And France... Across Europe to Portugal by 20-year-old Pan European, dodging the weather
Is this a road trip, what is one of those anyway, and can you do one on a Honda? These thoughts flashed through my head while the Spanish sun was at last warming our bodies. Six days earlier we had faced the challenge of tying our bike down on the Newcastle-IJmuiden ferry, as all the staff had done a runner. Not being a complete stranger to ratchet straps, the Pan was securely (fingers crossed) parked and I looked up to see other riders in various states of distress, looking at the straps in complete bemusement. In an act of camaraderie Sue and I went to the bar.
After a decent night’s sleep we rode off the ferry to be greeted by a warm, sunny morning in Holland. We knew we were in a different country immediately when a Dutch woman, complete with two blonde sticky-out pig tails, rode by on a bike.
We rode south through Holland and Belgium, but after lunch and approaching Lille we hit the mother of all thunderstorms. I still don’t know why I didn’t stop, besides the fact that I’m obviously stupid. I convinced myself that thunderstorms only last 10 minutes so I would just press on. An hour later I had confirmed my stupidity and lack of any meteorological knowledge, and we were glad to reach Martinpuich for our overnight stop.
The next few days saw us ride down western France towards Capbreton before crossing into Green Spain. We soon found out why they call it Green Spain – it’s because it never stops blummin' raining.
MOTORWAYSWITH ATTITUDE
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