MotoMadrid – food for thought

This weekend I was happy to stumble over the information of a great motorcycle venue in Madrid. It wasn’t that they had bothered to advertise much, I found out by accident during my long and sometimes tedious search for bikes and stores to buy them in. I’m thinking so much of the different bikes and the pros and cons that sometimes my head feels like a spinning top. It is also an emotional and rational battle where my heart and brain rarely agree. Last night, for example, I had a panicky moment when I felt that it would not be possible to part from my beloved Ducati and I went online to see or rather make sure that a touring seat would not solve my problems.

Anyway, I was very happy when I dragged my fiance with me to visit Madrid Motos and feel, smell and eye all the goodies. To his advantage I have to say that he is happy to be dragged along and I think he had a good time.

Getting in to the spirit
Getting in to the spirit

In this context I’d like to refer to a comment from one of my colleagues. We were in a bar after work on Friday and he had asked me about how my bike-changing plans were coming along. I had answered from my heart and given a bit too much information, I realised afterwards. His next question was to my fiance, and it was phrased something like: “How does it feel to live with someone who has an interest that is not just an interest but takes up 95% of her life?” My fiance answered: “interesting”.

An intrerest we do share is the Moto GP and Formula 1 and it was a nice bonus to see the sweet GP rider Bautista signing autografs for queuing fans. I’m always surprised that these guys are so small. He could probably not reach the ground on a Triumph Tiger 🙂

Alvaro Bautista smiling and signing autografs
Alvaro Bautista smiling and signing autografs

I don’t quite know how it happened but somehow the Triumph was back on my list a couple of weeks ago. I know it is really out of my league but still it looks so good! We even tried it two-up – I wish I had a picture – I’m sure we looked awesome 🙂

Checking ground stability
Checking ground stability

Today it feels like I have made some real progress in the search. After dreading that writing e-mails wasn’t really the way to approach business in Spain, I got some positive feedback from a business place in Seseña. It is on the other side of the city but also close to those nice roads I rode last weekend so I decided to ride over to talk and take the twists back home. It was a very nice and productive chat and it seems like we can do business. I will get more information of possibilities when it comes to secondhand bikes after the Easter. Apparently this is a dead week for business. When making calculations in the shop it even seems possible for me to get a brand new Versys equipped with luggage and heated grips – if I’m only willling to pay a tad bit more than I intended… Hmmm, there was a lot to think about riding home, and the view was amazing.

Amazing little road
Amazing little road