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 scenic route home, somewhere between Chinchon and Villarejo de SalvanésThe 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.
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 thisSome 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
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
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
It did stop raining, fortunately! The next day was sunny and warm and my spirit was flying high again. I got to see at least a little bit of Interlaken in sunshine and had a good day riding in Switzerland and on to France.
Lessingen and Lake ThunerseeRiding along the gorge in Saanenland road 11
Along the Lake Thunersee was precious and then onto a bit of mountain riding in Saanenland and Col de Moses. Further on along Lake Geneva I completely failed to stop for coffee even though it was so pretty and suddenly I was in France and rode some French Alps and along the river Dransee. It was a good day and I finished it off in Annecy, a very lucky choice of stay indeed. I didn’t know anything of the place before and it is absolutely precious.
Evening stroll in Annecy
The following day I was riding towards La Grande Chaume but taking the scenic route going a bit north of Geneva. Entering Switzerland again, now on the highway I became aware of the need of having a sticker to prove payment. And thinking of it that might have been the case in Austria too. Not that I rode a lot on the highway but when I did I thought it was for free but maybe it wasn’t. Something to find out about for next year, this time I seemed to be fine, no-one looked my way. This is a bit confusing though with the different systems of payment in different countries.
Some random prettiness along the way, I'm now tired of photographing mountains
Arriving at La Grande Chaume was like coming home. I recognised the farm already in the distance seen across the fields and it was a dear reunion with Annice and John. We had a lovely evening with yummy food and I slept so so well, absolutely exhausted after the last 5 days riding in hot and cold and not to mention all the hairpins and the map- and street sign-reading. The next day I was kidnapped, as Annice phrased it, for a day out in Moulins with friends, and later for barbecue at yet other friends.
Italian food and wine - just as yummy scrummy without a Ducati
I continued south this morning feeling very relaxed and rested. John had the kindness to help me adjust the suspension so the bike is better balanced with the weight from the luggage and he also added some air to the rear tyre which has gone a bit flat from the weight. Damn good to have a personal mechanic, the distance is a shame though.
With Annice and John before heading offD2009 between Moulins and Clermont-Ferrand
Riding today was easy, the roads were easy to find and time and kilometres passed quickly. Some though were done on the highway Between Clermont-Ferrand and Severac-le-Chat, a very scenic highway. Another good thing was that it was on quite high altitude so the wind was nice and cool. When going down it just got warmer and warmer and in the end it was hot. I found my booked hostel quite easily even though it wasn’t quite what I expected being described as a former convent. It is a dorm room on the second floor of a family’s house, and to go out I have to go through their living-space. Never mind, I don’t think I can be bothered to go out tonight. I had a banana and quite a few biscuits, that will do dinner even though Annice will not approve.
