Just a few pointers for people who don't know the area well:

• Between April and October, it rarely rains, so you can almost guarantee lots of sunshine.
• Between mid-June to mid-September it's HOT. It's hot all day and all night (35-40C during the day, 20-25C at night). July and August are the hottest months (regularly in the 40's).
• But, the venue I have in mind is by the side of a lake which you can swim in, and is less than 20kms from the nearest beach. They've also been building a huge pool here forever which hopefully one day will be full of water.
• For anybody who wants to extend the HU Meeting into a holiday, I can help with travel arrangements so long as my expenses are covered.
• We are less than 2 hours from Granada (The Alhambra), Ronda (oldest bullring in Spain), Seville and Cordoba (Mezquita). Gibraltar and Algeciras (gateway to Morocco) are a little further.
• The Axarquia region is an ideal base for exploring the 'real' Spain.
• The food is great, the scenery is diverse, the locals are friendly and the rides are outstanding.

Hope this helps. I voted 4 times - April, May, September, & October. I chose these months purely from a weather point of view.

So come on, register your votes, show your support and lets get this show on the road.

I'm interested in this meeting. What type of venue do you have in mind? A proper camp site or a pub field? Or a 5 star hotel OK a camp site would do me

Apologies for slow response - Spanish weather took my internet connection with it!!

Venue I'm looking at is a campsite (with a nice pool) which has 10 small 'bungalows' all overlooking a lake. There is a 3* hotel and self-catering units both about 5 mins away by wheels, together with an abundance of privately owned villas, so something for everyone. But to be 'onsite' it's camping or bungalows. We had a look at it yesterday and the facilities are very good. Restaurant is also excellent.

Currently throwing together a website with more info that should be ready in a week or so.

Does this mean that there will be no meeting in Portugal for next year?
Just a thought but, do we need 2 meetings that are so (geographically speaking) relatively close together? Would it not diversify things and open more areas to people if something could be arranged in, for example, Scandinavia or Poland or what about the former Yugoslavia regions, or Greece?
There seems to be a fair bit of interest in Eastern Europe, in particular, Romania. There is at least 1 company that I know of organising motorcycle tours around the Carpathian mountains and there is also the annual Carpathian Rally Raid.
I appreciate that it takes time, commitment and people to organise a meeting, and one in Spain would be good, but I just feel that somewhere more diverse (if possible) would be better.

There's 18 people who have responded to this thread saying they are interested in attending a meeting in southern Spain. This sounds quite positive, but it so as not to tread on toes it would be best if Portuguese and Spanish meets were four or more months apart.

If you feel there's support for Eastern Europe (and it sounds interesting to me), then why not post a separate thread in the forum and find out if others would help organise a meeting? But that need not be instead of meetings that are already being proposed.

Tim

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Surely a bigger network of meetings is better than ones spread far and wide. This isn't about 'treading on peoples toes' - it's about a large group of people who share a common interest and the important thing to focus on here is the means of 'spreading the knowledge and sharing the experience' to as many people as you can.

Living in Spain, Gois is still 700kms away and more than a days ride. I'm going to the next meeting in Portugal, but I'm not looking forward to the ride in the August heat and I don't speak Portuguese so I'm hoping there will be lots of presentations in English.

I hope the Spanish meeting will be a bi-lingual event. We live in an area that is frequently visited by travellers on their way to Morocco and Africa and it would be great if some of those people could come and share their experiences with us. How many of you do trial runs to Spain to test your bikes & gear? Many of us have aspirations of doing a RTW trip, but there are a lot of people who enjoy much shorter journeys but still want advice on the best way to do it.

Work commitments don't always give people the time to ride to HU Meetings. The Axarquia region of Andalucía gives people the choice of taking a few days to ride here, or flying in to Malaga for the weekend. As to when, yes, being in a different month to the Portugal meet would probably be better, but atm, the poll is telling me that September is the favoured month. Another option would be to alternate the annual meetings between Portugal and Spain.

Lots of people are looking at this thread, but not many are speaking. If only 10% of people looking booked to come to Spain, then the meeting would be on. Show us your support and I'll book it tomorrow.

Ok, sadly I don't have a website of info for you as Grant says he will do it all once the meeting is booked. So here's all the info I have so far.

The Area
Andalucia is the most incredibly diverse region encompassing the historic cities of Seville, Ronda, Malaga, Cordoba and Granada, the famous whitewashed villages, and mile after mile of beautiful beaches, rural inland countryside and international resorts.
The venue is situated in the Axarquia region of Andalucia where during the 19th century, the proximity of the area to the mountains made it a center of banditry.
It is an area dedicated to olive and almond farming, also orange and lemon orchards and vineyards and is a wonderful location for enjoying motorcycling.
Historic towns and cities, such as Antequera, Nerja, Malaga and Granada are all close, offering spectacular architecture and a diverse range of activities, from Skiing in the Sierra Nevada to sun bathing on the beautiful beaches of Costa del Sol.
Sounds like a magazine article I know, but at least it describes the area!!

The Venue
Depends on numbers, but the current venue is at a 2* campsite beside Lake Vinuela.
Offering 38 pitches and 10 bungalows with excellent facilities.
The restaurant serves some of the best food in the area with barbequed meats and as well as local gastronomy.

The Dates
To be arranged. Please show your support in the poll, but currently it's looking like September.

Guest Speakers
Still looking for volunteers. If there is something you can offer, please put your name down - a presentation, slide show, demonstration - please help 'spread the knowledge'.

• Alison Makin - Alison rides a Yamaha XT600E and will show you how to safely pick your bike up. Almost everybody can pick up heavy bikes using this technique.

• Tim Cullis - Tim rides a BMW R1200GS and will be doing a presentation about..... check your messages Tim

• Maria Robinson - Maria rides a BMW F650GS and together with her partner Alistair are currently planning their trip to South America - they leave in 6 weeks. Hopefully she will be back in time to do a presentation at the 2008 meeting. Follow them on their travels at index

• Andy Makin - Andy rides at XT600E and will lead out a local ride or two (time permitting of course!!)

Questions??
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Photos of the Area

That sounds just great! At least the chances for rain are much lower than in the UK... Sorry you Poms, didn't want to tread on anybodys toes, but I worked for quite a while in London. Still enjoyed it though ;-)

I'd love to join in. And yes, being a rockspider from South Africa I could offer infos on Southern Africa, maybe combined with a short slide show. But since lots of people know South Africa, I'd rather have this offer placed right at the end of the queue.

Although I'm living 20 odd years near Munich I won't offer a virtual tour through the Hofbraeu Haus or the October Fest :-))

Hans

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

It's also Spaghetti Western country! The Leone/Eastwood trilogy were filmed around Almeria. Fans of the genre might enjoy riding in some familiar landscapes.

I'd love to come but I fear you will sensibly choose a time when I can't (i.e. not the summer).
Stephan

Hi Tim
I tend to agree with you but the other alternative would be to have them back to back weekends so anyone who wanted to could do both and have a bit of a holiday in Iberica in between the 2 HU Meetings.
There is a loose plan to repeat the HU Belgium meeting in September 2008 (to be confirmed) so almost no matter when the Spain meeting happens it will be close or not close enough to one or other event going on.
Cheers
Gecko

__________________
...on the road to nowhere...

Biking roads by bikers for bikers www.bestbikingroads.com

If the Spanish meeting was held the weekend before the Belgian meeting it would be great for me, I could then attend both hopefully

Just wanted to run this by people.

Anybody interested in coming to 'taster' meeting in late September this year? Not so much time to organise as the one planned for next year and if there are less than 40 people, it would have to be an 'unofficial' meeting.

Ideas and comments welcome.

I think that would be an excellent idea. Offical or Unoffical - a meeting in Spain at that time of year would be good.

Just one point of note, I know from my trips back and forth to Gibraltar, that a number of travellers pass that way, maybe they could arrange to drop by and either gain an insight to North Africa, or pass on their experiences - in formally of course.

My plan is to go to Gibraltar in 2008 so if the HU meeting fits in my travel schedule, I would love to be there but 2008 is stil far away. I'm planning some other trips in 2007 first :-)

__________________
Jan Krijtenburg

My bikes are a Honda GoldWing GL1200 and a Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide

My personal homepage with trip reports: https://www.krijtenburg.nl/
YouTube channel (that I do together with one of my sons): motormobilist.nl

Jkrijt, I travel between Gibraltar (A.K.A. Gib) and Malaga weekly. Be sure to look me up (for a possibly ) when you come down this way.

Gib isn't the prettiest place on earth, but some of the sights and history are interesting. Plus I can see Africa on a good day from my office window which always makes me feel better.