PYRENEAN DRZ TRAIL RAID AND CAMINO WALK TO SANTIAGO

Date: Sunday 18th August. Well I think I should change my name to David Procrastination Smith or David Indecisive Smith or to really put the boot in, David Dithering Smith. For two reasons. Firstly, after much mooting earlier in the year to my family and anyone else that would listen about another ‘big’ adventure, I delayed and delayed making the crucial ferry bookings and when I finally did, the only ferry I could get back from Spain with a cabin, was a four-berth costing a fortune! He who hesitates and all that! Secondly, actually convincing myself to write this blog. I nearly didn’t bother as I’m seriously worried it may turn out not to be much of an adventure at all for reasons that’ll become apparent as we go on.

My last ‘big’ adventure was back in 2015 when I took my Suzuki DRZ400 trail bike on a three-week odyssey, south through France and Spain, and then across to Morocco to ride some of the dirt roads there before returning via the overnight ferry from Santander in Spain. On that occasion I posted a daily blog on Horizons Unlimited which was picked up and followed by quite a few people, some of whom were complete strangers! Anyway, it seemed to be well received so here goes again; I hope you enjoy it!

“Well what is the ‘big’ adventure this time Dave?” I hear you ask.

 Well I’ll be catching the 8am ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre on 6th September, riding down through France, across into north-east Spain and then head west using a mixture of tarmac and dirt roads, skirting the southern side of the Pyrenees, a quick detour into Andorra, continuing to the western end of the range before heading south-west on tarmac to a small town called Sarria. From there I’ll be reverting to foot power and walking the last 100kms of a pilgrimage called The Camino to Santiago.  After earning a well-earned two-day rest, I’ll be getting the bus back to Sarria. From there I’ll be reunited with my bike and riding back to Bilbao for the overnight ferry to Blighty, arriving back in the UK on the 3rd October. This will all be achieved using a combination of hotels, hostels and camping. Well that’s the plan at the moment!

The reason I say, ‘at the moment’ is I need quite a bit of flexibility for several reasons. Firstly, whilst trying to negotiate the Pyrenean dirt trails, should it rain a lot the trails turn to quag mires and I only have ‘town & country’ tyres with limited tread, fitted on the bike. Secondly, my ability and experience on enduro-type bikes is fairly limited. Lastly, I’m now sexagenarian ( sixty years old, not what you’re thinking!) and carrying a couple of long term injuries, namely a bad back and an arthritic hip, which could make things interesting should I drop the bike in the middle of nowhere! Therefore, if the weather is unfavourable and/or my ailments are playing up I may well end up just sticking to the tarmac. On the other hand if it goes well, you’ll see pictures of me, the bike in the middle of nowhere and an interesting blog about the day!

Friday 23rd August 2019. Well I’ve managed to wangle today off from work so with a fair weather forecast and ‘the wind in my sails’ I packed the bike up with most of the gear I’m going to need for Spain, and headed south-west avoiding motorways (using the ‘Curvy Roads’ option on my Garmin satnav) and ending up in the far north-west of Somerset on a lovely campsite in a quaint village by the coast called Porlock. Tomorrow I plan to do a walk of around 14 miles from Porlock up to Dunkery Beacon (the highest point on Exmoor) and back. My reason for all this? Well, twofold really. Firstly, to get an idea of all the clobber I’m going to need for the big trip, and how it will fit on the bike. Secondly, to see how my feet hold up following the walk tomorrow; so I get an idea I’ve got the right combination of boot, insole and socks, prior to embarking on The Camino Pilgrim walk. The ride down was great. Nothing fell off due to an elasticated cargo net and plenty of bungees. I used another cargo net to secure a cushion to the seat in an attempt to make the ‘razor blade’ seat more comfortable. The result? I still have a sore bottom and a dull ache between my shoulder blades! I also made use of my new secondhand helmet Bluetooth receiver and headphones to listen to music. Without earplugs the sound is distorted too much by wind and exhaust note. However, pop in the earplugs, turn up the music and the Spotify Road Trip Playlist becomes a lot more pleasurable! It’s been a long time since setting up the tent, but after much clacking of poles, swishing of canvass and pinch of cursing, the tent was all set up and equipment safely stashed away. This enabled me to make the short walk into the village and enjoy a couple of pints Exmoor Pale Ale and a tasty evening meal at The Royal Oak. By 10.30pm I was back at the tent and safely cocooned in my sleeping bag.

Saturday 24th August 2019. For the pure bikers amongst you I wish to apologize in advance as the next bit is about my walk! I set off from Porlock around 9.30am in gorgeous sunshine with sausage rolls and plenty of water in my ruck sack. After passing through a the picture postcard hamlet of Horner I followed the path next to a brook heading upstream through National Trust woodland. All nice and steady uphill until the point where I had to cross the stream and head up the side of the hill. It was steep and unrelenting, but eventually emerged on to the gorse and heather land one normally associates with moorland. It was less steep now, but in the distance the steeper slopes of Dunkery Beacon could clearly be seen. Once on the stony path leading up towards the top I almost trod on a ‘twig’ right in the middle of the footpath. It was only when it suddenly slithered off into the undergrowth, I realized I had startled a snake bathing in the warmth of the sun!

Once at the top, pictures taken to prove I had covered the full 1,700 foot climb, I carried on past the trig point and steadily down into the hamlet of Brockwell where I stopped for a late lunch, before basically hanging a left back to Horner. From there I retraced my steps back to Porlock. I arrived back around 3pm and reckon I’d covered between 12 and 13 miles. After collapsing on the sofa of The Castle Inn, pint of orange squash in hand, I almost fell asleep. It was only when my head had lolled back and my jaw relaxed open that I startled myself awake, much to the amusement of the locals propping up the bar nearby!

As I mentioned earlier, this trip being a mini test run for the ‘Big Adventure’ with the logistics of carrying all my equipment, the walk was also a test for my boots, which I’ve had for ages and I find nice and comfortable, but whenever I go on a long walk they start rubbing and I usually end up with multiple blisters. So, this time I tried putting on a tight stretchy pair of socks together with another thin pair of socks on top, the theory being the stretchy pair cling to my foot while any friction is between the inner and outer sock. Although certainly an improvement I still ended up with a couple of small blisters on the outside of my left big toe and ball of my foot. I think it may be a case of some pre-emptive plasters being applied when I do The Camino!

Sunday 25th August 2019. After two nights of sleeping under canvass I think I’m finally coming to terms with the fact I’m not 25 anymore and that 60 year old bones are not as forgiving as they once were. As well as my hip and back screaming “Enough!”, just about every other bone and muscle in my body were also protesting. I certainly have a lot of thinking to do over the next week or so about whether to camp or play it safe and look for comfy shelter each night. I guess it’s just the romantic thought of perhaps finding an isolated lake beside a Spanish Pyrenean trail in the middle of nowhere, setting up the tent and spending the night with just the stars for company. Once all packed and loaded I headed back east, this time mostly on A-roads as I wanted to be back in Reading in time for a reunion with some of my old junior school friends who I haven’t seen for nearly 50 years! On a slightly worrying note my fuel consumption appears to be higher than it once was. Whether this is because I was gunning it most of the way home or because I’ve had an after-market Delkavic exhaust fitted I’m not sure.

It may become an issue on the longer Pyrenean trails as the total tank capacity is only 2.2 gallons. On the plus side the new exhaust is only slightly louder than the original and has a nice throaty little bark. I had to replace the original as the mid-section of the original exhaust was being held together by rust and could have blown at any moment!

In case anyone is interested in costs, this venture hasn’t been cheap!

Full service including MOT £240

Full exhaust system replacement including labour £304

Insurance 1 year fully comp £117

Road tax 1 year £43

European Breakdown Insurance £117 for 1 month ( I found out later if I’d done it through my own bike insurance it would have only cost £59 ☹)

Travel Insurance including off-road riding with a dodgy hip £66

Return ferry ticket from Portsmouth to Le Havre and back from Bilbao to Portsmouth including an overnight cabin £199 (this would have been a lot cheaper, but because I left booking late I had to pay for a 4 berth cabin ☹)

I make that a grand total of £1086 so far. Oh well, what price can you put on fun and adventure?!!

Thursday 5th September 2019.  Well here I am late afternoon in semi-panic mode having spent most of the day assembling everything I think I’m going to need for a month of motorbiking and walking in foreign countries. I still have to put everything in bags and panniers and then fit it all on my bike. The only upside to all this is that I don’t need to worry about my camping gear. I’ve wimped out and will be looking to stay at hostels, hotels and B&B’s on a mostly ad hoc basis, although I have cheated a little and booked my first 3 places in advance. And as you've probably gathered I have abandonned the idea of camping, but hopefully my ride tale will still be of interest to everyone!