Old Codger on tour – again!

[Cousin Jack]

Last night in Spain, ferry tomorrow. Last few pics



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[KungFooBob]

Spot the odd one out

[Dodgy69]

What's the bike 2nd from right. ?

[Cousin Jack]

What's the bike 2nd from right. ?

BMW K1600. F 'ing behemoth!

[Cousin Jack]

Home safe. More to follow in a day or so, including comments on the ferry. But not tonight, I am just enjoying being home

[Bustaspoke]

One of my mates got sea sick last week on the Santander to Plymouth boat.He'd been Whats apping us with images of him & his wife in the sunshine in Spain & Portugal whilst we've been getting soaked on a almost daily basis.He never posted any photo's of him being sea sick,tried to keep it quiet ...

[Cousin Jack]

I did not feel well on the outward trip, it was rough during the night, you could feel and hear some of the big seas hitting the boat. Coming back was a lot better, but walking in a straight line was a problem.

[Yorick]

I did not feel well on the outward trip, it was rough during the night, you could feel and hear some of the big seas hitting the boat. Coming back was a lot better, but walking in a straight line was a problem.

That ferry is renowned as the seas are very rough .
In comparison, our ferry to Spain is always dead calm.

[mangocrazy]

I did not feel well on the outward trip, it was rough during the night, you could feel and hear some of the big seas hitting the boat. Coming back was a lot better, but walking in a straight line was a problem.

About 30 years ago I did that round trip on bikes with my then gf. I was on a VFR, she was on a YPVS 350. The outbound leg was fine, no dramas. On the way back we had to go through a force 8 gale. The boat was deserted; everyone was in their cabins or in the bogs throwing up. We found the best way to deal with it was to lie down, that lessened the feeling of the contents of your stomach moving around.

Then when we got off the ferry we had to contend with high winds all the way back to Stafford. Crossing the Severn bridge in those winds was one of the scariest things I've ever done. As soon as we'd crossed it we headed to a service station to calm our frazzled nerves.

[Count Steer]

I did a trip back from France from Caen on the fast ferry after a Flash trip that was quite Halfway across the captain announced that if the weather forecast had been accurate we wouldn't have left....which was confidence inspiring.

Fortunately everything stayed battened down on the car/bike deck.

It's not always jolly in the warm bits either. A ferry trip from Skopelos to Skiathos had everyone doing the old technicolour yawns over the side too. Rule 1 - do it on the downwind side.

[Cousin Jack]

Well, back safely and the truth can now be told!

Had a slight 'off' on day 2. Pamploma, city centre hotel, underground car park, very steep ramp with a right angle tturn at the top and exit onto pavement. CJ rides up ramp, turns right hesitantly for fear of mowing down a ped, and drops the bloody thing, and it slides ALL the way down the ramp on it's side. Bent brake lever, broken RH footpeg, RH aux light hangng off, and scuffed/scarred pannier. Footpeg replaced by local dealer, brake lever and pannier is just cosmetic. Light refixed with cable ties.

CJ came off relatively OK too, massive bruise on right arm that doesn't hurt a bit, suspected cracked rib or two that did hurt a LOT! Riding was OK, lying down to sleep was not. Getting better now thank you, but pride is badly wounded and may not survive.

Other than that a fantastic trip. The N260 is great, but some of the minor roads over the cols are even better. Hairpin after hairpin, with fantastic views from the top. Very little traffic on most of them, but sheep, cattle and ponies to watch out for. 6 of us in total, 2 of them were 'staff', so only 4 paying customers. Mostly we all rode our own ride, but linked up for coffee stops am and pm, lunch and dinner at the end. Hotels good (apart from the bloody ramp), food OK, beer cheap! The two guides, Mark and Richard were great, especially in getting my bike fixed after my off and making sure I was OK.

Now to plan for next year!

[KungFooBob]

CRASHER!

[Count Steer]

I imagine the bloke on the 1600 had a squeaky bum too!

[mangocrazy]

Blimey CJ, that certainly sounded like an action-packed few days! Glad to hear you're (mostly) OK - bikes can be fixed, humans take time to heal. But you're back in one piece and live to fight (and plan) another day, so all good.

[Cousin Jack]

I think it was Potter, asking about the ferry. The usual boat on this route is the Pont-Aven, a "cruise ferry". Just take the cruise bit with a little caution. Boat is 185 metres long, 41k tons gross, so not too small, and is capable of shuffling along at close to 30 knots although I don't think they get near that, trying to save fuel no doubt. Cabins are much like any other ferry cabin, small but adequate. The cruise bit is because it has 2 restaurants, a cafe and 2 bars. And entertainment, ranging from mediocre to so dire it became funny. Plenty of public spaces, but it isn't really in the cruise ship category. Food in the self service restaurant was good, but a tad expensive. There was also a posh restaurant which, as hairy-arsed bikers, we stayed clear of. Plenty of choice of beer, but UK prices rather than Spanish prices.

Other ferries are used occasionally, AFAIK they are smaller and more normal ferry like.

Bikes (there were somewhere around 150-200 on board are stuffed in the bilges, so a long sweaty wait to get off. They strap them down well, and they do use a seat cushion, but they strap them TIGHT, so tight they bent one blokes prop stand. They also pack them in like sardines, so getting out from, and back too, your bike can be a bit of a nightmare.

[Cousin Jack]

I imagine the bloke on the 1600 had a squeaky bum too!

He was actually a very good and confident rider and had no issues. It helped that he was 6'2" tall, built like the proverbial brick shithouse, and was at least 20 years younger than me.

[Scootabout]

I'm a bit late to this thread - only just come across it. An interesting account, CJ, thanks, and good to hear you survived it pretty-much intact.

I'm doing that ferry trip next May. We won't be riding the Pyrenees, but rather spending a week heading up through France at a fairly leisurely pace.

I'm interested in your account of the ferry. It sounds a bit mixed. We're booked on the Salamanca, which apparently looks like this:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ei73UJC1wTaBgexf8

Is it the same as yours, or one of the smaller ones? I'm not keen on these stories of seasickness - reminds me of the last time I crossed the Bay of Biscay by ship, on a school cruise in '74

[Cousin Jack]

Different ship, I think it is smaller, but much newer as well, so probably more comfortable.
The Bay of Biscay can be a bit lumpy, but my brother has done the trip about a dozen times, and never had bad weather.
Hope you enjoy your trip, and the ride back through France.

[Sunny]

We did that ferry a few years back, and having done the San Nazaire-Gijon ferry (RIP) the previous year and literally vomited my way across the Bay of Biscay, I took the precaution of taking Sturgeron, which made the experience far more pleasant. 100% would recommend getting similar.

Ferry was fine, if a little boring, the food was fairly decent, and we were accompanied by a biggish pod of dolphins (or porpoises?) for a while, which was pretty cool.
There was a cinema on board too - we watched Mad Max - Fury Road to while away a couple of hours.

All in all, it's fine, but long. That 11 hour San Nazaire-Gijon one felt like a much more efficient journey. Shame it is no more.

Hope your ribs are better now chap!

[Cousin Jack]

Ribs are fine now thanks. They were mostly OK, except strangely when I was lying down. Even on the day I was OK riding, it was sleeping, or leaning back in a chair that hurt.