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Day 1 - Santander to Santo Domingo de la Calzada
Our arrival in Santander was delayed by over an hour due to the bad weather. "Bother." (or words to that effect) thought I, as I had calculated that our journey would take at least three hours and had hoped not to be riding after 5pm, fearing a mutiny before first base.
I have to mention that the "carnage" I was expecting to find on the bike deck of the Val de Loire did not appear. The crew had secured those bikes whose riders had chosen not to. Personally, I would prefer to take that responsibility myself rather than risk chafing of the unprotected paintwork from, albeit experienced, third-party roping.
Susie and a couple of the other pillions of similar disposition elected to disembark as foot passengers rather than face the descent of the ramp, and to make life easier for us (the riders). This was most welcome as someone had deposited oil just after the end of the ramp.
We eventually got underway, once I had actually found Susie, at 15:00 and filled up at the petrol station rather conveniently placed right opposite the ferry terminal exit.
This first section was to be a marginally shorter version of the previous year's trip.
Day 1
Again navigation was by GPS Garmin GPS III+ and the Garmin MapSource program, the latest European Roads and Recreation which does offer far better coverage than the previous Spanish CDROM with only a few errors (more on those later). For this leg at least I could remember the route although there have been some significant changes in Santander with the building of new roads.
We rode down the N623 towards Burgos which still had a good surface and some pleasant and undemanding bends as it wound up through Cantabria.
As last year just after the Embalse Del Ebro (Ebro reservoir) we hung a left onto the N232 towards Logrono. The new surface was excellent ........... for a whole 5 miles. It then resumed the lumpy and degraded surface that faced us last year and with a heavily loaded bike and a pillion managed a steady 40-50 mph.
Having consigned the electrically heated clothing to the top-box when we boarded the ferry, just before this next picture was taken I received, at 16:28, a request via the Autocom to unpack it so it could be worn [N42.93073 W3.65284]. At this stage it was used as an extra layer of clothing, but not switched on. We had a 15 minute leg-stretch here and then mounted up again.
N232
There are a couple of hairpin bends on this stretch which were a little more interesting than I remember when riding solo. They did cause some comment from Susie but paled into insignificance when compared to others we faced later in the week.
After crossing the Ebro through the magnificent gorge and once well into Castilla-Leon we resumed well surfaced roads.
Instead of continuing on to Logrono, as Alan and I did last year, we hung a right at Casallareina heading for the Parador de Santo Domingo de la Calzada. I hadn't quite managed to fathom out the exact location of the Parador in the planning stage despite the map and directions on the Parador web site. The occasional sign was spotted but it took two circuits of this town before we saw that the way to the Parador led up what initially appeared to be a flagstoned pedestrian precinct. It was a relief to enter the quaint old quarter of the town since the impression driving around the main road had not been favourable and I could already imagine the tight-lipped expression on my passenger (she admitted later that this had almost been the case as the impression was that the outer edge of the town looked a bit tatty - I know her too well!). However, entering the town's inner sanctum was like stepping back in time and suddenly the directions made sense. The Parador was located, as stated, next to the Cathedral in a small square with narrow flag-stoned side streets leading off. We arrived at 18:30.
The Parador de Santo Domingo de la Calzada (4-star)
Approached by narrow flag-stoned streets
Inside the Parador, however, the atmosphere and decor were everything that the Parador web site promised. The food was of a high standard and the room was very comfortable and well furnished. The only slight disadvantage was the sound of the Cathedral bell striking throughout the night, the view of the building across the street a mere 20 feet away and the occasional cat fight in the street below.
Parking is in a secure underground car park for which you are charged.
We had travelled our first 120 miles.
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