Northern Spain, wandering on wet weekends (almost always)

[ata]

yesterday´s ride was easier
saturday just went to the circus with my two girls


yes, that two
weather still on a rain break, so decided to do a longer ride

starting always trough pines





to that heights where there are no trees all around


steep is hard on these mountains


and of course, greetings to everyone

Bilbao, down there
double rocky track way up


and got to some civil war souvenirs



just a view to the big south

same as north one
i found a bobsleigh hill, not now that is dry, this clay becames fucking ice when wet


time to have a rest


turning back on my feet decided to try this funny way


and yes, this bike can do it, better dry than wet, of course,I'm not as good pilot as you think, sure
but i did it


even the bugs are interested on this bike?

sure
see ya!

[The_Scottsman]

Wow! Some beautiful countryside! Great pics!

[ata]

rain has come again......... to stay for some months

steep never looks what it is

new cell crapy pics, but scenary always inspire new adventures

on every single corner

new power parts all around


and many many false steps

slippery mud

and rolling stones


this is called the rollercoaster
first one

jumping like a kangaroo
and me


among the jungle





so............. new knobbies are needed............ from now to July

thnx

[ata]

no more words

just a bunch of pics showing what you can find all around here
this is the north coast, countryside and beaches.............











Ebro river


Lighthouse


cathedral close to the sea....... and the lighthouse









if you get to Bilbao by train, this is what you´ll see

[ata]

again on the tracks

trying so hard to reach Valladolid, 450 kms far from home in a fucking hard rain week.... and cold as well

forecast wasn´t good enough and logic was telling us that wasn´t a good idea but....... who said fear?

sky was sad

and getting wet everything all around us, any mile was a suffering enjoyment

we had the last coffee in Burgos, from here civilization ended and lonely adventure begun


landscapes of flat lands on a 360º view


didn´t take many pics because it was raining too much to take out the cells from the pockets, you know

and the tracks were too slippery to stop there where you want


but cold weather was fought with all available weapons

also known as this land´s blood
and it worked
local population

trip was running slower than we thought because of these hard conditions, we had to stop too many times



and some fuel pump pixies

anything new in a 60k miles big katoom


all the rivers we saw were as this one, out of range

this one.............

become this

same bridge, of course
and we noticed so many water everywhere

luckily, reaching to Valladolid, the ground becomes sandy, pine trees all around what means drier and easier




but.................
that's another story to be told at another time

[ata]

back at home......... still raining......... looks like mud is what the world is made of


specially there where steep turns flat and a fucking logging forestry trucks finds a way to destroy

don´t know what we were thinking about... but decided to try
we bet .....

and we lost that bet


who said it was easier for a 250 2t?



fortunately we could move forward, with a great effort, but we did it.....................

stunning places to stay



and see that there are some kind of people able to leave shit everywhere they are

[ata]

first sunny day in two weeks........

but chilly, anyway everything seems to be as wet as last sunday

but at least riding the bike is more comfortable, forget rain suit, waterproof gloves, wet feet


good vibrations made us follow single track ways that didn´t give us a rest in a couple of hours




and this is what happens when you ride too close to a 2 stroke fucking bitch that didn´t want to cross some mud ponds


and you can´t do anything while having spits out loads of mud in your face


ok, forgive you ..... but not forgotten

[ata]

[ata]

[jcf]

....~
CONO !

What an amazing adventure and such thorough documentation.
Thanks.

Those shots of the drowned town are amazing.
When I lived in Spain friends took me to their ancestral home in Pedrosa.
I will never forget the ride over the bridge and looking down and seeing the village of Riano underwater.

? Que pasado bien no es sueno ?
? Quien tuvo dichas heroicas
que entre si no diga, quando
las revuelve en su memoria.
Sin duda que fue sonado
cuanto vi ? Pues si esto toca mi desangano, si se
que es el gusto llama hermosa,
que la convierte en cenizas
cualquiera viento que sopla,
acudamos a lo eterno,
que es la fama vivadora
donde ni duermen las dichas,
ni las grandezas reposan.

- El Gran Calderon

Suerte, Ata y Viva Riano

[ata]

your spanish is getting better and better























even better when you talk about banks

[jcf]

De verdad fue mejor - pero los bancos me roban

[ata]

wow, look at what I found, John


and the last time I was at Riaño (spell it as Rianio)

[jcf]

Very cool - and sad -

Pedrosa was at the north end of the [rising] pantano when I was there.
I told them there how much I loved Spanish food and how I couldn't believe how much different stuff they could make from a pig....
Next day they brought me to a neighbors, and they were burning off the hair of a freshly slaughtered pig ( they didn't think an American could stomach the killing part - even though I had seen about 300 bullfights by then ) and the whole town was there and they showed me how they make lomo and chorizo - 3 or 4 women were in a room with big kettles and piles of spices - I was sent to the stream with the intestines ( same stream where they sent a kid who had a magic touch and caught trout with his bare hands for lunch )..

In the morning the animals would leave their corals and head for the hills and in the evening return to them untended, just like kids going to and coming back from school.

I remember sleeping outside under a full moon next to what was left of n old structure - they called it a castillo but who knows what it was, all that was left was a wall with a hole in it, like a natural archway.
A local boy was killed there during the Guerra - at least they blamed the Civil War on it.

There was a medieval stone bridge and a little old stone church at the southern end of the town with some beautiful milagros - the water was just rising to it - and I remember the father of the family saying that it would be the last time they would probably see it.

God what a wonderful magical country Espana ( sorry no accent on my computer - damned Apples ! : )

Love the Mercurio - Now how about a shot of Mundaka ?

[ata]

I've seen several food production processes, some ancient as you explained and some modern.... don´t know which are worse

Mundaka, one of the best left side in the world


said by the many many aussies living there




this is very close to Urdaibai, it´s called Laga - Laida