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In Which My Plans For Albania Are A Wash Out
March 18, 2008 by Mike
Tarifa
Gibraltar - Tarifa
A big thanks to Charlie and Squeaky at Klaus' No.1 Bikes in Gibraltar for storing the bike, servicing the bike and.. gulp.. cleaning the bike.
Or, as they said as they pulled back the dust-sheet: "We couldn't be bothered to do all that cleaning, so we bought you a new bike."
I've gone along on the basis that I don't want the bike to look to shiny when we reach, err, Albania. That's my excuse for not cleaning it every week. Or any week. And while it's all well and good to have a little 'live-in' look, there was sand from Normandy, snow from Kaliningrad and soot from Murmansk caked into every bend and crevice of the poor old bike. More to the point, a winter in Tarifa had left the bike looking so rusty you'd think it was a natural red-head.
Now (and how lazy am I??) it's sparkly again. The wheels look brand new. The handlebars look brand new. The engine looks like it's gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson, but you can't have everything.
Proper bikers among you will tutt and I deserve it. And yes, the bike rides much much better today -- which you'd think might convince me to take more care of the bike. But I'll be in Albania in just a few short months and I don't want to be too shiny there, do I?
That's Charlie on the right; Squeaky is the lead singer in Mudfeet -- next to Charlie.
--
To Tarifa. Of all the coast roads of Europe, I know this stretch better than any other now: every turn, every bump, pot-hole and crevice. It feels good to be... not qiite 'home', but not so far off.
--
Vitto is back in the flat I sub-let over the winter, so I'm back in Annie and Hernan's spare room. With two young children, there's no such thing as a spare room, so I get to hunker down with assorted Lego, finger puppets, picture books and farmyard animals. Luckily, the animals are only toys.
I first rode in to Tarifa on 2 November last year. Ma's death a week later turned so much upside-down. Everything changed.
And yet, and yet.. I remember how it felt that first day as I roll in now. Windy, is pretty much how it felt. So you see - some things never change.
Or, to put it another way, things *do* change. They never stop. Malena is 15 months old now -- it occurs to me I've known her for about a quarter of her life. The little munchkin has started walking since I was last here -- 17 whole days ago, but to her it must seem a lifetime -- her entire world is changing minute by minute. It just became eNORMous.
--
It's good to be back, and on the bike again. Lovely to see people: Gustavo, Jenny, Jean-Fabrice, Vitto, Georgia, Theo, Margharita, Cecile, Gregorio, Annie, Hernan, Malena and Lucas. Not bad for the first day, is it? My dear hosts are taking an unbelievably well-deserved break 'til Saturday, visiting their old haunts in beautiful Granada: I'm dogsitting the lovely Meg and practising packing and re-packing my panniers again.
It's going to be good to be on the road again... soon.
Comments
By steve | March 21, 2008 6:05 PM
Wahey! Good to hear you're going to be out and about again soon - I've missed chuckling at your postings from round the coast of Yuurp. Safe and happy riding to you, mate. (In a slightly more wintry world, I'm off up to Sheffield tomorrow and Hull the day after, all with work, all on the BMW. By the sound of it I should fit snow chains.... hmmmm)
By Andy | March 21, 2008 9:55 PM
Good man. I can feel your freedom.
But Tyson would have faded after two or three rounds and your engine would be in command by the fifth, leading to a stoppage in six or seven.
By ricky leaver | March 26, 2008 4:06 PM
Mike's Magical Mystery Tour take three. Great to see you back in the saddle.
By Mike | April 5, 2008 6:59 PM
andy 1 -- Hello. I've written to you separately with lots of positive things to say about the bike.
steve - do you want to know that I'm trying to stay out of the sun today.. it's just too hot?
Andy 2 - why didn't you write that well at Sossernet? ;-)
Ricky - I have more hiking tips for you: Cabo de Gata. Details in the blo- I mean diary when I can get my laptop online. ´'m sitting in a smelly cybercafe in Cartagena, surrounded by gamers. Eeek!
By Andy | April 6, 2008 11:30 AM
Can't you remember? I know NOTHING about sosser.
By Mike With | April 6, 2008 6:11 PM
On the grounds that, 'it takes one to know one', I should have spotted that earlier..
--Mike
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By andy | March 21, 2008 10:32 AM
i am new to this site, having been put on to it by Paul at Metal Mule.i am booked in to get some of their panniers fitted to my 2007 Triumph Bonneville.I am planning on riding it to NZ via Europe and Asia this summer, so this website is of enormous interest to me.I too am middle aged (45), have just sold my house and am probably having bit of a mid-life crisis.i would be interested to know how the Bonny performed, what modifications you made or would make if you were to do it again.i have been trying to think of as many things that could go wrong, and be prepared for them.Has there been any mechanical problems?i will be setting up a site similar to this one, and it will probably be called "a Triumph to Nelson", as I will be riding my Bonny from Nelson,Lancashire to Nelson,NZ.If you are in the Uk before I leave,(in June), I would love to meet up and hear some of your experiences with the bike.Cheers Andy