50. Trip to England

It's very difficult to know where to start with this as so much happened over the miles that I did and I have so many photo's and even a wee bit of video to share. Total distance travelled was 4111.1 km or 2554.5 miles. I left early ish on Tuesday the 9th July with a full fuel tank and two 5 litre cans full one in each side pannier.

You can probably see that I have spent a lot of time cleaning and polishing "Tina" well that was a stupid thing to do as it turned out. so my first days route was up to Valencia then to Zaragoza up to Huesca over the Pyrenees to Pau where I was staying the first night a distance of around 400 miles, my stopping points for re-fuelling all come around the 210 mile mark 330-350 km. As I approached the mountains I noticed the sky getting darker and darker and it came down by the bucketful apparently the worse weather they have had in the region for decades, this is where I found out my weathertek suit wasn't waterproof and nor where my gortex boots. Some of the scenery was staggering though.

 I stayed in an Ibis budget hotel which was OK I had booked breakfast so I didn't need to stop off for food in the morning. I started loading the bike up and I wasn't impressed with the roll bag on top of the big bag of clothes that I took so I decided to ditch one of the petrol cans and put the roll bag in where the can had been this made things far more comfortable for me and of course easier to pack. Time to leave for #Belongamick, my socks were still a little damp my idea of hanging them over the lamp shades didn't work out but at least the sun had come out and it was dry. Today's trip was the shorted of the route of only 289 miles so no rush the route took me through the Landes de Gascogne National Park which is very pretty, then past Bordeaux and just north of Limoges I made landfall around 4:30 in the afternoon.

Mick and MJ have worked very hard to restore some buildings in the Hamlet of Les Brouilons to make a very comfortable place to stop for a visit and a base from which to explore this mostly undisturbed part of France. After breakfast it was time to leave for the channel tunnel a distance of 409 miles which took me up past LE Mans and Rouen and up the coast to Calais where I caught the first available train.

I arrived at my destination on time and had a great few days nut then i was time to pack up to come home again, The return leg was a little different as I was crossing  the channel on a ferry this time Newhaven to Dieppe overnight, the ferry left at 11 pm I got there in plenty of time and tried my best to get some sleep on the way over, only 271 miles back to BelongaMick where I ad booked a two day stay...time to recover a little bit. On the second day Mick took me a on little tour of the area which I have to admit is stunning..

Excuse crappy music this is due to YouTubes latest T&C's update

I could have happily spent a lot more time there but I had to make my way home next stop was back to the same hotel in Pau I got there in plenty of time had a decent nights sleep woke up to what looked like some more angry weather over the Pyrenees.

Thankfully by the time I left the hotel it had cleared up a bit and I did't encounter any more rain on the trip, once the mountains had been cleared I had to endure "The Boring Bit" this is the road from Huesca past Zaragazo down to Valencia 4 hours of trying to stay awake, yes it is that bad, the last bit to Gandia flashed by and before I knew it I was back home and I travelled 2554.5 miles and I was wrecked. The bike had averaged over 55 mpg but I have to do something about the saddle and my rain proof gear before I attempt my next adventure.