Myself (Ade) and Jon are going..... Team Fruit.... f650gs and KTM640....

A couple of us have just signed and paid up. Should be sweet.

We're planning to head over to France on the Thurs night, and were just looking at a route down there...

Anyone got any thoughts for a scenic route?

Anyone going over on the ferry Thursday night, or know anything about getting cheap crossings?

Cheers, see you there folks

We're doing plymouth to santander on the 23rd, then the humm, then southern spain, morocco, spain france and blighty..

We've already got Plymouth/Santander ferry booked on the 27th July arriving Santander around midday on the 28th.
I'd really like to do this event but it's about 600k to the hotel, which is quite a lot for a half day.
Does anyone who knows the roads reckon it's reasonable. One of the bikes with us may well be a 250.

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If you think you are too small to make a difference you have never spent the night with a mosquito.

Would love to go this year, but I might only have a Triumph Trophy TR25W ('68). Are there any other classics going, as the 250 cc unit single doesn't exactly pump out the power!

I don't see a problem to the hotel from Santander in a half day. Though I reckon it's 450 kms (via Pamplona), 5 or 6 hours on a 250? Beers by 7 pm...

Just for the record the quickest route (using multimap) is 580k or about 360 miles. It's actually longer going via Pamplona (unless you know roads which aren't on the map).
About 2/3rds of the route is motorway, but the last third looks very hilly and twisty and will take a long time.
It would be a shame to have to rush through such wonderful scenery. I'm going to see if I can bring the ferry forward to the Wednesday crossing.

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If you think you are too small to make a difference you have never spent the night with a mosquito.

there are more direct roads than the motorway route, I suspect multimap is not coded to go down to smaller roads unless it has to. on a slow bike the motorways are very un-enjoyable, as the truckers don't want you there and it's boring.

if you're taking an extra day, try and get a more detailed map, and you can make the journey in less miles with better scenery.

I totally agree. I've used the E80 to St Sebastian before and it's horrible.

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If you think you are too small to make a difference you have never spent the night with a mosquito.

Just entered with three mates as two teams of two--one 1200GS, two 1200GSAs and one 1150GSA. We're riding both ways setting off Saturday morning and finding places to visit on the way down. We're going back via Millau/Tarn, the volcanoes of the Auvergne and the cheese trail.

Tim

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"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)

We're now booked. I brought the ferry crossing forward to the 23rd, so we've got plenty of time to enjoy the route now and get there early on the Monday. 2 Harleys and a 250 Virago. The road route only, of course.

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If you think you are too small to make a difference you have never spent the night with a mosquito.

Harley, well if your doing Plymouth to Santander then look out for us... we're doing Wednesday sailing, gonna go up near to Biaritz into France and come down through the Pyrenees for a change.. we'll have a on the ferry..

Hi,

Just to follow up on the distance thing. I was up in Bilbao doing a recce for a different trip, but here's some (reverse) directions:

07:30 0m Barcelona -> A2 -> Lleida (signed Lerida in Basque?)
08:30 85m Lleida -> N240 Huesca (20 mins coffee stop)
10:20 178m Huesca -> N350 -> Jaca (30 minutes in a cake shop at Monrepos)
12:40 218m Jaca -> Sos del Rey Católico (very twisty road to a Parador, and 30 min lunch)
15:30 418m Bilbao -> bar -> gin & tonic...

After here it gets a bit hazy, as I was no longer needing to take notes. But I got to Bilbao around 3:30pm. Sos del Rey Católico is around 20 minutes on the main road to Jaca. So Bilbao -> Jaca was around 3 hours, including stops. But I probably don't ride at your pace, so this is a rough guide only.

Sos del Rey Católico -> N240 -> Pamplona
Pamplona -> A15 -> N240 (to avoid AP toll road) -> A15 -> A10 -> E5
GI 632 -> Zumarraga -> Bergara -> (avoid AP1) A8 -> Eibar -> A8 -> Bilbao

I would recommend exiting the centre of Bilbao heading on the N634 signed Begoña, to avoid the AP toll road. Then re-join the A8 if you want to the dual carriage way option.

The road to Gernika is really good, and twisty. It's about a 30 minute detour. But I imagine following that round the coast would be a really nice rice (and fairly flat).

The A8 is a more scenic road than the N634, they run parallel but the A8 stays high and doesn't descend into the gorges. But the N634 is very twisty and a great laugh. It's not too steep, so shouldn't be too bad on a 250.

The N240 from Pamplona -> Yesa -> Jaca is a fantastic piece of road, it starts as the A21. Especially the section running alongside Embalse de Yesa. Note (for the 250) that there are a few pretty long steep uphill sections at the beginning, though it's a quiet road and has a slow lane. And that will give you time to appreciate the views, which are stunning.

I rode BCN -> Bilbao on Saturday, and returned on Sunday (total 880 miles). Both days the A roads were quiet. The N/GI roads were busy-ish, but still less than the south of England (to give you an idea) so no trouble on the bike. Plenty of coffee and petrol stops are available.

cheers,
Doug

The 2008 HUMM was brilliant - been looking out for vidoes on U-tube - some riders had helmet cams etc. Just found this
YouTube - HUMM Martin

there seems to be about 3 videos so far - all BMWs but not sure where all the others are?

Many thanks to the organisers for all their hard work put into the event, be a shame if you make it too hard for people like me (and my bike) to have a bash next year.

Cheers
Col

All sounds and looks good to me....

Will this event be organised for 2009 ?

It is certainly something that i would like to consider..

Cheers
Lee

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'Never worry about things that YOU cant change'