Aragon - The Stats

 Here they are, the stats.

Ginny and I covered 2,013 miles, door to door. 

During those miles, Ginny clocked over 27k and 28k. By the time we left Chartres, her service light was illuminated, indicating we've done over 6k miles since the beginning of June.

Ginny used;

171.06 litres of fuel

37.65 gallons.

Fuel costs were;

€248.43

£217.22

Fuel consumption averaged at;

12.24 miles per litre

55.64 miles per gallon

The cost of hotels and meals for the trip, excluding cash payments, was £327.43.

The race ticket cost, £98.26

I spent a fair bit of cash too but didn't keep a record. I do know my new cap cost €20 though.

That's it for another trip. My next 'adventure' on Ginny could be as soon as Sunday, as I'm going down to Exeter to house sit for my daughter for a couple of days. It's weather dependant though, so could be I go in Nessa instead.

Cheerio peeps.

Aragon Day 8, The Last Hurrah!

So Day 8 started off almost identically to Day 7, i.e. bloody cold but sunny, with a fairly stiff chill wind. I was togged up the same too. We skipped the hotel brekkie, opting instead to stop at McDs in Dreux, about 20 miles away. An egg and bacon Mcmuffin with a coffee did the trick and we were on our way again.

The route was pretty similar to yesterday too, being dual carriageway/motorway for most of the way. The difference to yesterday though, is that it never matters what the last trip on the way home is like, you just want to get home.

We made a fuel stop about 25 miles after McDs and then cracked on. We had another stop planned for fuel about 12 miles from the tunnel but we decided to give that a miss and fill up at the Auchan supermarket instead. We were going shopping there anyway. As mentioned previously, the Total garages seemed to be selling the cheapest fuel with long queues at many. I wasn't surprised, therefore, when we came across a rear end shunt, right by a Total garage! When we got to the Auchan, we found the cost of fuel had gone up since last week, a bit like the UK I suppose, so was €1.52.9 as opposed to €1.51.9 last Wednesday. Still considerably cheaper than Blighty though. We popped into Auchan, both dying for a wee, then did our shopping. I just had enough room in the panniers to squeeze 4 cans of the hard stuff in 😉 and some soft sweeties.

Shopping done, we made our way to check-in. We were quite early, so hoped to get an earlier crossing. No chance, they were all full apparently. At check-in the machine refused to accept my booking number. I tried it a couple of times, then tried my credit card. Computer says NO! I had to press for assistance. The chap I spoke to did something to reset it and all was well.

When our time came to proceed to boarding, it wasn't the French that caused a hold-up at passport control but the guy at British passport control in our lane, who insisted on scrutinising the photos of the people in the vehicles in front, with microscopic intensity. I knew watching him what was coming and sure enough, he asked us to take our helmets off, despite us both having flip lids! The other lanes must have moved at a ratio of 5-1, compared to ours. Hey, ho.

We had the usual wait and they finally squeezed us in the last carriage. It was a squeeze too, because apparently one car hadn't wanted to go 'upstairs', so to accommodate everyone in the final carriage, they had to be tight up against the interconnecting doors. We eventually left about 20 mins late. Of course, on arrival, with the car up tight to the connecting door, that meant they wouldn't open until everyone moved back. Unfortunately the French 'conductor' didn't make it clear what he wanted, so some bikes were trying to turn around, to leave by the door we'd come on by. Once those shenanigans were sorted, the doors were folded back and we could all proceed down, what was now, an empty train.

It was the usual ride home and as seems usual, the only incident in thousands of miles was just a few up the road from home, where a van not content to do the speed limit, nipped up the inside of me, then cut out on me. He got a long blast on the horn but clearly didn't give a shit. Luckily no harm done, just plenty of blue air inside my helmet.

And so the trip was over. I've had a great time. It's nice to get away with my bro' like this, it doesn't happen often, and we've enjoyed some great roads, spectacular scenery, some torrential rain and blazing sun, all in the space of 8 days, not to mention a few beers. Where we going next time bro'?

As usual, I'll have some stats for you to digest but that's all for now folks.

  

Aragon Day 7

It was bright and sunny this morning but blooming cold, only 7 degrees. That gave me the perfect opportunity to test out my layering. On top of my base layer I put my thin microfleece and then my down gilet, with my jacket on top.. On the bike I put on the heated grips and seat. One thing I have learnt is that I need a windbreak of some description, as my mesh jacket was letting the wind in and I could still feel it through all those layers.

This was probably the worst day of the trip. The temperature struggled to reach 20 degrees all day and even then there was a stiff and cool breeze blowing so it didn't feel like 20. Add to that the fact that a large part of our journey today (180 miles) has been on motorway which is very, very, boring. At least it stayed dry and the sun was out pretty much until we got to Chartres. Still, not the most enjoyable. 

We had 2 fuel stops along the way, both proving that supermarket petrol isn't always the cheapest, as these were the most we've paid in France.  Feck U, Super U! Still, there's 25 cents off each litre, to help the fuel crisis. Surprisingly, Total are the cheapest, €138.9 / ltr, which means loads of stations have either run out or are queued back. I think the cheapest we have paid is €142.9.

Our last night will be spent in the Hotel Novo Resto. It's cheap and a bit shit, so we probably have got we paid for. The 2 best things about it are, the heater on in the room, as it is prety chilly, and the 2 bunnies on the grass outside the window.

We decided to eat out. Not a difficult decision.  There's a Courtepaille restaurant 5 minutes away,  so we went there for our end of trip meal. We were good boys too,  both having caesar salad. 

It was very nice and so was the plate of chips. Oops! I washed it down with 2 large Heinekens. 🍺🍺

Tomorrow we have about 200 miles to cover to get back to Eurotunnel.  We'll probably give breakfast a miss here, it's not inclusive, and get a Mcmuffin down tthe road somewhere. All being well we'll have time to do some shopping and fill up with cheap French E10 when we get back to Calais. The forecast looks like being similar to today,  so those layers will be going on again in the morning. 

One more day to go

Aragon Day 6

Left the hotel about 09:10. A short blast on the motorway led us to the N230. This is a brilliant road to ride, flowing and smooth.  It took us all the way across the Pyrenees into France, with some stunning scenery. 

Off the N230 we then had a spell on some narrow, and to be honest, bumpy country lanes, no less pleasurable, taking us through some attractive villages. I love riding through France,  there's a surprise in almost every village.

After our fuel stop, we had a lunch stop at the trusty golden arches, before hitting the road again for the final 108 miles. There was one big obstacle between us and Cahors and that was the city of Toulouse. Negotiating our way through/around Toulouse was La Tricky 😉 to say the least, as the periphique was manic. We survived unscathed though and it wasn't long before the sight of rows and rows of vines, signalled our arrival in the Cahors region.

Right at the death, tomtom let me down. The hotel, a Campanile, is located just off a roundabout. Tomtom had me going off at the exit after the correct one. Paul spotted a sign at the last minute so was able to go the right way.  I meanwhile followed Tomtom's directons to a dead end at a fishing tackle shop, just over the fence from the Campanile car park! By the time I'd retraced my tracks  Paul had checked us in. We're in an upstairs room, so up the external stairs, which don't seem to be attached to the building!

The Campanile restaurants aren't what they used to be and quite expensive, so we looked at what was close by. McDs, KFC or a place called  new Tacos. That sounded interesting,  so we made our way there. They do quite a lot besides tacos and we both ended up with a plate full of food but not tacos. It was tasty and very filling. They aren't licensed, so we had a soft drink but bought a can of beer in Netto, to have back in the room. 

Tomorrow we are heading for Chartres, a mere 540 kilometres away. Fingers crossed the weather holds. We've had mid to high 20s again today, so more of the same will do nicely.

👋🏻 for now.

Aragon Day 5, A Day At The Races

Forecast was spot on. Woke at 7am, it was raining. Waterproofs on, we set off into the gloom, rain and fog. As we dropped out of the mountains it brightened up all the rest of the way to the circuit. We were swiftly in our parking spot and out of the waterproofs. This time there were no issues  with the water on entry. We grabbed a coffee and brekkie, a warm bacon (ham) and cheese baguette. 

Happy to report there were no French in our seats, though I had to ask a guy behind to move his feet from the back of my seat! 

As you can see from this pic, it was a bit cloudy early doors.  Not cold, nor raining. We were hoping for better later. And that's what we got, certainly so far as the weather went, anyway. It was 25 and full sun again.

The racing didn't give us much to shout about. Our best hope in Moto 3  John McFee, finished 10th, having been 4th at one point. In Moto 2, our only hope, Jake Dixon, crashed out of a battle for 4th on the last lap. Finally, our stand in rider Cal Crutchlow, managed 14th for 2 points. He did have the honour of being top Yamaha though, after the current world champion crashed out on lap 1. A thoroughly good day's racing.

There was a request for a minute's silence for the Queen.  Before the MotoGP race. Psul and I obviously observed this  disappointed the Spanish and French were laughing and jeering! 

We left just after the Red Bull Rookies (see above) race had begun and after the majority of punters had left, so getting away from the circuit was fairly swift. We had an 80 mile ride to our hotel in Lleida, a combination of gentle twisties and short motorway. We were passed by quite a number of bikes, then passed the scene of an accident, where maybe the rider's ambition outweighed his skill. Who knows? Emergency services were in attendance. 

We filled up again, our last in Spain, a kilometre from the hotel. Once again  we received a discount on the pump price, €19 something to €16 something. Nice to see governments on the continent doing their bit for the people.

The hotel has an underground car park, just as well, I wouldn't fancy leaving Ginny outside. It looks a bit rough.

We found a bar and had a couple of beers, then had dinner at McDs, where I had another beer, something you can't do in the UK.

Tomorrow we have about 450 kilometres to do, so a full day on the road. Destination,  Cahors.

Until then.

Aragon Day 4

Our first day at the races. Breakfasted, we made the 40 mile trip to the circuit. It was a tad on the chilly side, 11 degrees. Well, we are up in the mountains. Note to self, wear the down gillet tomorrow. There wasn't too much traffic when we got there, it's just a bit of a pain having to ride around about 80% of the circuit, to get to our parking place, by our grandstand.

Everything had gone ok until a jobsworth on the gate told me I couldn't take my metal water bottle into the circuit. Why, I have no idea. Maybe they thought I might throw it at Marc Marquez or something. So I had to trek back to the bike. I wasn't best pleased, as you can imagine.

We got to our seats, to find some french blokes sitting in them. They soon moved. Turned out we were surrounded by them and they just seemed to sit anywhere that took their fancy. They are ignorant gits, so we're hoping they aren't there tomorrow. 

The weather was fabulous,  very sunny and very warm. We were sure it was more than the 24 the weather app suggested. Despite applying suntan lotion,  we still have some red bits this evening. 

Our seats are right at the end of the main straight at turn one, with a view of turn two and we were 'treated' to several incidents at both corners.

We have a few Brits across the Moto 3 and Moto 2 classes but apart from Jake Dixon, 3rd on the grid, there's little to shout about. Maybe things will be better tomorrow. 

Once again we ate at the hotel and indulged in a couple of beers. We had gone up town but everywhere was heaving, so had little choice but to come back to base. We stocked up on water and snacks from the shop next door, as it's a lot cheaper than buying at the circuit.  We'll leave earlier than today though, so will have to get brekkie at the circuit. 

Tomorrow promises to be the same weather wise, though there may be some rain overnight. 

Until tomorrow. 

Aragon Day 3

As suspected, it had rained overnight and was still very damp and grey when we set off, waterproofs on. Within 20 miles, it was raining again.  The rain continued after our fuel stop, as we made our way towards the Col du Somport. We stopped to discuss the plan and being the intrepid bikers we are, decided to attack the Col whatever the weather. As it turned out though, the nearer we got, the brighter it got and the rain stopped. We even had some sun on the way up, though the summit was still in a bit of cloud. We took some photos, then continued on our way.

A short ride brought us to Canfranc, probably most famous for its massive station.  Back in the day, this was where passengers travelling between France and Spain would have to change trains, on account of each railway using a different gauge track. The station building is now being renovated and will open as a hotel. 

Before continuing, we removed our waterproofs. The sun was shining and the sky barely had a cloud in it. It was the right choice, as the rest of our journey was in full sunlight and 28 degrees. Spain delivered! 

The ride down was brilliant. The roads are in a very good condition and not too busy, so we were able to maintain a nice legal speed. We had to make another fuel stop, our first in Spain and were surpised when it came to pay, as although the pump price is more than in France, they give a discount on the total, as a way of helping people through the fuel crisis. So €23 became €19 something. 

We arrived at the hotel  around 16:30, after a little detour up a steep cobbled street (I'm blaming Tomtom) and were lucky enough to get parking spaces right opposite the hotel. After a quick change we had ourselves a couple of very cheap ice cold beers, then took a walk around the town. Morella is an ancient walled town, with a castle at the top of the hill. Very quaint.

We ate in the hotel, menu del dia, before retiring to our room. The room is ok but the walls are paper thin, so someone taking a shower next door sounds like they are in our cupboard!

Tomorrow we  head 40 miles back the way we came, for a day at the circuit, practice and qualifying.  Should be good.

Aragon Day 2

The day started with an almost groundhog day moment. Within a minute of setting off,  I went right, Paul went another way, a la Grizzly. We were on our way to the bike shop to get some new boots, as Paul's poorly right boot, was clearly terminal. I arrived several minutes before Paul. Instead of just following our Tomtom route, which took us right passed the door, he used google to direct him and it took him on a tour round the countryside!

Besides Honda and Kawasaki/Yamaha dealers, there was a clothing shop Dafy. It didn't open till 10am, so we popped into Harry Honda, where a nice young lady offered us coffee,  despite us saying we were just waiting for Dafy to open. Decent of her, eh?

Once Dafy opened, it was a fairly swift transaction that saw Paul purchase a pair of Alpine Stars waterproof boots. And waterproof they needed to be. Whilst he was trying them for size, I spotted an interesting crash helmet.  I resisted any temptation to buy one.

It wasn't raining when we left the hotel, but still very damp, so we weren't going to risk not wearing our waterproofs. By the time we made our first fuel stop though, 40 miles away, the rain was bouncing inches off the road!

Surprisingly though, it eased off and remained dull but dry until we made our lunch stop, at a truckers restaurant, which seemed to be run by Portuguese, as the walls were covered in Portuguese football team scarfs and the food wasn't your usual French fare. The place was an eye opener, so much more than a motorway services. Everything a trucker could want, especially beer.

We kept the waterproofs on, as the sky was still iffy and the forecast had indicated we would run into more heavy rain. It was wrong and we soon wished we'd taken them off, as the sun came out and the temperature rose to 30 degrees! I think I suddenly realised what it must be like, to be boil in the bag fish! At the second fuel stop, off they came. Talking of fuel, I'm gobsmacked to learn that we are paying the equivalent of 32p per litre less than at home. I don't think the differential was that great in the summer. Good for us though. We'll find out tomorrow afternoon if it's a similar story in Spain. 

The ride from the fuel stop, 112 miles, was glorious. My red face is testament to that. We arrived at our hotel about 18:30, quickly changed and made our way on to the hotel verandah, where we took in the last of the day's rays and had a nice cold Heineken. 

We ate in the hotel too, 3 courses and a couple more beers. The perfect end to a not so perfect day.

Tomorrow looks like being another wet start but temperatures are set to rise by the time we get into Spain. I might have to break the sun cream out. Our route will hopefully take us over the Col du Somport. That's our chosen route but if it is peeing down, we may have to use the tunnel instead.

Lastly, Ginny racked up another milestone this afternoon, 27k miles. 

Until tomorrow then.

Aragon Day 1

An uneventful day. Well,  not strictly true, as the weather was eventful in itself. Peeing down from the moment I woke, it didn't let up till after lunch. At one point, we had thunder and lightning and the roads awash. A van overtaking created a bow wave that engulfed us, the volume of water was that bad.

During this tremendous downpour,  we stopped for lunch at a service station,  commandeering a 6 place table to deposit our dripping wet gear. It was still peeing down when we left.

It wasn't all bad though. We did have a dry and warm spell, about 90 minutes, where the temperature reached 27 degrees. Sadly we wouldn't see out the day in the dry, as by the time we reached Tours and our hotel, it was hammering down again.

For me, it was just the wet that marred my first day. For Paul,  it started with him leaving his wash bag at home, and ended with the sole of his right boot coming adrift. Half adrift to be precise. So tomorrow morning, we shall be looking for a bike shop, to seek replacement boots.

It was a long day and we didn't arrive at the hotel till 18:45. As seems the norm these days, we got THE booking.com room, i.e. the one furthest from reception. It's uncanny the number of times that has been the case. Once in the room, we pretty much got changed and went up the road for dinner. The nearest place was an Italian place, so we had pizza and gelato, washed down with 2 large Pelforth blondes. That's beers, not ladies! 😉 Though there were some large ladies in the restaurant!

Tomorrow we are heading for Orthez. Despite the Spanish sounding name, it is actually in France. The forecast , looks like being similar to today unfortunately. We can't control the weather though, so we'll just have to make the best of whatever mother nature throws at us. 

And so it begins..

 ... the packing that is!

With just 3 days till departure, I've finally got around to doing some packing. Normally I'd leave it later than this but having only been in the new house 5 weeks, this isn't normally, because there are things I would normally take with me, which I have no idea where they are. Even though most boxes have been unpacked, there have been so many occasions in the last 5 weeks where I've said, "I've seen that somewhere but where?" As the day has progressed though, I've managed to pull things together and I reckon I have everything I want/need to take with me now. Well, almost!

I've been adding our destinations to my weather app on the phone today and checking what we can expect. Today, in several of those destinations, it's mid 30s. It looks like being fairly warm the whole time we are away but it also looks like the highish temperatures are going to bring some thunderstorms, so we are going to get wet at some point during our travels, almost certainly. The problem with warm temperatures and thunderstorms, is that you end up sweating buckets inside your waterproofs, to the point where you are almost as wet inside as out! The gods would be smiling on us if we avoid any rain. Once we get down to Aragon, Alcaniz, where the race circuit is, looks to be dry for the weekend and mid 20s. Fingers crossed.

With the announcement that the late Queen Elizabeth's funeral is to be Monday 19th, we shall obviously miss it, as we aren't due back in blighty until Wednesday 21st. I expect we'll be able to catch up with events on French TV Monday evening though. It's probably for the best I'm away anyway, as the older I get, the more emotional I become, so watching the gun carriage with the coffin on it, would almost certainly have me in tears. I'm just a big old softie 😉

Ginny is all prep'd ready to go. I've fitted my Tomtom mount, checked the tyre pressures again and loaded the coolant and oil into the top box, in case they are required along the way. If the temperatures are going to be high, it will be interesting to see if Ginny overheats again. Grizzly's mate Fox reckons she wasn't refilled properly at her 24k service and that's the cause of the overheating I experienced in Italy. She'll be due the 30k service when I get back, so we'll have to see what happens over the coming week. I plan on getting them to redo the coolant at the service anyway. She'd never had a problem in 4 years, so Fox's theory is a good one, for sure.

We are on the 08:50 train on Wednesday and have to check in by 08:05, so I'm planning on leaving home at 07:00. The ride down's about the same duration as it was from Chatham, 45 minutes and I'm not planning on a fuel stop on the way down, as we have done in the past. Ginny should be good to go to the first French fuel stop, or at least I hope she will be.

Right, that's all for now. Next update will most likely be at a stop on the way down through France on Wednesday. Till then.

Adieu

A great, great loss

I couldn't continue the blog without mentioning the momentous event of this last week, namely, the death of our beloved Queen, Elizabeth II. I think we all knew she was quite frail and it can be no surprise that an old lady of 96 dies but it was still such a great shock to get the news on Thursday evening that she had passed away. Like many, she is the only monarch I have ever know on the throne and it is such a sad time now she has relinquished her post. The TV coverage has been very good, yet at the same time very upsetting. It's strange but losing The Queen, has invoked the same deep emotions in me, as if I'd just lost my own granny (both long since departed) or other close family member, so my thoughts go out to all members of the Royal Family at this very difficult time.

Fairwell fair lady. Rest in Peace.

Queen Elizabeth II, 1926 - 2022

With the Queen's death, we usher in a new era, as her son and heir Charles, becomes King, King Charles III. May he carry on the great works of his mother and enjoy the same support and love that was afforded her.

Long Live The King!