Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride

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- Ride Tales (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/)

- - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/finding-freedom-world-wide-ride-65365)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rondelli (Post 520743)

They spelled my name wrong on that road sign!

Ha Ha Ha. I'm glad you noticed Gino. That is why we turned around and went back to get the photo. We both thought of you when we saw it! Cheers.

Sara

We had a rainy night and it was still lightly raining in the morning. We had been invited to stay with some friends in a Chateau near Bordeaux. Initially we had decided we could not make it there since it was “300 km in the opposite direction” from our target of Madrid, but after 30 more seconds of rational thought realized how stupid that sounded. What is 600 km to see fellow Canadians and biking friends? We had first met Anne and Peter at “the end of the road” in Ushuaia. We were leaving the park after getting our photo OP at “the sign”. I saw a huge Canadian flag on the panier of one of the bikes and yelled out Hey Canada! So we stopped and made friends. They have been touring in the UK and head home from Paris this week.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3735/...917d759c_c.jpg the end of the road 43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3753/...3b334cd0_c.jpg the end of the road 51 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7300/...c580cde1_c.jpg DSC00737 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We rode the secondary roads north, which for us was an almost straight shot to Saint Emilion and with very little slowing for towns. We thought we could make the 270 km in less than 4 hours.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/619/2...7f0bb6b0_z.jpg Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 8.40.35 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

About an hour out we stopped for a coffee. As Sara pulled in to park on the curb outside the café the “Yellow triangle of death” was flashing and the bike was promptly dead. Taking out the GS 911 we confirmed our fears that the stator was burnt again! The last time it was replaced was in Ecuador almost 90,000 km ago, but they always seem to die when we are meeting someone and it is raining. The job took longer than expected since we had to take off several extra parts including the foot peg and rear brake since we could not get the one bolt out of the “this is crap” Touratech crash bar. Dan is getting pretty good at this now after 4 times. It is still stressful to have the engine open on the “side of the road” and have only one shot to fix it. After putting it all back together the test of the 911 was ALL GOOD! This got us back on the road at 130 after 2 ½ hours. I need a drink!!!

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5820/...8ca3bb7a_c.jpg saint emilion 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/780/2...3c7ba23b_c.jpg saint emilion 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/578/2...832d84cb_c.jpg saint emilion 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5643/...4b1d0758_c.jpg saint emilion 4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Our GS 911 came in handy two days in a row since this morning Anne’s bike would not start either! It turned out to just be that the battery was toast. This was easily fixed by a drive to the nearest bike store 10 km away.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/697/2...7365755b_c.jpg saint emilion 29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5690/...1a4ce24b_c.jpg saint emilion 27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5749/...b1e61345_c.jpg saint emilion 28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We did a small tour of the surrounding countryside and vineyards and enjoyed a lot of French bakery items and La Confession wine!

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/639/2...f6d7bfdd_c.jpg saint emilion 31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/777/2...6c4a5c87_c.jpg saint emilion 30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5767/...7cb4f01a_c.jpg saint emilion 32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5787/...56764177_c.jpg saint emilion 38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Heading south again it was 2 degrees and sunny leaving the Bordeaux region. We backtracked to Roquefort (like the cheese) and then veered west to Pau. From here we left the vineyards and headed up into the hills again. There is a 7 km long tunnel that starts in France and ends in Spain. Our idea was to get a far as possible today and be as near to Madrid as we could be for tomorrow.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/625/2...47ff1d5b_z.jpg Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 8.43.45 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5642/...66545f4e76.jpg IMG_4340 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5626/...fe4d44a2dd.jpg IMG_4339 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Luckily the temperature did get much better after noon and was a tolerably 14. We stopped at a small village with 1 hotel just off the highway in La Almunia de Dona Godina. Today is the final push towards Madrid. It is just 200 km to Guadalajara (60 km north of the capital) and on the highway we made quick time.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5813/...9bd4848d_b.jpg Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 8.45.06 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/767/2...b393748f_c.jpg madrid 8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We wanted to get the bikes washed and all our clothes and the suits cleaned. This was accomplished all in one location at the Repsol gas station in Guadalajara where they have a car wash and a free standing Lavandaria Automatico. This is a box like building essentially with industrial washers and dryers in it. This means we were done in just over an hour. That left the rest of the afternoon to relax.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/705/2...470f7a1c_c.jpg DSC05954 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/721/2...d4b30902_c.jpg madrid 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5778/...63d308dc_c.jpg madrid 9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Well the year has finally come to an end. We are headed home to Vancouver for the winter to see our families and make some money for our return April 7, 2016.We want to give a huge thanks to Modesto for allowing us to store the bikes for the winter. Also to Antonio and Natalia for hosting us and getting us to the airport with all our gear. We had left the old Touratrash panniers in Madrid last spring, but we are taking them home as our luggage. With all our stickers on them and a piece of glass they will make a cool coffee table.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5749/...09ae88be_c.jpg madrid 27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/586/2...a24ebd44_c.jpg madrid 29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We thought we we would do a bit of a summary of the last 12 months on the road....

1. Brazil

The three months we spent here were not nearly enough. This country should not be missed. Skip Ushuaia if you “don’t have the time” to get to Brazil. The riding is epic, the food is great, and the people are the most friendly and outgoing in the world.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8580/...0eb8fd01_c.jpg Painiera 15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr