DAY 6 - WEDNESDAY 11THSEPTEMBER 2019    Success! Following breakfast this morning I was able to retire to the loo for a really satisfying 5 minutes or so. Nuff said!

 It doesn’t seem to matter how hard I try or how early I get up, I never seem to get away much before 10am, and so it was today! I rode away from Roses under a leaden sky with spits and spots of rain covering my visor. As I headed south towards Barcelona the rain became gradually heavier, but just as I was seriously contemplating stopping to pull on my waterproof jacket, it gradually eased and by around 1pm the clouds parted, and the heat rose to what I would describe as the ideal bikers temperature. Not so hot that you wish you were able to ride in shorts and tee shirt, but not so cool where you have so many layers on you you feel like an advert for Michelin!

After a couple of fill-ups at those interminable automated petrol stations it was lovely to pull in at a BP service station where a real person came out from the shop removed the nozzle from the holster and filled my petrol tank for me! Have you ever heard anything so crazy?!

A lot of the roads today were flat, straight and just seemed to go on and on forever. At times like this I start thinking about stupid pointless things like, why does a man, and probably a woman for that matter, sometimes have a little shiver when they finish having a wee? Or why in the UK do motorcyclists acknowledge other bikers coming from the opposite direction with a nod of the head towards said biker? Whereas on the continent, the left hand comes out and a little wave is proffered?

Well to the former question I have no idea, but to the latter I think I do! It’s all to do with driving on the right or left. In the UK if you were to remove your left hand from the handlebar to wave it would appear to the oncoming biker that you were greeting some kind of wildlife in the hedgerow on the nearside. Whereas removal of the right hand to give a friendly wave would result in immediate shutting of the sprung-loaded throttle and an Audi A4 punting you up the backside! On these grounds I wish to start a petition that we in the UK should convert to driving on the right. This is much more important than Brexit.

Meanwhile back on the road I began noticing (well you can’t really miss them!) those big black bull billboards along the route. Strategically placed on hillsides overlooking the highway I began wondering what their significance was. So once booked in and unpacked at my modern business hotel in one of Zaragoza’s suburbs, I Googled it and discovered that it was originally commissioned by a British company called Osborne to promote their brandy, but the silhouette of the bull has become so iconic they are now erected across the mainland and maintained as a symbol for the whole of Spain ( a good factoid to impress your friends with at your next dinner party!).

Oh the other bit of news I forgot to mention was that I received an email from Bennetts who insure my old Fazer 1000. When I first opened it I thought it was just one of the regular weekly mailshots they send me, but imagine my surprise  and delight when they said I’d won first prize in a competition I’d entered months ago for 2 tickets and full VIP hospitality on race day, meet all the British Superbike riders, pit/grid walk, together with  a few fast laps in the safety car at Assen in Holland!!! The downside of all this is that it was for the 22nd September when I’ll be here in Spain about to set out on my Camino walk! I felt absolutely gutted. I immediately began considering cancelling all my plans here in Spain and heading back home or doing the long weekend in Madrid and then riding the 1,220 miles to Holland to be there in time to accept my prize. Eventually Bennetts came to my rescue. I was able to make contact with Francesca in marketing. When I told her about my predicament she said, “No worries Dave how would you like to be at the BSB finale at Brands Hatch on 20th of  October instead, still with all the VIP treatment etc.?” Woohoo, you bet I would!! My spare VIP ticket is going to the highest bidder by the way LOL 😊