Reflecting on economy

I’ll start off by saying that normally I never ever calculate afterwards how much I spend on a journey. I’m pretty good at not spending more than necesary but it all adds up in a scary way when you’re out and about having to pay for gas, food and bed every day. Normally I feel content knowing that I spent what I needed and that the money lasted.

This time though I felt curious to know how the money was shared between the different sort of expenses. Adding it up I could see that, yes, it had cost a lot of money this time as well, but that I had indeed saved 200 euros by buying my helmet in Andorra and not in Madrid.

These are my spendings and what I got out of spending it 🙂

Expenses were divided as follows:

Gas: 23%
This includes riding 5540 kilometres on mostly awesome roads with ace scenery. Value for money – Very Good Indeed

Food and drinks 23%
This included a few visits to resturants, some gas station sandwiches and salads, coffees, fruits, drinks and cans of baked beans. Value for money – one needs to eat to be able to ride.

Ferry: 9%
Includes a day and a night on a ferry with sleeping quarters under the arabian discoteque. Value for money – not too bad.

Stays: 41%
This included 22 nights, 5 in hotels of various standards, 6 in hostel dormbeds with various numbers of room mates and 10 in B&Bs.  Value for money – compared with a tent, yeah, right.

Shopping: 0.3%
This includes a Swiss Army Knife for my fiancé, a summer dress from France and some crystals from the glass factory in Austria. Value for money – I strongly dislike shopping so entering a shop without buying anything seems like a waste of time.

Adding to the above but outside the calculations is my new awesomely cool helmet:

After trying to find it in several Louis shops in Austria I finally bought it even cheaper in Andorra
After trying to find it in several Louis shops in Austria I finally bought it even cheaper in Andorra

Good use of a day

This morning I left the bike for the scheduled service and headed of to a café to spend the morning reading and relaxing. I really like this new routine I have established. Seseña isn’t as far away as you might think, half an hour on the highway, I could easily spend more than that getting lost in the centre of Madrid going somewhere. While waiting for the bike I get time to spend reading in a terrace café. I really do like reading, almost as much as riding, but it seems like I don’t get around to doing it as much as I would like to.

When the bike was ready I had had my fill of reading and coffees and it was time to take the scenic route home.

The senic route home, somewhere between Chinchon and Villarejo de Salvanés
The scenic route home, somewhere between Chinchon and Villarejo de Salvanés
The picture never make it justice but I love this landscape
The picture never does it justice but I love this landscape

Amazingly enough they, had given the bike a bit of a wash as well. So now it is not that urgent for me to wash it. I’ll give it a bit of a rub with a cloth and some WD40 on the rims and it will be enough for a while. When the dust and dirt came off I discovered the first scratches, the bike is no longer new.

The end of the tour

I had a good sleep and left the former convent early and headed towards Andorra. I had no expectations of this country, had heard both good and bad. The road was scenic all along the way and I was enjoying myself even if I did feel very tired still. I contemplated all the beauty I had seen as I rode yet another stretch of mountain road. The weather was perfect, cloudy with sprinkles of rain that kept the temperature down comfortably but without letting the road get wet and slippery.

There was plenty of this
There was plenty of this
Some ocational ugglyness
Some occasional ugliness

Just after finishing a thought about getting tired of beautiful landscape I entered Andorra, and what I saw was ugliness. It passed quickly though. The architecture of Andorra and also the Spanish part of the Pyrinees is distinctive from what I had seen before and it appeals to me in a modern but picturesque way.

La Massana
La Massana

I stayed in La Massana which is a mountain village and arrived at the hotel utterly tired but managed to go for a scenic walk and have dinner before hitting bed and sleeping for 12 hours. I did notice a few things about Andorra. First, petrol is very cheap, at least compared to France, and there were petrol stations everywhere – even on top of the mountain pass. Second, it is the place for all kinds of adventure stuff: climbing, downhill mountain biking etc. And third, it is a paradise for shopping.

The day that was to be my last I woke up tired but that was sorted with breakfast and the purchase of a new helmet roughly 40% cheaper than in Madrid. Then I headed out for another 200 kilometres Pyrinean mountain road riding. When, at 2’o clock, I still felt perky and relaxed I decided to give Zaragoza a miss and just head home. I felt that I had done my travelling for this time and that it would be nice to just get home to my fiancé and relax.

A village along road N 230
A village along road N 230

The ride was slightly longer than I thought but I managed to push on quite well when I left the mountains and I arrived in Madrid in the evening. I had done 670 kilometres and every bit of me ached. That is as much of an iron butt ride as I’m willing to do. I have no aspiration of taking on that challenge.

Now I’m going to rest, wash the bike and leave it at the garage for the scheduled service. I will be back with reflections of the ride, the bike and the rest.

Lazy Cat is very very dirty, but that is only to be expected after 5540 kilometres
Lazy Cat is very very dirty, but that is only to be expected after 5540 kilometres