Oh well, since we are leaving from Madrid and Real Madrid has just beaten Barcelona for The Supercopa, I will start with a Jose Mourinho (Portuguese coach of Real Madrid and the best Football coach in the world ;-)) quote that in my opinion encapsulates a great attitude to live by.
"The only thing that I want to say is that we are the best ones and in normal conditions we are more than the best ones. In normal conditions we will be champions. In abnormal conditions we also will be champions."After a very good breakfast we packed up our bike to the delight of tourists in the Plaza del Prado. The Finnish plates are a huge magnet.
Today we had the longest ride to do, over 600 Kms to the South of France, but before we left Madrid we still had to visit Pentti and his wife Micah. Pentti is a motorbike racer, and a good one at that. He won the Finnish championship in 1990 and when he told me we would be welcomed to visit them and see the bike he won the championship with (a Yamaha 750cc) and he also mentioned jamon and bocaditos how could I refuse. Well, let me tell you that it was amazing. Their hospitality was first class, and we had time to look at all of his toys. His latest one is a Ducati Panigale which with 195hp and 98.1 lb.ft torque, and dry weight of 164Kg (362 lb) has the highest power and torque to weight ratio of all production bikes. And she is a beauty ...
After leaving Pentti's house we aimed North on the A1 towards Burgos. The exit out of Madrid is very beautiful as you see the mountains in the distance but then it gets quite boring. Had to stop for a double espresso which was a great choice as things would get hairy later on.
After Burgos the weather started to change and we could see towards the horizon dark clouds and as we got closer to San Sabastien it was clear we were going to get rain and lots of it. We stopped for gas, quick snack but most importantly to put on the rain gear.
And just in time because as we left the gas station it hit us and the combination of mountain roads, hard rain, wind and the fall of the night made this ride very difficult and tiring. To add to this every time we needed to pay tolls it was quite difficult as some (most) toll booths in this part use a (very) smooth surface that together with rain and most probably split oil make any kind of riding over this a nightmare. Even putting your feet down is tricky as they slip immediately if you are not careful. No first gear starts allowed ... did it once and the GSA started moving the back like a fish's tail.
By the time we got to Pau, France we had caught a heck of lot of rain and we were exhausted.
What had started as a great day turned out to be quite difficult. On a motorbike one is more susceptible to the effects of nature around us and on these long trips planning around those are not easy.
At this time I would like to take the quote I started the blog with and change it a bit to illustrate the point of positive attitude.
"The only thing that I want to say is that riding motorbikes is the best and in normal conditions it is even more than the best. In normal conditions we will enjoy it. In abnormal conditions we also will enjoy it."Based on weather we will decide if we go ahead and do the Pyrennees tomorrow or if we stay one more day in this area. The forecasts all show heavy rain expected so most probably we will stay.
Click HERE to see all the pictures for Day 3
Posted by Armando
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