Mojo's Working

After an illness, Dave Owen was told he might not be able to ride long distances again... maybe. So he rode 2000 miles to Spain and back to find out.

- Dave Owen

When I first visited Ruta 340 it was nearly 10 years ago, so in the interest of MSL readers I decided to make a sacrifice and go to one of their three times yearly shows near Malaga in sunny Espana. So that’s why I was sitting in Portsmouth pondering on the fact that it’s 600 miles plus from top to bottom of Spain and that’s what I had ahead of me.

As a result of six months off work ill and another six months recovery I wanted to see if my bones could still do a decent ride, and the gentle ride down to Portsmouth on a sunny Monday was a good introduction. The Triumph Explorer was running perfectly despite only having had a couple of 50-mile rides during the last 12 months, and it felt really good to be out on the bike again with the prospect of quiet and sunny roads ahead.

The ferry trip was uneventful – eat, drink, read, sleep, repeat – until 24 hours later I was in Bilbao. I wanted to avoid the busy, expensive, boring toll roads but also didn’t have time for minor roads so planned a reasonably quick route avoiding both. Setting off in glorious sunshine at 2.30 in the afternoon, I was in Segovia, 300 miles south, just five hours later. Yes, mainly auto routes but no tolls and the roads were almost deserted. I was slightly worried when my whole vision filled with snow-capped mountains and foothills in April in (allegedly) sunny Spain. It was panoramic and pretty but looked cold and in my way!

CRUISE CONTROL

Following signs for Segovia town I turned a corner to see a pretty looking hotel, with a fancy cathedral nearby and a famous Roman aqueduct 50 metres away (I splashed out 40 euros for the view). Lots of quaint old buildings and cobbled streets that I looked at while bar hopping, proving man can survive on free tapas if you hit three or four different bars!