Leaving Guarda the air was cool and there was some mist on the hills. It did not take long for the sun to burn off the mist and make the riding conditions ideal. It also didn't take too long for Julian to pull us all up and tell us to ride further apart. It was a fair shout. It's one thing riding through bends at 60 2 feet from a guy you've ridden with for years and another with some bloke you met on the ferry yesterday.
We carried on the fabulous tarmac before having coffee in a village on the edge of the mountains. Then it was off to drop our luggage and have lunch at a hotel we will stay at later in the week. They then transport it to the hotel where we will stay in Coimbra tonight.
At the ferry briefing Julian had mentioned that there would be smaller lunches as a big lunch didn't help when off-road riding. This clearly had been lost in translation as plate after plate of food arrived.
As we finished lunch a few spots of rain began to fall from a very black thundercloud [I had warned Julian about the cold front running in off the Atlantic]. We decided to get on the road and just about kept ahead of it. We met up with our guides for the off-road section as well as a Portuguese journalist that Julian knows who is writing about our trip and also about a new BMW bike that they have loaned him.
Then it was off into the hills in two groups. The trails were as stunning as ever, but this year there was so much more dust. All of a sudden following the rider ahead of you could often be treacherous as the visibility sometimes completely disappeared.
As the afternoon wore on we found ourselves at a village waiting for the other group to arrive. As we waited a lady came out with a tray of beers for us and her son started to take us on at table football. He sent most of the group packing, but he wasn't ready for 'ratchet wrist Davies'. A comprehensive 10-8 victory took him down a peg or two. I do feel it's worth getting children used to defeat at an early age....
When the other group appeared we set off and ended up at a motocross track where Alex (a Portuguese guide) demonstrated some of his skills. Eager to show that what he could do on a 400CC motocrosser I could do on a 1200CC lump of German engineering I hit the first jump a bit fast. I was impressed with the amount of air I got. I was even impressed with my landing. The lads were then impressed with the way the handlebars turned in their mounts from being above the tank to resembling a pair of clip-ons below the tank.
Still travelling at around 20mph they were even more impressed at how I flew off of the raised bank back down on the the track and how, lying flat on the tank, I shot off into the bushes.
It took three guys to pull the bike out. It should have taken less, but they were having trouble standing due to the amount of laughter!
We tightened the bars and headed off. It wasn't long before there had been a couple of extra prangs, one of which hurt the rider (Marshall from Scotland).
Back at the hotel, battered and bruised, it was a quick was and brush up before heading out for an Argentinian meal. This consisted of being fed meat (mainly cow) till your body could take no more. It was delicious.
A quick drink in the bar and then tired bodies were dragged off to bed.
1 comment:
Just caught up with where you are. Am watching your every movement - of course! suzi
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