Crawdaddy 96 Posted June 5, 2015 Recorrido por el sur de Espana con el artillero jefe = Tour of southern Spain with Chief Gunner I flew over to Spain May 22-29 to take a spin around Southern Spain with SDAR's own Chief Gunner (AKA Aaron Gorski). The flight path was San Diego - L.A. - Madrid - Jerez (Hair-eth) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerez_de_la_Frontera The day started about 2pm Friday in San Diego. I touched down in Jerez at ~5pm on Sat. and Aaron was there to greet me.....first things first.....into shorts/TShirt/Flip flops and off to the beach.....the beaches throughout Spain were surprisingly clean as were the cities......it was noticeable..... Aaron lives a few blocks from the beach in Rota, Spain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rota,_C%C3%A1diz ......his buddy Dan lives ON the beach.....we had a few beers and I got caught up on the local scene I was told the best plan to defeat leg lag would be too stay up/party like a rock star......then we'd get up around noon on Sunday and rebaseline/reclaim our mojo.......ok guys, I'll just go with the flow..... We stayed at Dan's for a bit then headed downtown to eat. Rota is a small beach town and you can walk most everywhere. By now it must've been ~9pm but my bio clock was oblivious and the sun had not yet set (it stays up til ~10pm this time of year)..... Tapas please......BIG prawns......I must say, I was disappointed in the blandness of the food throughout Spain......I expected hot food and hot women to be in abundance in Spain....the beautiful women offset the disappointment with the food....... Next thing I knew we were at Pub Los Arcos: http://www.publosarcos.com/en/ Lot's of strange concoctions were passed around in that place......I was told I must sample the local hooch......beware of the blue bottle......that was rough......glad I was only required to take one shot Then the Tequila starting flowing......off to an Irish Pub......you get the idea......it was sorta like a night in any city with Rigger Dan.....next thing I know it's ~2am and were in a taxi headed back to Aaron's.....we started Sunday off at noonish, reclaimed our mojo, and prepped for the days ahead on the bikes..... The original plan had me riding Aaron's Buddy bike, a 90's Honda Africa Twin (750cc) and Aaron would be on his 2013 KTM 990 Baja Edition. After inspecting the Africa Twin, Aaron decided he'd rather just sell it, put me on his 990, and he'd rent a R1200GS Beemer for the week. Fine by me..... So Monday morning we set off for Sevilla in Aaron's car (sweet BMW) to pick up his Beemer. We were both pleasantly surprised by the lack of paperwork/hassle at the Beemer dealer: http://www.imtbike.com/motorcycle-rentals/locations/seville/ Pre-ride inspection All set. Time to drive the car/ride the bike back to Rota and launch out on our adventure...... Needless to say, I was pretty stoked/spoiled to be on the 990 all week......very nice ride I should point out that we made a decision early on that we would NOT preplan with GPS. "Let's just go get lost in Spain/discover new roads". That plan worked out GREAT. All part of the adventure. I did download a free GPS mapping software (NAVMII) for my IPhone which worked out really well ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/navmii-gps-spain-navigation/id451720476?mt=8) I was able to zoom in and out to find alternative roads.....all done in Airplane mode using GPS only. No data usage required unless you want to snap in a route which I did from time to time on Wifi......then the program would just adapt as we freelanced . Snapped this pic of the IPhone screen while Aaron was driving us up to Seville on Monday: We set off for Jerez on our way to Arcos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcos_de_la_Frontera We banged the throttles pretty hard between Rota and Jerez.....just wanted to get on our way......LOT's of "round abouts" in all the cities we rode through.....Jerez was no exception......that got interesting a few times with cars/scooters......don't make eye contact.....just go!!! Once in Jerez, we pulled over for a restbit in front of a castle Aaron wanted to show me......lot's of castles on this trip....very cool Do we dare enter?!?! Shake your money maker..... We wound around a bunch of side streets in Jerez and eventually got out into the country on our way to Arcos........now were talking......nice/empty sweepers......no pics.....too busy smiling/riding/passing cars (they drive slooooow in Spain). We pulled over at an abandoned sugar mill (I think that's what t was?) so I could snap a few photos of the Storks who set up shop there......BIG birds.... Once in Arcos we pulled over for a late lunch/brew.....note the castle on the hill in the background behind Aaron.....that would be our next stop I felt obligated to order the "Iberian Pig Secret with Grilled Ham" I'm not sure what the secret is but the sandwich was pretty good. Food and drink were relatively cheap throughout Spain. I don't think we ever paid more than ~2euro for a beer. Lot's of tight streets/twists and turns as we wound our way through the various towns......the pics below were snapped in Arcos on our way up to the castle after lunch......we would consider many of these streets to be alleys in the U.S.......tight.......especially when/if a car or truck starts coming up in the other direction.....aw screw it, that's what sidewalks are for right? Some impressive views from the castle.......many of these castles were built atop hills to take advantage of the natural fortress attributes offered by the landscape ......makes sense.... The roads between Arcos and Ubrique (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubrique) were a blast.....Ubrique is a very cool little town known for its leather goods.....we stopped in there for a cold brew (btw, Cruz Campo beer is.....well.....skunk beer).....by now it was probably ~7pm? I snapped this pic of Aaron and the bikes in the middle of the twisties that dropped us down into city center.... Let's walk around/grab a cerveza somewhere More sweet roads led us from Ubrique back to Rota. Nice ~200+ Kilometer day on some great roads......I think we got back around 10pm......better rest up.....a couple of big days ahead...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted June 5, 2015 The day two plan was simple......hug the Atlantic shoreline to Gibraltar, bend around the rock, and hug the Mediterranean shoreline until we decided to stop somewhere....pretty wide open agenda and no set path.........lets go get lost (again) and have a beer at the beach.......I like it. Really didn't take a lot of photos on day two......many "postcard" views of the ocean/sea from up on the bluffs.....gas/lunch/brew stop near the Atlantic...... Not sure where we were when this pic was taken....just blasting around in the countryside somewhere First formal/city stop was in Barbate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbate) we saw the sign for the "El Gordo" bar on the beach and it cracked us up......so the two fat gringos pulled up a stool and had a brew.... As previously mentioned, nice/clean beaches......actually the whole country was noticeably "clean" when we dropped into towns/beaches..... On we rolled towards the larger coastal town of Tarifa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarifa). Some fantastic roads/views on the way into town.......no time for pics....too busy riding......stopped along the water in Tarifa for Tapas/brew before pushing on towards The Rock. We climbed up from Tarifa and took in some distant views of Africa It was a bit confusing trying to figure out how to actually get over to Gibraltar.......so confusing that we found ourselves at another beachside bar.....with Gibraltar in the distance..... Once we finally got over to the Rock there was a pretty massive line to cross the airfield/head up.......it was already after 5pm by this point so we blew it off.......we wanted to make tracks further east along the Mediterranean shoreline/check out a few more sights/figure out where we'd flop for the night Gibraltar in the distance Aaron opted to climb up into this lookout tower......I'd imagine it housed a cannon way back in the day..... Looking east along the Mediterranean shoreline Then we were cruising along the shoreline in Manilva and spotted Floria Chiringuito sitting down on beach......things were about to get interesting.....As stated on their Facebook page, "The most Chilled out place on the Costa del Sol. Owned by Peter, a South African/Dutch/International "Man of Mystery", who creates a distinctly Dutch Cool/Laid back ambiance. Come on down for nice people/tunes/vibe". Peter took good care of us as did one of his employees, Richie. Richie was retired British navy so he and Aaron bonded pretty quickly It doesn't get much more laid back than this..... We enjoyed ourselves eating seafood/drinking beer and B.S.'n with the boys.......by now it was probably ~9pm and Peter/Richie asked where we were staying???.....we told them we left in the morning with no idea whether we'd return to Rota that evening or stay out......at this point it was clear we were staying out.....and staying local......our day was done......it would be 10pm/dark soon......."any suggestions on a local motel?" ......Richie spoke up and said he had a guest room with two beds if we wanted it.......sold......we dropped the bikes off at Richie's then he drove us back to the beach.....we had a few more brews with the boys as they closed up . Another local, Ben, is a pilot who happened to be at the bar........he offered to have us all come over to his place for a few cocktails before hitting the club(s).......you get the idea.......we got back to Richie's at......aw hell, I have no idea......then we got up, out, and on the bikes at 8am in search of coffee......great scenery/hospitality on riding day 2....thanks again guys...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted June 5, 2015 Day three.......with heads pounding we headed into Estepona for breakfast/coffee.......very nice area.....$$$: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estepona Peter/RIchie told us about a road that would lead us up to Ronda just a short ways down the coastline......Ronda is must see town (fortress) set high in the mountains.......and Ronda was already on our "loose" agenda.....great.....let's hit it...... The road up to Ronda was a blast.......sorta of like climbing up Palomar Mtn but unlike Palomar you just keep climbing up twisities above the treeline then drop down into the city......GREAT roads to and from Ronda.......minimal pics on the climbs to/from to Ronda....we were just smiling/banging the throttles and enjoying the twisities.... [/url] What can I say about Ronda? We stayed here a couple of hours (at least) just walking around/taking in the sites/toured a museum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronda Enemies were literally cast over the walls......Muslims tossing Christians and visa versa depending on who was in control at any given time..... Once we left Ronda we took an assortment of AWESOME mountain roads back down towards Jerez/Rota It's not every day that you see a Moto GP statute in City center.......I saw this on in Jerez, hoped the curb, and snagged a pic of Aaron's 990 and the Moto GP tribute Statute.....nice We were SPENT by the time we got back to Rota at ~9pm.......I think we'd put close to ~900 Kilometers on the ODO by this point..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted June 5, 2015 We had to return the Beemer on Thursday afternoon so we stayed close to home and rode over to the port city/island of Cadiz for breakfast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A1diz Very cool little island/town......not the easiest place to find parking.....damn scooters Lot's of sites to see..... We were back in Rota by 2, Sevilla with the BMW by 4:30, home by 6. I took Aaron, Teri, ad babay Alex out to diner on our final night together......what a great trip......thanks brother We're already planning the next Euro ride.......seriously Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtnmanseth 0 Posted June 6, 2015 Helluva write up of a helluva trip, C-Diddy! And nice bike/neighborhood, Aaron... I'm in for the next round... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oracle 195 Posted June 6, 2015 Another epic Crawdaddy adventure. Nicely done my friend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danrider 5 Posted June 6, 2015 It is the time and the places you take with you when it comes time to sit in the chair of life. Cool places, and times! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robertaccio 406 Posted June 6, 2015 Dooooood very very lindo!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dress4Less 162 Posted June 8, 2015 Major props on a great RR and pics! Nicely done! Muey Bien! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Riggerdan 147 Posted June 8, 2015 Well done Crawdaddy............!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted June 8, 2015 Well done Crawdaddy............!!! Did you take note of this line: "Then the Tequila starting flowing......off to an Irish Pub......you get the idea......it was sorta like a night in any city with Rigger Dan.....next thing I know it's ~2am and were in a taxi headed back to Aaron's.....we started Sunday off at noonish, reclaimed our mojo, and prepped for the days ahead on the bikes....." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
