Adventures of blacktiger to Catalunya. And the WRC rally.

[blacktiger]

Back in 2010, my mate Dave (nosey) Parker and I decided we should try to get away for a break to warmer climes late in the year. We went to NE Spain (Catalunya) and based ourselves in Figueres and rode our Triumph Scramblers in as much dirt as we could find. Had a great time,


2011 I did a trip to the Pyrenees with Nigel Lawrence and a solo trip on my newly purchased Tiger800XC. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17036006#post17036006

2012 we did a similar thing but went off to Sardinia with new toys. Me on my 15000 miles old 2011 Tiger800XC, Dave on a new Explorer. The WRC rally was taking place as well.


We had hoped for warmer weather but this happened on the way home.


2013, the FIA had swapped the WRC rally to Spain late in the year so we went that way instead/again. Dave had seen the light and swapped the Explorer, which was a handful on dirt, to a Tiger800XC. We were joined by another couple of friends and rode quite a bit of dirt on the way.


So now to this year, 2014. The WRC rally was again to be held in Catalunya late in the year. So I put the feelers out to see who wanted to do a similar trip to last year. With positive replies from all the right people I got to planning the routes and booking hotels.
   In 2013 we left a week before the WRC rally and did some dirt roads touring over the Pyrenees and around Catalunya, getting to Salou, where the rally is based, on the Thursday before the rally. This year we were to do the same but with some route alterations.
   The participants including myself (obviously) were; Dave (nosey) Parker, Alan (Tiger) Woods and Nigel Lawrence. Alan and Nigel I knew from their previous Tiger955 ownership. Alan has unfortunately moved to the Bavarian dark side while Nigel had gone orange (actually grey and orange to be exact) for the financial reason that a secondhand KTM990 was cheaper than a new Tiger800XC, silly boy. 
   I booked us onto the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, Thursday evening, October16th.
This what happened next:-

Thursday evening, October 16th.
We had agreed to meet up in the Ship & Castle, which is almost inside the docks, somewhere around 19:00 & 19:30 and have a meal before getting onto the ferry which was due to depart at 22:30. As I pulled into the petrol station nearest the docks, Dave and Nigel were there as well topping up their tanks. We all pulled into the Ship & Castle car park together to see Alan inside with a pint in hand. Alan was so keen to get going he apparently left home in Essex at 15:30 and had been there for about 90 minutes.  Good boy.
   Fed and watered we wobbled off to the ferry. Found our cabins and the bar for a swift nightcap. I was knackered having had to get up for work at 04:30 that morning. Earplugs in and time for some kip.

17OCT14
The morning was overcast and a bit miserable but not actually raining. Not cold either. We got moving through the French countryside at a decent pace in a south, southeast direction. It was only an hour or so into the route that we encountered our first "Route Barree". The French are good at this. Closing roads off completely, sometimes for no good reason. We took the diversion. But thank heaven for satnav as we could see our intended route and navigate back to it at will.
   Took a route around Argentan and onto a bit of Autoroute past LeMans to save a bit of time in the hope that we can play on a couple of dirt tracks later in the day.
   Lunch was to be at Amboise.


Dave had planned a stop overlooking the river but as we approached I reminded him of an "eat all you can" Chinese restaurant just around the corner that we'd used last year. Sorted! And stuffed for €11:50. N47 25 30.7 E0 58 47.4
   After lunch it was more of the same through great French countryside along great French secondary roads. The weather brightened up as we went along, Nice.
   Sunset from the hotel room in Tulle.

   Dave was told when booking the hotel that the restaurant would be closed but when we arrived that had changed and we ate well. We arranged a breakfast to be left out for us as we wanted to leave before the Guv'nor would be up.

[blacktiger]

18OCT14
The morning dawned bright but breakfast was missing. We only managed to brew some coffee. Nothing had been left out for us.
   We got moving pretty early with the mist formed in the valleys.


   Another Route Barree at L'Hôpital Saint-Jean had us into someone's front garden trying to follow a dirt track diversion. The actual dirt track turned off their driveway and went through a muddy field so we gave that a miss.
   We had a few sections of dirt track planned anyway. Just to break up the ride and warm us up if it had been cold. Dave, who was leading at the time, cleverly missed the first one because, as we found out a bit later, he hadn't loaded his satnav with any waypoints. We found this out after Nigel got slower and slower and discovered his front tyre was flat. Now Nigel had, for some reason only he knows, decided to buy and fit a 19" Alpine, tubeless front wheel to his KTM990ADV. So we pulled up outside a hotel in Cales. Reasoning that they would do a breakfast for us while Nigel got his pump out. Unfortunately only coffee was on offer. Nigel couldn't find any reason for the tyre going flat so it was pumped up and off we went again.
   So by the time we got to Rocamador a few miles later........


we were pretty hungry. But we'd got there too early for any restaurants to be open. Thanks heaven for a sandwich shop that was open. Wow, that was welcome.

   The next section of dirt track started out of the car park of the "Grottes de pech Merle" near the town of Cabrerets. As we had stopped along a fairly easy dirt track and were consulting the satnav, a tractor pulled up alongside us. The farmer driving it seemed to ask where we thought we were going. When we gestured up the track across from us, he gave a Gallic shrug as if to say "good luck".
   Well, it started OK and pretty easy but soon narrowed and dropped down a quite steep hill. It turned very lumpy as well. As I followed Nigel down the steep bits, first gear was needed to hold the speeds down as we bumped and lurched down the hill.  Blimey, that was about the limit of these bike with luggage.
   Well, having survived that, the next dirt bit was only a few miles away. Should have started out of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie but we rode straight past the start. Puzzled, we turned around and tried to find the start. The reason we'd missed it became obvious. It was up a narrow path about 4 foot wide which, to make it absolutely impossible, had a solid post right in the middle. No chance.
   Onwards through some lovely French countryside, past places such as Gaillac, Castres and into the Haute Languedoc region......


and lezignan Corbieres to the home of friends of ours Nick and lorna Westcott in a small town called Boutenac where we were to eat and drink and be merry all day Sunday.

19OCT14
Day off.
      
20OCT14
Nick & Lorna had said that they would be up to see us off this morning but, as we all got up they were still asleep. It was very early. So we raided their coffee and buns for breaky and made our exit as quiet as we could. We were under way around sun up.
   Our route took us almost due south along small roads, some of which had been beautifully resurfaced, probably for "Le Tour", to Ceret. Famed for its Cherries apparently.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9ret We refuelled and stopped in town for a coffee and a Sandwich at the same places as last year.


   Ceret was our launch pad into the Pyrenees proper. South out of town we took the D13 which wound its way higher and higher into the mountains. Turning onto the "Route de Foret" the road eventually turning to dirt through lovely Beech forest and taking us up to the border with Spain. Nigel & I had ridden this way in 2011.
The border is the small posts to the right of the bikes.


The view back into France was endless. It was thick fog in 2011.


   As we descended out of the mountains we came across this interesting place in Maçanet de Cabrenys.


   To Pantà de Boadella which had loads of fish swimming around.


   This whole area is covered with dirt track to explore if that's you thing. But as we found in 2010 some have locked gates or chains across them so sometime you'll have to back track to find another way.
   The dirt was to continue through Albanya but where the satnav route wanted to take us had a looked gate. So we had to explore a bit to find another way through the woods to Montagut . A lot of this track had been concreted to make it easier to drive. For us that made it a bit boring to be honest. This is the Giv-5231 track which eventually brought us out into the bright sunshine again at a church in the hills.


The view south was stunning.


   Down and out of the Pyrenees our route now took the most direct roads, apart from the Gi-521, to our overnight stop in Berga. This is quite a busy town which had a small kiddies funfair going along the centre of town. Our hotel https://www.hcchotels.es/hotel/7/hcc-ciutat-de-berga was quite smart and clean and right next to this funfair. Parking in the garage was chargeable but we took it anyway.
   We walked  around town trying to find food and beer and mostly failing. The town seemed dead. Although there were plenty of people around, nothing was open. We saw three women coming out of an English language school so reasoned that they'd speak some English. So we asked if there a pub that was open. Yes there was. It was called Dickens but it was a long way away. We managed to get a beer in Cafeteria Cockers but as we were sinking the second one the lady started closing the place. Found Dickens but that was closed as well. Argh! What's wrong with this town?

21OCT14
Up and ready to go by 07:30. This day was to be quite a long day with quite a lot of dirt miles. Found Dave and Alan stuffing their faces with breakfast. I was too tight to pay extra so went without. Eventually got the other three organized and riding at just gone 8am. Bright sunshine again this morning.


   Some nice twisty roads in this part of Spain with good surfaces. Much different to the last time I came this way 20 or so years ago when it was like riding over a washboard (ask your grandmother). We were to involved enjoying the twisties to take many photos but the scenery was good too.



   The first section of dirt road was just to the west of the Pantà de Rialb and was fairly straight forward. Occasionally we popped up on top of the hills.


   Some sections were well maintained tracks running near the Embalse de Mequinenza and our speeds were appropriate.


   Alan likes riding off road so much he just goes, er, off road.


   Once Dave and Nigel had caught up


there was some boring roads to do.


   Those took us to our hotel just outside the town of Cariñena called appropriately Hotel Vino. Yes really! http://hoteldelvino.com/ Well, we rode up to it and I thought it had closed down since I'd booked it as the front entrance was derelict. I spotted a sign for the hotel pointing around to the far side. All was good with a really modern new entrance. On entering we were greeted with stacks of wine for sale. This could be good we thought. I think the brand was "Primus" but could be wrong.
   The hotel rooms are in the basement of an old winery and are modern and clean. And it was cheap enough at €35 for me to have booked us a room each.
   As I'm not really a wine drinker, so Alan and I test tasted a few of the reds on offer and found one that was quite like a Rioja. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rioja_%28wine%29 which is about the only wine I really like.
   We ate and drank 3 bottles between us and slept well. Nice to have no traffic noise or snoring in the room.

22OCT14
Quite a lazy start and we're served breakfast. Nice. It's cold this morning with some clouds over the hills in the direction we're going. We think the worst but hope for the best.
   Fortunately the clouds were lifting and dispersing by the time we get going about 08:45. Onto some more straight, boring roads but with some interesting sights on the way.


   This brought us to the Alto Tajo National park


which we had ridden through last year. We enjoyed it so much that I included it this year as well. The Spanish do seem to allow vehicles to drive/ride in their national parks on reasonably well maintained tracks. A welcome viewpoint compared to the "anti" stance in the UK. The only thing they ban is Quads and there are many tracks with "No Quads" signs on them.



Dave decided to weight test a rock.


Did he jump?


   The road clings to the sandstone cliffs.


And runs through a ravine.



   Towards the eastern end of the National Park it becomes wooded and flatter.


   My Contour Roam video camera was full at this stage so I decided to fire up the laptop and download the card. This showed 14 minutes to complete so the others went off to the tarmac road about 10 miles away.


   Catching back up was fun for me as I was able to let the Tiger stretch its legs. Boy this bike is good.
   Just up the road is a strange monument to a knight that did something, somewhere. Got a few strange looks as we lined up the bikes in front of the monument. Camera balanced on my topbox, time for a group photo.



   That was the final view before arriving in Albarracin and our next overnight stop. We found the hotel I'd booked, Hotel La Casa del Abuelo. http://www.lacasadelabuelo.net/ We all parked up outside at about 15:30 but the front door was locked. We milled around for a while wondering if we should go and explore some more when a car pulled up and a lady opened up for us. Someone must have phoned her.
   After booking in and showering it was walkies time around the town. Drain cover as old as me....

   
Alleyways.



   We found a bar that did Tapas and indulged in several things. The finale was a shared dish washed down with Voll Damm beer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voll-Damm


   Time for bed.

[blacktiger]

23OCT14
Up for breakfast (included) at 07:30. Bright and sunny again and as we got going the sun caught the Moorish town walls nicely. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albarrac%C3%ADn


   It was really cold this morning. Down to freezing according to my little device. Strewth! Heated grips on roast. There was also some mist in the river valleys but as we climbed up onto the plain the sun warmed up my black jacket to bearable levels.


   We had to ride over the high plain up to around 1600m altitude. Blimey it was cold! We were soon on dirt tracks again which helped to warm us up. Can you spot Alan?


   As we climbed up the views were stunning again. Well worth the effort.


   Here comes Mr Parker.


   And Nigel.


   Dave turns the corner.


   Nigel.




   I'm sorry to report that the Tapas last night had got to Dave and he had to run to the bushes! No sympathy here with much mickey taking we took some photos pointing the other way. This looking at a National Geologicos Park. Nice curly rock strata.


   Watch out mate. The Vultures think something has died.

      
   Well, we were to ride some tracks through the park that we'd had to miss last year because the weather had turned nasty. No such worries today. So we carried on following the satnav route and it took us onto a grassy track up a hill. Looking over the top it looked pretty tricky but Alan walked forward 5 yards, looked down it and announced: "We've done worse". So I took the plunge and soon wished I hadn't. I stopped just before a 1in1 section with lots of lumps and loose rocks. I looked at what would be the impact point and thought that this is a disaster waiting to happen. I gestured for the others to turn around and take the tarmac road the bypasses this section.
   Well Alan soon turned up right behind me followed by Nigel. Oh well, help has arrived. We had to manhandle each bike down with the engine off, using the clutch as a rear brake. Even then the bikes were skidding down.
   Dave was the sensible one and had gone around. He soon turned up at the bottom and walked up to lend a hand. We all hoped that the rest of the tracks through the park was easier.
   Luckily the tracks were well defined and reasonably straight forward. And although Nigel got lost by taking a wrong turn after we all left him having a drain out, all went well and without incident.

   Lovely scenery as we emerged from the Parc Natural Dels Ports.


   The coastal towns and sea visible in the distance.



   And this beauty greeted us as we dropped off the lump that forms the park down towards the coast.


   With time getting on we decided to hop on the Autoroute to Salou where we had an apartment booked. Just before we left Boutenec, Nick had decided to join us in Salou so when we got there he had already been to the supermarket and bought the beers. And although there wasn't nearly enough it was very welcome.
   The apartment was at the Ibersol Spa Aqqueria http://www.ibersol.es/en/hotel-apartment-costa-dorada/hotel-apartment-salou/ibersol-spa-aqquaria/ which has both outdoor and indoor swimming pools and a tennis court but not much else.


   Our particular apartment had three bedrooms and was supposed to accommodate six people. It worked out at £30/night for each of us.
   Well, Nick, arriving first, had skilfully nicked my double bed in the big room. I spotted another room with a bed larger than a single so put all my stuff in there. Dave and Nigel grabbed the other room with two singles in it. That left Alan without a bed. So we sat down with a beer and Alan volunteered to sleep on the couch which suited everyone else because he's an England International level snorer. Next morning I discovered that my bed had a pull out mattress under it so that was extracted and given to Alan to use in the lounge. Sorted.

24OCT14
First day of rally watching and last night we had decided to go and find a spot on the Gandesa stage which starts at, er, Gandesa. Dave had spotted a dirt track leading down to the middle of the stage to what we hoped would be a nice quiet spot. Ha! Fat chance! As we rode down this track we could see helicopters parked up just where we were heading. We parked up just as the second car (Jari-Matti Latvala) roared through. And as we walked towards the edge of the track the third car lobbed a large rock into the field we were walking through. Hmmm, could be dangerous, this. Anyway, we found a spot where we could see them for about 20 seconds each. It is amazing how close you can get.


   With it being so dry and dusty we could see the dust rising in the distance from other parts of the rally stages.


   After the top 20 or so cars had gone through, we got on the bikes to go to another stage. There was a short cut back to the road which was really steep and loose and dusty. My bike's rear wheel kicked out in protest but I made it up OK and rode off back to tarmac. Alan followed close behind and we waited for the others. And waited. And waited. Obviously something wrong so Alan went back to find out what had happened.  He came back to me and said "how would you like to ride another Tiger back to here?" Seems that nick had attempted the climb and promptly thrown his bike at the scenery. A little shaken he didn't fancy riding any more dirt. So I rode pillion on Alan's BMW with it's extremely soft suspension. Strewth! I was hanging on for dear life. Bounce, boing, BANG as it bottomed out over the lumps. I had blood coming from my hand from clinging on so tight.
   So onto Nick's Tiger and, boy, I don't know how he rode anywhere on it. It had bald tyres which made it steer funny and wouldn't go round corners without fighting with it. Horrible, and I told him so.
   He went off back to the apartment to get drunk. We went off to the Alta Terra stage. This involved riding a road that we had enjoyed last year which eventually leads to Flix past the lake Pantà de Riba-Roja. With all the shenanegans we got to the stage late and missed all the big names. So we parked up by the side of the road and watched the cars going along below us.


   We could watch them going up the zigzag hill on the opposite side of the valley as well with their sound echoing around the valley. Just as one car disappeared over the top of the hill, the next one appeared below us. Great spot.


   That was the final stage of the day so we headed back for an evening of beer and food. With Nick way ahead of us having polished of quite a lot of a bottle of Pastis51 while we were rally watching, we had to carry him back to the apartment.

25OCT14
With Nick still sleeping off a hangover, we crept out to watch some more of the rally. We didn't have far to go as we headed out to the Colldeju stage. I think we almost walked further than we rode as the Police stopped all traffic so far away from the corner we wanted to sit at. We struggled up the bank to gain a decent vantage admiring the bloke with the burger/chip van that had the forethought to get there well in advance.


   Not a great place as it turned out. But we watched what we could.


   We beat a retreat after the top guys were through and walked the long hot walk back to the bikes.
   We then rode off to the Gratallops stage via some nice back roads and managed to get quite close after giving a copper the slip whilst he had his head through someone's car window. Found an ideal parking spot.


   Then positioned ourselves a Km west of the town of El Lloar.
Dave on the edge.


   Here we could see the cars for quite a while. Coming down through the town. Then round the corner between the conifers, round the bend just below our feet


and disappearing round the near corner only to see them again on the slope beyond.


   That was it for us. We made our escape from the vineyards and headed back towards the apartment. However, we decided to go back the scenic way instead of just riding the N420. We were to ride the T-363, T-740 and the TP-7402. I missed the turn for the 740 and in trying find a dirt route back by following Mapsource, ended up in an orchard of some kind with no obvious track visible. That was to set a trend because as we got to a crossroads at Porrera, I went straight over as per Dave's instructions and navigated my way through the town trying to find the road we wanted. Well, We ended up UNDERNEATH that road as we made our way along a concreted track towards some vineyards. We stopped to check the satnavs and Dave waved his hand and said; "well it must go somewhere". Well I took that as permission to explore so off I went. This concrete track wasn't on the satnav mapping so we just followed it along. It went on for about a mile and a half when we came to a grand looking house which we skirted around. On some more and the track ended at a small shack.
   I had noticed that we had passed quite close to some tracks that were on the mapping so we decided to see if we could get onto them. We made a turn in the right direction (south) and got onto these tracks and Alan announced that his satnav had rerouted back to the apartment via the tracks leading east. "Off you go then old son", I said. Well, what an unexpected pleasure as we rode through some stunning countryside, along some stunning tracks towards our goal.


Snapshots off the video camera with a dusty lens.

   Less beer this evening because we're leaving in the morning. Cheers.


26OCT14
Up, packed and going by 8am. Today the target was Le Puy in France and, to get there and enjoy some roads through the Cevennes National Park, the first 200 miles would be motorway. Having filled our tanks last night we made it to La Jonquera without incident. This is the last stop in Spain and the last chance to get some cheaper fuel. Here we also had some breakfast.
   Onwards to junction 52 off the A75 and we started on the nice roads. From here you go through a couple of small towns on the D25 and are then straight into a climb up and towards the Cevennes National Park on the D48.


   Refuel at a supermarket between the towns of Aveze, Cavaillac & Rochebelle and took on some water as it was very hot by this stage.


   Then it was into more scenery and more twisty roads.





   Well we made it to Le Puy at 17:20 with the temperatures dropping fast. We booked in at the Ibis budget right opposite the railway station which has an underground garage.
   Out for a beer in a smokey bar just down the road and to the same Pizza place as last year because it was so good. Place Cadelade for a really good PIZZA.

27OCT14
Up, fed, going by 08:30 and it's cold. Today's route goes almost due north. As soon as we climbed out of Le Puy we went into fog so no nice view back across the town today.  Fortunately it was 50 mph fog and we were able to make reasonable progress although, of course, overtaking the dawdlers was more tricky.
   After a while we climbed up above the fog. The sun was shining and the temperature rose. Nice. It went like that all morning. Climb into the sun. Drop down into the fog.
   The route went through towns like:- Saint-Paulien, Craponne-Sur-Arzon, and to Églisolles where there was another Route Barree.
   We tried to find an easy way round by going through the back streets but drew a blank. There were no diversion signs that we could see so we had to make it up ourselves. Well, we noticed a lot of cars heading west out of town on the D256, so we followed one. That car turned onto a minor road. So we followed some more as it seemed to be going in the right direction. That minor road then turned into a dirt track.    These ADV bikes are great because on a pure road bike you'd turn back. But these bikes, and ours in particular with dirt tyres fitted, are ideally suited.
   We all forced our way past the car with later reports of it pulling so far over to let us pass that it ended up in a ditch. I didn't see any of that so carried on regardless.
   Back on route and through:- Saint-Anthème, Boën-Sur-Lignon, through the small roads to the west of Roanne and just to the west of La Loire. Digoin, Luzy, Château-Chinon, Lormes, Vézelay,  Chablis (yes THAT Chablis) the whole area is covered with vineyards. Saint-Florentin, Saint-Maurice-Aux-Riches-Hommes and up to Provins and the Ibis for our last night in France.
   Those who have read previous ride reports of mine might recognized today's route. Yes I like it and so use it whenever I need to come north through France. Or south for that matter. It's a great mix of roads and runs predominantly along the tops of the hills so you get some great views.
   Buffet and Grimbergen Double Ambree beer for dinner. http://www.grimbergenbeer.com/gl/en/products/#double-ambree.

[blacktiger]

28OCT14
Buffet breakfast and togged up for another cold morning. Pulled out of the carpark at 08:20.


   Nigel was "volunteered" to lead today as he'd being following so far. We've also ridden today's route before. Again, it contains a mix of roads with enough twisty bits to keep us occupied.
   Rebais, La Ferté-Milon,  Villers-Cotterêts to Pierrefonds where we stopped for a coffee and photoshoot at the Fairytale castle.


   Compiègne, Corbie, Auxi-le-Château, Hesdin, Desvres and Guînes to Calais. You get a fantastic view across to Calais when you're approaching Guines.


   We'd used the free Wifi in the Ibis, last night, to book ourselves onto the MyFerryLink boat for a grand total of £17.50 each. Although Alan had pre-booked the Chunnel so we said goodbye to him on the outskirts of Calais. The remainder of us arrived at the docks with loads of time to spare because we always allow for wet roads or other hold ups.


   The ferry terminal was closed for refurbishment and even the vending machines were out of order! So we milled around, sitting in the sun to keep warm. It did give time to look over the bikes after this trip which was quite hard on them.
   I was impressed with my rear tyre which had taken me 5500 miles to Turkey and Greece and back http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1020856 and now had covered another 2800 miles on this trip. 8300 miles with tread to spare. It's a Mitas E07. Exceptional for a 50/50 dual sport tyre.


   So the ferry arrived on time and we had something to eat onboard to simplify things when we got home. The sea was calm and the time went quickly.
   Off the ferry and the customs seems to have been streamlined since the last time I used the ferry, and for me, it was M20, A259 back to Hastings and home in St.Leonards on sea. House still there and a pile of post on the doormat.

   Thanks to Alan, Dave and Nigel for great company and good banter throughout a fantastic trip. Cheers guys. Here's to next time.

[Spud]

Nice RR mate thank you 

cheers Spud 

[Sin_Tiger]

  sick  :icon_wink:

[pablo]

Fantastic. I'm going to read through it again.

[John Stenhouse]

Another mega trip.

[mat-tiger1]

Excellent ride report BT!
I'm surprised you actually remember what your house looks like with all your trips away!
Keep up the good work, carry on exploring & making us all very jealous! 

[HockleyBoy]

Looks like a great trip. Enjoyed the pics and report.