PTY1502 / 22.09.2015 / Day 5

by Andreas Hermann

The second restday of the tour offered a great spin again.

We started off the hotel on a short ride on the highway and off into the hills north-east of Carcassonne. 

Since almost everybody was on the tour again the tourduide decided it would be easier to lead a smaller group and used all his skills to sucessfully shake off the last few riders. ) So Neil, Ed, Bill and Luciano were on their own.

Unfortunately they were eager to follow the group and so they made it to Minerve on their own where the rest of the group were sitting in a cafe celebrating their escape.

Minerve is an old town,located on a rock with a deep river canyon sorrounding it on three sides. The medieval town is known for a massacre that took place in the 12th century and is a beatiful place to walk through the nice litte streets.

We left Minerve and got into the nice roades of the backcountry. Some wind came up and a few raindrops in combination with leaves on the road made the curves more challenging than they would have normally been.

But without a fall we made it back into the lowlands again and returned back to Carcassonne at around 4 so that we still had time to take a walk in that fantastic castle.

PYT1502 / 20.09.2015 a day 3

 By Andreas Hermann

Endless curve riding on the rest day

Today we stayed in our wonderful nice hotel and so there were different options.

The riders could have stayed at the wonderful pool while their mind could have rested. The weather was warm and sunny, the pool nice, blue and cool...

You could have expected a crowded pool. But it stayed pretty empty... 

Not a single motorbike stayed in the garage.

Instead the majority decided to join Andy on a nice 200km spin in the area. Obvisouly nobody was tired of some more curves...

So we gathered at the bikes and took off to see some more of these crazy roads in the area.

We went up to the Col de Faidella and down on the other side. The tourguide had to crank it up pretty badly since they were all right on his tail up these curves.

If you have never been to the dolimites think of cooked spagetti on your plate and you have an idea of how the roads look like on a map.

Soon we all got into a rythm of left and right turns.... "Like dancing" as Estuardo pointed out. This is motorbiking at its best.

After a short coffee break in Tremp we continued through the Val de la Noguera. A fantastic road with nice sweepers in a fantastic a scenic canyon. It was nice to relax the mind a little and enjoy the scenery.

But first we had to fill up the bikes, since the little Ducati is a thirsty beast.

After enjoying the scenery in the valley it was time for some more road-spagetti.

Fantastic curves with almost no straights for more than 50km. The mountain pass offered a fantastic view into the valley. So we stopped quickly to enjoy it. While riding you are too busy to get the bike ready for the next turn.

A short stopover in a pretty old town (first build by the romans some 200 BC, that is pretty old, even for europeans) offered some lunch before we left La Seu d Urgell to see some old motorbikes (not built by the romans, but still pretty neat) in a fantastic collection that is somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

NOW it was time for the pool (at least for some of us, the majority had a beer in their hand not minutes after they turned off the engines....). Nice and cool beer after a great day of riding... what else do you want?

Well, some had different plans: they rode by themselves (got lost and met the locals), others, like our sporty couple from Texas even went running and explored the beautiful sorroundings of the hotel. 

I guess it was again a perfect day on a fantastic tour.

PYT1502 / 19.09.2015 / day 2

Riding from Castelldefels to Peramola

After packing the bikes we are almost done to start the machines and roll out of the parking for the first day riding in Spain.

An daily briefing is a must so we can explain the rides where we go, what to see and how to reach the day's final destination.

It's a perfect moment for everyone how loves to ride in groups: 15 bikes, engine running, blue sky, no clouds and endless curvy road ahead of us. After a short ride in the highway we do not need an eye blink to reach the mountains and the cost of Barcelona. Winding roads with perfect tarmac lead the way to one of the highlights of the day: the holy mountain of Montserrat. It's mainly a monastir on the side of this spectacular mountain. Next to us main attraction, the black Madonna, your have an overview of the area the leaves your speechless - so it does!

After crossing the Montserrat we head for the city of Manresa. Everyone enjoys the riding along the Gardener river. Next stop can not be beaten: a heart and restored castle on top of a mountain. Best think is that we can ride our bike right into it and park next to the main entrance. The tower bar is our lunch place and the offer the classic "bocadillo" which is French bread with dry ham (jamon iberico) and cheese for local production. The group is amazed by the fact that Orson Wells to the movie "Midnight" at this place.

After lunch we directly go to the tiny mountain roads everybody is here for: almost single lane, curvy sweepers only topped by one or the other light switch backs to cross the passes! And all without incoming traffic that would count. 
That one of a first riding day! And I mean what I say: after riding mentioned road from Berga over the pass "Coll de Jou" to your final destination at the Hotel "Can Boix" you need more then super glow to get the smiles our of the rides faces!!

A good beer and some fuel talks later we definitely on the same opinion: it can't get any batter then this...but it will!

PYT1502 / 19.09.2015 / day 1

Welcome briefing and handover of bikes


First of all we as your tour guides, Andreas, Paul and me (Mirko) are like to welcome you on the great to trough your wonderful tour to the Pyrenees. We are here for you to make your tour a fantastic experience  with endless curve riding, famous areas, scenic as well as historic places and good food.

At 5:00pm we get together for our welcome briefing: Estuardo, Guillherme, Aigers, Shauna, Jason, Bernad, Rhonda, Robert, Mary, Christian, Neil, Luciano, Gilad, Eduardo, Gary and Donna - all are here and we spend the fist minutes to introduce our self to the group. As by the names you can imagine that we are from all over the world: U.S., Canada, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Israel, Australia and Latvia. Great to have so many nations together.

After the briefing it's time to handover the toys for the boys! This is always an exiting moment for the group. What bike you ride on tour? Your know the bike? Have you seen this or that? - and of cause it's a good moment to start the engines and fill the air with some burned fuel smelling! Big time cinema!

At 8:30pm we take our dinner in the restaurant of the hotel. We are located in a hill above the town of Castelldefels and at night time we have a overview of the area and the ocean. After some beers we find our beds to dream of the tour start tomorrow.