the twisties, heading up a mountain in 40 degree heat, blasting down a motorway or sitting in traffic, noting fazed her.
I know we all love our Ducatis, but 2 things that are a must for me for touring are - Shaft drive (no messing about with chain maintenance), and luggage boxes that open from the top (Can't be doing with side opening boxes and stuff falling out.)Tyres
I put a new Michelin Road 6 on the rear before I left with a partially worn Michelin Road 5 left on the front. No issues with either and loads of grip. When the temps got to 40 degrees, they could feel a little squiffy when leant over on the left, but I guess the road temperature at that point was well above this point. Lots of wear left on the rear when I got back.
Sat Nav
I used my TomTom Rider 550, instead of the BMW navigator, as it works better with my intercom. If I had it on the 'twisty' setting, it got ridiculous in the towns, basically taking you through back streets and crossing over the main route through the place to keep a winding route. I plotted the routes before hand, but found the 'fastest route' setting, but avoiding motorways and tolls worked the best to find good roads.
Intercom
Myself and my mate both have Packtalk Cardo systems. Invaluable if you are touring, as there were a few times you lose sight of each other. The rule of thumb is to keep going and stop when you are about to take a turning, so you don't lose each other, but they are handy to warn of gravel / sand on a road or if a car is coming when you have over taken something and they are still behind.
Riding gear
The only thing I would have changed was a standard Alpinestars jacket for a dedicated vented jacket in a lighter colour. I'll look at a Klim vented jacket for next time when touring in hotter climate. A white helmet is a must, my mate had a black one and it was like an oven at times. Motorcycle jeans are fine and boots no issues. I took some waterproof over clothing (jacket & bottoms), which was the correct decision, as apart from France, they stayed in the luggage.
Itinerary
We did it over 18 days, inc the 2 days at Wildbad Weekender. We had a day off the bike in Albufeira, but apart from that, rode every day. Doing it again for around 2 weeks, I'd probably plan 3 x days off the bike with 2 day stays in 3 x selected locations.
Fuel
Easy enough to find, apart from weirdly, on the faster roads, where you can go for 100km without seeing a service station. Prices are comparable with the UK, but you can get ripped off if using one on a motorway in France ! 95 RON is available everywhere and 98 RON in selected fuel stations if you fancy the good stuff.
Accommodation
Hotels - Mostly very good and all booked through Booking.com. Prices vary depending on the town / city, with some real gems found in Elvas, Chaves, & Astorga (strangely enough, the last 3 stayed in). Next time, I think I'd book 4 star hotels as if you choose the location correctly, the prices are reasonable.
Camping - 2 campsites, booked through Pitchup. They were what they were, but both had eating facilities and were decent. Both were busy, mainly with locals (Portuguese, Spanish and French).
Language
Some people spoke English, some didn't. But as usual, you point and gesture, and you can get what you need. Being English, our grasp of any foreign language is embarrassingly poor, although I'll have a go with a few words if I know them. I always say please and thank you in the local lingo. My mate point blank refuses to speak anything other than English, his logic being that he's paying.
Ferry
28 hours from Santander to Portsmouth. You are a captive audience, so expect to be ripped off (14 Euro for 2 pints and 2 bags of crisps. Breakfast in hotels is about 11 Euro, but was 18 Euro on the ship). Seasoned travellers took a load of food on board, and it's worth doing. You get 90 mins Wi-Fi for free, but it's terrible, and on that basis, I refuse to pay 25 Euro for the unlimited package, as I could see it being much of the same. Plus I paid around £440 for the trip, so it should have been included imo. I suppose if everyone has their noses in their phone, nobody is spending at the bar though!
It was clean and comfortable, but was a new ship (Brittany Ferries - Santona). We booked a 4 berth cabin for 2 people so plenty of space to chuck luggage on unused bunks. 4 people in there would have been a squeeze. The cabin had an en-suite toilet and shower, which was handy.
It is possible to travel without a cabin and kip in the lounge.
Not for me!The car deck crew strap your bike down (Usually I've done this myself), and the French bloke that did mine yanked it down with so much force, I though he was going to snap the side stand.
It stayed secure through the trip and no damage done, but I wasn't happy. He acually lifted the front wheel of my mate's GS off the floor, he used so much force on the strap.I thought 'wow' when I saw the view when I entered the cabin.
Then tought....'Hang on, We're in an internal cabin' It was all smoke and mirrors, although I found myself walking to the 'window' once, trying to get a phone signal. Costs
£900 in accommodation
£440 for the ferry
£600 for food & drink, but we ate out every night
£450 for fuel. A full tank for Helga each day at around 36 Euro
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A fair old hike for just over 2 weeks!
The.dunnster
Well-known member
Great write up Rob. We didn’t manage to get away this year so reading this is the kick up the arse I need to plan early for next year.
Dirty Leeds
Elite Member
Did this trip go well?I've just booked up for this tonight. I'm doing the full weekend.
Wildbad Weekender on the 28th - 30th July. Then probably jog off to somewhere in Europe for a couple of weeks.
Anybody fancy the Weekender, get booked up.
Right, onto Amazon for a new tent.
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