Barcelona and back - Done
 

Finally got back to mine at 1:15 am this morning. after setting off from Barcelona at 07:00 (Spanish time) Thursday morning.

Took us just 15 hours for us to get there from Calais, starting at midnight on Tuesday. Then about 14 hours to get back from Barca despite running out of petrol and having to detour through Paris during rush hour.


When I got my bike last September ithad 1906 miles on the clock (55 reg). I've covered that much since Tuesday.

Pictures and video along with a full write up will be posted when I have chance.

You have to do a stupid bike trip at least once. It's hilarious.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Glad to see you had fun. All went well and back safe I hope?

Paris is an experience just to watch...Did you do the Arc de Triomphe roundabout? That is a roundabout that you really have no right of way wherever you are lol.

Look forward to write up :)

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Yeah everything went well.

Unfortunately we didn't do the Arc de Triomphe which I was quite gutted about but the riding we did through Paris more than made up for it.

Filtering through standing traffic at 40mph with a guy on some sort of scooter behind you beeping because you're going too slow is unreal.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

That was the funniest bit about it. The Gendarmeries are funneeeeeee too, they just blatt about. If I am to get a bike next time I go Paris, I'm not gonna be too inspired by them cobbled roads if they are wet though :shock:

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

The only Gendarmeries we saw were ones at a toll booth.

I got my ticket and got through but the machine wouldn't give Rob a ticket which he would need for the next one so he had to squeeze through. The bobbies watched him do this and said nowt. Weren't at all bothered.

After covering 2700km or so through France and Spain we never saw a single Police car just driving about. Only ones we saw were on a run with blues and twos

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Sweet well done m8 :)

Shame about the match eh

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

That's how they roll...for coffee :lol:


=D> :salut:

Excellent :D good on you for doing it. I feel bad now for saying flying is cheaper & quicker. :( If you had a blast doing it & it all came off well then great :thumbsup:

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Not at all. We wanted Barca to win.

The atmosphere was electric.

I've looked on the Beeb website and it there's video of rioting after the celebrations.

Me and Rob we're in the land of nod and slept straight through.

Was mental. Should have pics, vids and a proper write up on here tomorrow if anyone's interested

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Good on you for doing it mate - and in a pretty good time too! =D>

Nice to see someone on here that said they would do a long ride out and actually end up doing it!

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

I'm interested :) Sounds like you had fun :cool:

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

:D

I got a 650-700 mile stint to do by myself next month, in 1 day, so that'll be interesting as well.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Cool.
Do you have a set time to be there or can you take your time?

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

+1

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

+1 I'm glad they won it (only 'cause it was Man U :lol:)

Look forward to seeing the videos

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Rispek!

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Jealous and pleased for you. Its great to do some huge mileage isnt it?

A few of us off here did a day trip to France a couple of years ago and its was one hell of a long tiring day but what an experience.

Everyone who owns a bike has a responsibility to themselves to ride into Eirope and experience it, imho.

Looking forward to the write up and pics.
this was one of my favourites from our trip :lol:
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...DayTrip010.jpg

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Do they have the responsibility to spell properly as well? ;)

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Smartarse! :lol:

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

That was 400 miles (although not Autoroute) so think what 1900 would be :shock:

Ahh, I finally get it, You went to Barcelona to see a Barcelona team :D

Football :roll: not my strong point :)

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Fixed for ya' mate ;)

Re: Barcelona and back - Done **UPDATE**
 

Sorry I've not updated this sooner. I've been a bit busy.

Instead of doing one huge essay I'll split the write up into sections to make it easier to read. Pictures will be added tonight as they're on my laptop at home.

Part 1 - Peterborough to Calais (157 miles, roughly)

Originally we aimed to set off for Calais straight from work at half 5, but as with all great plans, this didn't happen. After sorting the luggage out, setting off and me realising I'd forgotten my Euros :smt075 we managed to get away by about half 6. There was a lot of traffic over Dartford, and with us unsure whther we made it in time we switched into fairl fast filtering mode. Little did we know we'd be filtering at much dafter speeds later on in the trip.

This part of the journey went pretty much without a hitch. The ferry was due to sail at 21:25. I think we got there at about 21:15, so they let us straight on.

The woman at the check-in booth asked Rob (who was in front as he had the **** nav) where we were going and why.
Rob: Barcelona
Woman: Why?
R: Why not?
W: Fair does, when do you return?
R: Thursday
W: You're riding there and coming straight back?!
R: Yes
W: Mentalist

She waved him through, I got up to the booth and she laughed, shook her head and waved me through.

On the ferry, we had some tea, accompanied by a black coffee with four sugars. I never drink coffee - I absolutely hate the stuff. And after the trip I'll make sure I never drink it again. Horrible stuff.

We landed in Calais at 00:00 French time. Time for the hardcore part, to be updated tonight.

EDIT: How do I edit the thread title?

Re: Barcelona and back - Done **UPDATE**
 

So far so good :-D
I think you'll need to PM Fizzwheel to get the title changed, or maybe any mod from this section...

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

I thank you

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Yeh but they took 3-4 days with stops to kip and rest to do 1900, we did 400 in a day. Was it really only 400miles? I seem to remember it being closer to 600 for some reason. Point i was making is that everyon should do a trip to Europe on a bike, be it a long day trip or a mega mileage 3 or 4 days :)

Anyway, not derailing yout thread Laim, looking forward to the pics now too.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Not to worry Spiderman.

Just read your post about 400 miles in a day and realised that's just under half what we we're doing in a day!

In a way it's made my passion for biking even stronger than it was, but at the same time it hasn't. Can't really explain it.

Still, hopefully it was the first of many trips to Europe.

If there's and ORG EU trips in the pipeline I might be tempted.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Yeh i really wanna go into Europe again this year but i gotta get a new job first before i can consider any of that :(

I dont know how you mean "it's made my passion for biking even stronger than it was, but at the same time it hasn't." Has the experience put you off biking in some way, or just made you realise how inconsiderate to bikes people in this country really are, lol.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

I've definitely noticed how much people hate us in this country.

They go out of their way in Europe to let you get passed. (Apart from in Paris)

The motorways in France are a lot quieter than over here. There was a point in France where we travelled for a full tank of fuel and the only car we saw was a Clio in front of us.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

.... and as soon as you come back off the ferry how much you hate them! I was wanting a scrap 5mins off the Dover ferry.

I take it that the wee granny/ Nun in the Clio was ahead of you Young Team cos they ALL pelt about the m/ways at 100-110MPH!?

(and probably seen you from miles back, moved a little left and were already in the correct lane, waiting for you to pass! Love the standard of driving in France/Spain)

How did you find the quality of the traffic light GP in Barca? Little automatic bastids everywhere "jumping the start"! Cheats!

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

The Clio was doing about a ton so withme being restricted we just sat behind it.

Barcelona is fun. We pulled up at some traffic lights and a scooter rider pulled up at the side of us. Waited for a while then set off while the lights were still on red! :confused: We were proper confuddled. It changed to green shortly afterwards, though. They're telepathic!

It also took us a while to realise that as a pedestrian, when the green man says go, the traffic light doesn't change to red, it just flashes amber. So of course, the scooteristi come charging up to the crossing while everybody is walking across and weave in between you if it's not too busy! Mental!

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

I was in Sicily a couple of years back to visit a friend. He's in the US Navy and she is an ex essex girl.
One of the first things they said to me was "You have to see the state of the drivers here, its friggin chaos! These italians are nutters!!"

And you know what, its so wasn't. They just took the attitude that the road signs, all the road signs were there as guidance only. My friends lived up a fairly steep hill in Catania and the best bit to me was the fact that in the mornings as everyone was heading down hill, they would just "create" a second downhill lane! The cars comming uphill would drive over on the dirt at the side of the road a bit bit more to allow for it. And later in the day when everyone was going the other way they "create" a second lane going uphill. Easy. Bear in mind that there are only 2 lanes here as a normal road, just the fact that everyone was sensible enough and respectful enough for other traffic meant it worked well. And all the time there were scooters galore buzzing thru it all too. The amount of hand signals (friendly helpfull ones as opposed to the usual :toss: we see here) and communication with other roads users of all kinds was the thing that really impressed me.
Only saw one accident in the 13days we were there and guess what...a tourist had run into the back of a local.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

See, that's what this country is lacking. Common sense!

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

I agree Liam but i also think there is a certain level of arrogance and agression that goes hand in hand with it. The "if i'm stuck in traffic in my x-amount of thousands of pounds of car, then why the hell should you on your cheapo bike be allowed past me" sort of attitude we all encounter. The middle lane moron who wont move over to the inside lane even tho they are getting flashed by everyone who has to overtake them, is a perfect example.
I can imagine Normal Normal in the driving seat saying to himself "Well i'm doing 60mph and the limit is 70 so if all these people want to speed past me i'm not going to make it any easier for them" :roll:
Whereas abroad i always encountered the attitude of "This guy seems to be in a rush to get past me, i'll move over and make it easier for him to get by"

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

sounds like you had a fab time, really interested in the European drivers, can't wait for Assen now :-)

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Evening chaps.

I'm not too sure which where this part of the write up is going to end, since we didn't stop proper until we got to Barcelona, so I'll go till breakfast.

As we got off the ferry we both donned our windproof overjackets to keep the cold out. I had seen sense and also packed winter gloves and my buff. I kept them off to start with.

Needless to say starting riding at 00:00 is fairly boring. Dark, nobody else on the road and no scenery to look at.

To be honest, now, trying to remember it. I can't remember any of the riding we did in the dark. Needless to say we had to stop for fuel a fair few times.

With it being dark I had no idea where we were, and were it not for the clock on the dash I would have had no idea as to what time it was.

After a couple of fuel stops we decided we'd stop for coffee. It was bloody freezing. We tried to take pictures of each other at the petrol station but they just came out a fuzzy mess because we were shivering so much.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/P3310050.jpg

Inside the petrol station we had a mocachino each (I think - I never drink coffee) and then had an espresso each.

Now I'm no expert on coffee, but I know espressos are generally quite small. But this thing out of the machine was the same size as a normal coffee and it tasted like mud. The stuff was bloody horrible. Still it worked. I didn't feel tired for the rest of the trip down.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/P4010057.jpg
Rob didn't like the Espresso

Back on to the solid black of the motorway and it was still cold. After four hours (I think) of travelling since leaving Calais we reached Paris. I was a bit miffed as I hoped we'd travel straight through the centre, but we ended up on the ring roads, travelling through the Moss Side area of Paris, graffiti and rubbish everywhere.

On one of the dual carriageways a speed camera went off. We're not sure which one of us it got, so we'll just have to sit tight to see if anything happens.

Back on the proper motorway we pushed on. We got to Paris really fast from Calais but for some reason the pace slowed afterwards.

Needing petrol in the middle of nowhere we pull off up a slip road towards some services or so we thought... Turned out the services were fenced off and the slip road only went past them.

So we had to ride back up the slip road, and go down another one, just a few hundred yards further on. The first rays of light were beginning to pierce the heavy darkness by this point.

When it was properly light we stopped for breakfast. To us it felt like the middle of the day because we'd had no sleep but it was only 7:00am so we struggled to find anywhere.

I spotted somewhere that said Bar Restaurant above the window so we stopped there. They didn't serve food. But the owner was kind enough to bring us a big pot of jam and a big baguette for us. We promptly scoffed all of it, washed down with tea and coffee.

This concludes part deux.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Liam is that your Gladius? Or is that an SV behind?
So that's 14 hours after a day's work riding without sleep? :shock:

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Oddly enough, I acutually quite like that photo of the bikes. Looks kinda arty, like it's been taken with long exposure. Meh, maybe it's just me. Gladuis looks good in that colour scheme :cool:

:smt043 That coffee pic is brilliant. Looks like he's drinking something from fear factor :lol:

You're nuts if Stu's right about the 14 hours lol
So far so good with the writeup :) Keep up the good work :thumbsup:

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

My SV is behind the Gladius.

The Gladius is Rob's long-termer this year.

And yes... well, about 15 hours if you want to be picky

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Aw, was this all the pics you guys took? I was hoping you got somw of the lovely local senoritas.

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

This is ace. I'm used to driving decent mileages in a car but what you've done is brilliant... mucho respecto :notworthy:

How long until part three?

Re: Barcelona and back - Done
 

Nah, they wouldn't fit in with the http://forums.sv650.org/images/U-Rated_Small.gif! ;):lol: