¡Hola! from sunny Spain ...

... where it's, er, sunny - but chuffing cold!

Meanwhile, heard the music, liked the vibes, stuck my bead round the front door and saw a few familiar faces so came on in! :)

As my username suggest I live in Spain, but I'm not Spanish although after living here for twenty years there's not so much difference - I'm definitely 'Mr Mañana' now'! - The Spanish Biker is the title of my blog, which I wrote up a few years ago while housebound, if not exactly bed bound, with 'flu and realised that I was answering the same queries over and over again on various forums so decided to put it all together in one place -needless to say it got more complicated than that ...

The title takes after those old special interest magazines like 'The Amateur Ratcatcher' which were a bit less formal than the more austere 'Ferret Fanciers' Gazette'. I also wanted to 'give' something back to the many bikers who helped me back into the saddle after a great of about twenty-five years - 17% mortgage rates saw to that, anyone over, say, fifty-five with burst into a cold sweat at the memory! - to celebrate a) seeing fifty and b) saying "¡Adios!" to my very lovely oncologist ...

So I went out and bought a BMW 650 X-Country thinking that riding trails was easy - my earlier biking career was in the Sex and Drugs and Rock-and-Roll period ;) - so that's my 'Big' trailie and now with more experience I have a Beta Alp 200 4t as my 'Small' trailie, which I also plan to use for longer trips with ultra-lite camping clobber, so I'll be popping up on that topic soon enough.

This year I have a lot of riding planned, including a trip to the Balkans and Morocco as well as around Central Spain and the Pyrenees, where I live. So I'll also be singing up for the Bigtrailie Challenge too - funnily enough I have a brewery and a distillery already lined up ad they are just a few dozen kms from home ... :clapping:

Regs

Simon
 
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DaveS

Administrator
Staff member
Forum Supporter
... where it's, er, sunny - but chuffing cold!

Meanwhile, heard the music, liked the vibes, stuck my bead round the front door and saw a few familiar faces so came on in! :)

As my username suggest I live in Spain, but I'm not Spanish although after living here for twenty years there's not so much difference - I'm definitely 'Mr Mañana' now'! - The Spanish Biker is the title of my blog, which I wrote up a few years ago while housebound, if not exactly bed bound, with 'flu and realised that I was answering the same queries over and over again on various forums so decided to put it all together in one place -needless to say it got more complicated than that ...

The title takes after those old special interest magazines like 'The Amateur Ratcatcher' which were a bit less formal than the more austere 'Ferret Fanciers' Gazette'. I also wanted to 'give' something back to the many bikers who helped me back into the saddle after a great of about twenty-five years - 17% mortgage rates saw to that, anyone over, say, fifty-five with burst into a cold sweat at the memory! - to celebrate a) seeing fifty and b) saying "¡Adios!" to my very lovely oncologist ...

So I went out and bought a BMW 650 X-Country thinking that riding trails was easy - my earlier biking career was in the Sex and Drugs and Rock-and-Roll period ;) - so that's my 'Big' trailie and now with more experience I have a Beta Alp 200 4t as my 'Small' trailie, which I also plan to use for longer trips with ultra-lite camping clobber, so I'll be popping up on that topic soon enough.

This year I have a lot of riding planned, including a trip to the Balkans and Morocco as well as around Central Spain and the Pyrenees, where I live. So I'll also be singing up for the Bigtrailie Challenge too - funnily enough I have a brewery and a distillery already lined up ad they are just a few dozen kms from home ... :clapping:

Regs

Simon
Welcome Simon. Lovely area you live in.
 

MooN

Active Member
Thanks fir the welcome chaps! :)

Bonjour from wet and icy France... :coffee:

Where are you at Matey - lovely and dry here, big forest fires in the Vall d'Aran the other day due to the drought!

Regs

Simoj


I'm hiding in the heart of deepest burgundy, it's been regularly down to -6 last week and today is the first time it's risen above freezing for what seems like ages, so it has been raining softly all day onto a very frozen ground... makes for interesting driving conditions though.. they're forcasting snow for the end of the week too. You must be a sight higher up than me if you're near vall d'aran in the pyrenees (?)
 
Thanks fir the welcome chaps! :)

Bonjour from wet and icy France... :coffee:

Where are you at Matey - lovely and dry here, big forest fires in the Vall d'Aran the other day due to the drought!

Regs

Simoj


I'm hiding in the heart of deepest burgundy, it's been regularly down to -6 last week and today is the first time it's risen above freezing for what seems like ages, so it has been raining softly all day onto a very frozen ground... makes for interesting driving conditions though.. they're forcasting snow for the end of the week too. You must be a sight higher up than me if you're near vall d'aran in the pyrenees (?)

Well chilly-billy! I'm not far from the Vall d'Aran but on the southern side of the Pyrenees so a completely different climate; bone dry in winter - well mostly! - and as we're on top of a sierra, well up the sire really, we are up in glorious sunshine most days while the towns and villages suffered endless freezing fogs - down on the p,aims in Lleida some places didn't see the sun for 27 days until a reprieve of the weekend, now they're back with the thread of snow just to add to the misery!

The fire in the Vall d'Aran is out now but consumed 430 hectares :(

Simon
 
Thanks fir the welcome chaps! :)

Bonjour from wet and icy France... :coffee:

Where are you at Matey - lovely and dry here, big forest fires in the Vall d'Aran the other day due to the drought!

Regs

Simoj


I'm hiding in the heart of deepest burgundy, it's been regularly down to -6 last week and today is the first time it's risen above freezing for what seems like ages, so it has been raining softly all day onto a very frozen ground... makes for interesting driving conditions though.. they're forcasting snow for the end of the week too. You must be a sight higher up than me if you're near vall d'aran in the pyrenees (?)

Well chilly-billy! I'm not far from the Vall d'Aran but on the southern side of the Pyrenees so a completely different climate; bone dry in winter - well mostly! - and as we're on top of a sierra, well up the side of the sierra really, we are up in glorious sunshine most days while the towns and villages suffered endless freezing fogs:

imgp0085.jpg


Meanwhile down on the plains away from the mountains in Lleida some places didn't see the sun for 27 days until a reprieve of the weekend, now they're back with the thread of snow just to add to the misery!

The fire in the Vall d'Aran is out now but consumed 430 hectares :(

Simon
 
:welcome: Simon, all friends here but not a lot of action at the moment - hibernation I guess :tv:

Ah Stuart, memories of the famous Ride of the Flatulent Five ...

hiss2015a2.png


Fortified with some Spanish style breakfast ...

hiss2015a13.jpg


Happy days. Talking of 'hibernation' it looked as though we were going to wake up this morning snowed in, but instead bright and sunny and warm - like a good seeing morning. Freezing again now though and more to come, so a 'routine' shopping trip to Andorra on Friday looks like being snowball time for doggies.! :)

Meanwhile spending the long winter nights planning ...
Regs

Simon
 

Lowflyer

Well-Known Member
And Ciamar A Tha Thu from up here in the Highlands, a wee bit colder that you have over there

Jeez, that's some size of dog you have there --- tame wolf ?:D
Looks a cracker of a beast :thumbsup:
 
And Ciamar A Tha Thu from up here in the Highlands, a wee bit colder that you have over there

Jeez, that's some size of dog you have there --- tame wolf ?:D
Looks a cracker of a beast :thumbsup:


Ha ha, thanks, I'll ask Mrs S to translate :thumbsupanim:

We're quite cold enough here - although we're having you weather 'second hand' a few hours after it's passed by yours!

The dog's an Alaskan Malamute, so he is in fact a 'tame wolf' as you say! :) - and of course beginning to come 'alive' as the weather gets close to hs optimal operating temperature - time to put the skates on ...

Regs

Simon
 

Lowflyer

Well-Known Member
I've gotta say Simon, he looks a very impressive dog.
Just googled the breed and I must admit, fair do's to you, they certainly are in a class of their own and know how to pull.
Even when you see his shoulders in that pic, he looks some beast of a dog.
Are you planning on entering him as a sled dog ?
Up near me in Aviemore, they hold an annual sled dog rally. If the snow's there, they do it full on, if not they dry sled. Always meant to go along, maybe this year :thumbsup:
To be fair, I think it's mainly for Huskies, but I bet your boy could show them a thing or two over a short distance :D


Cheers

John
 
I've gotta say Simon, he looks a very impressive dog.
Just googled the breed and I must admit, fair do's to you, they certainly are in a class of their own and know how to pull.
Even when you see his shoulders in that pic, he looks some beast of a dog.
Are you planning on entering him as a sled dog ?
Up near me in Aviemore, they hold an annual sled dog rally. If the snow's there, they do it full on, if not they dry sled. Always meant to go along, maybe this year :thumbsup:
To be fair, I think it's mainly for Huskies, but I bet your boy could show them a thing or two over a short distance :D


Cheers

John

Hello there John,

Thanks for taking the trouble to look up Balts' 'natural history'!

Yes, they're amazing animals all right. They have sled hire here in the Pyrenees winter and summer - with wheels - and we've thought about dong something like this. But for a full-on sled you need to commit to a 'team which we can't do. We've thought - still thinking - about a two wheeled scooter but that's a problem too as we love in two completely different locations, plus Balts is a tad lazy!

There used to be a big trans-Pyrenean race, La Pirena, butit's been dropped lately for lack of snow! Most racers prefer Siberia huskies as they'r faster and have more stamina - that's code for the fact that they're bonkers - we had two! malamutes are more laid back, phenomenally strong but more use for hauling lumber ...

p9210006.jpg


Regs

Simon
 
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