Heading for Spain via Ireland
 

Hi folk’s
It’s time to start planning next year’s tip.

Last summer we went to Estonia and had a great timejeiger with only one downside, at times I might have made more mileage if I had a :rain:canoe.:stormy:

Next Summer we are heading for the sun.:Beach:

We usually go around June or July
The route we are thinking of is Scotland to N. Ireland ( Troon to Larne), head west to Donegal, probably Killybegs. After that we will spend a week or so working our way down to Cork.
Then it’s the ferry to Cherbourg, and on Pyrenees and Spain for two weeks.:mchappy:
Hopefully we will meet a few Hubber’s on the way.

Anyone fancy tagging along, part or all of the way ?
Just give me a shout.:thumbup1:

Rory

Hi Rory,
Don't forget,if you make it to Cork,you can get a ferry directly to Roscoff in brittany( http://www.brittanyferries.ie/ ),no reason to go to Rosslare-Cherbourg if you don't need to.When over here Killybegs is,imho,nothing to write home about(some may disagree),but for sure,work your way down the west coast.Some nice places to visit/stay are Westport(in mayo),Clifden(galway),kinvara(galway),Doolin(clare ),dingle(kerry),Clonakilty(west cork).All of the above are small to very small towns,All with Pubs/Restaurants/Hostel/Camping/B&B's etc.Join the dots between these places,and you'll have seen some of the best roads/scenery ireland has to offer.:thumbup1:

Nice on Fledermaus,
Checked it out , looks a good call.:clap:
I've been to Ireland before, several years ago by car.this wil be my first by bike.
I've been to Killybegs and Westport before. The wee pubs and resturants were great and the people were very friendly (apart from a B&B owner in Ahlone).
How come Guinness tastes better when in Ireland ?:confused1:
I think I'll have to do a bit more reserch while I'm there beer

Looking forward to going back:D
Rory

ireland
 

rory, i might well be in kinsale, co cork, on june 1st so if your about then we might meet up, i am trying to work the hu enniskillen meet, may 27/29th into my trip. good luck with your trip planning.

denny.

HI Rory: My wife and I are circumnavigating western Europe in 2011. We are starting from Heidelberg, Germany and working our way to Greece. Ultimately, we should be in Spain by mid July. I know when we went south last year a smart HUBB member started a thread, on the Central/South American regional board, so people could check in. We were able to track each other. I think that might be a good idea as we close in on the summer of 2011 for Europe. Good Luck.

Hi Rory

What area are you looking at in Spain, and route home from there ?

cheers :thumbup1:

The sunny part
 

The Plan is “There is No Plan".
Probably head for the Pyrenees.:mchappy:
We went around Spain a few years ago and I liked the West & N.West.
We don’t plan exactly where we are going; we tend to make our mind up on route.
We may come back via the Alps and cross back over at Calais.
If you fancy traveling with us or meeting up on route, you are very welcome.:thumbup1:

Rory

Hey Rory
Me and the missus have talked about this trip as well
May well be around at the same time of year.
Also heard that the ferry from Kintyre to Ballycastle might be coming back on

The area around Ballycastle is superb (we did it on a 1972 Lambretta recently) :scooter:
Once we work out some plans Ah`ll gie yeh a shout.
Mark

Hey there Rory,
Not sure if off-road is your thing but even if it isn't you should try and drop by the Humm. Its on in the pyrenees in early july. I entered last year and had a mighty week and saw parts of the mountains i never would have seen. The crowd there are a great bunch and the craic in the evenings is great and the talk is of course is mostly all based around BIKES!!
I'm from the east coast, Dublin, but i know my way around the west quite well too. Have some mates around the dingle peninsula too. Give me a shout if you fancy a beer,jeigeror need any hints on places to see and things to do. It'll give me an excuse to go for a spin, not that i need one.... :scooter:
Good luck with the trip,
Arthur

Thanks for that Rory,:thumbup1: I'm in the early stages of looking into a run to the Picos de Europa area possible doing some mild off roading,Your route from Ireland looks good and certainly covers my pet hate "the slog down to the south coast" however I only have around eight days so looking at other ways and means of getting there, might fly down and hire a bike when there "have done this before in the Andaluca area,cheap, 2 1/2hr flight and your in biking nirvana " I will be keeping an eye on your thread though

Cheers

Des

Looks like the Hubb is working . . . . .yet again
 

Thanks folks for some great replys.
fledermaus - Thanks for the "Heads up" on the ferry ect.:clap:
diehard - Hope our dates match and we can meet up.beer
judgejoe - Always good to meet people from " accross the pond":D
brads - It would be good to travel a few miles with a fellow Hubber - keep in touch.:mchappy:
gingergringo - I'm not much into off-roading but my mate, "Weaklinks" from Minnasota (who traveled to Estonia with me last year & may join us this year), likes to get down and dirty. I'll turn up to check out the beer.beerdoh
weewan - Keep in touch, maybe we can travel a few miles together:thumbup1:

Rory

Might catch up once on the mainland
 

Hi Rory,
Might catch up with you when I´m working my way down from Amsterdam to the south, around the same time. Not sure yet if the wife will join me (on her own bike) because of the childrens holidays and all that jazz. Travelling solo is fine but when you start talking to yourself it is nice to catch up with others... I´ll keep an eye on how this developes.......

Greetings , Robert

hi from limerick
 

f650 bmw rider in limerick on the west coast, let us know when your coming and il try to facilite accomadation or great stuff to see.
Damien

Update
 

Hi folks,
Thanks for the offer Damiem, I'll probably take you up on that.
It looks like we will be traveling in the first week of July for 3 weeks.
Maybe meet up with you somewhere on route Robert.
I'm looking forward to hooking up with as many hubbers as poss.

Roll on the Summer.:D
Rory

im heading to ghana by bike in mid july so any time before that give me a shout.

Hi there folks,
Dates are a bit firmer now.
Troon to Larne Sat July 9th
Roslare to Cherbourg Thursday 14th.
15th meeting up with traveling buddy from Glasgow then head South towards Spain.
No fixed route from then on.
Maybe do the Pyrenees for a week then the French Alps for another.
If it's poss will do "The Bridge".
Hopefully will meet with a few Hubbers on the way.
Rory

hey,

if you end up in barcelona let me know and I'll give you a booze itinerary.

the general route from Bilbao to Barcelona is a good one (via Jaca). places like logroño, león, burgos, vitoria, bilbao, etc are all good. also had a good night in Sos del Rey Católico, though I can't really remember much. some great roads between bilbao and zaragoza/tarragona.

cheers

Hub meeting
 

Hey Rory
Have you noticed that the Hub Ireland meeting /gathering is on late May ?
I fancy hitting that so maybe over there a wee bit early to meet up
Will keep you updated
Cheers Amigobier

Time is starting to drag now...........
Looking forward to meeting a few like minded peope:mchappy:
Rory

Rory sadly missed the Highland mini meet last week but have been planning Ireland to France towards the end of June. Will track the thread and might even change my plans for Spain instead. I'll be leaving a week or so earlier but I'm a real tortoise - better to travel than to arrive. - so could probably catch up with you guys in Spain. Forgot to mention I had a great week on the Western Isles a few weeks ago. Had no access on-line or would have looked you up.

Kevin

Counting down to D(eparture) day
 

Thought I'd give the tread a bump.
Got the bike all ready.
Got all the ferrys paid
and most important . . . got a full set of beer tokens.:D
Look out Ireland , here I come . . .. in a couple of weeks :rofl:

Rory:clap:

heading of tomorrow
 

Heading of on my tour tomorrow (Friday).
Catching the ferry to Ireland on Saturay morning beer.
Hope to meet a few Hubbers on my travels.
Rory:thumbup1:

Shit happens
 

Well I'm back home - minus my bike :frown:
Had a great trip around Ireland ,met a few like minded people.
Went to France - it rained alot.
Hit the Pyrenees, good campsite , great roads, passes and valleys. Definately going back but next time I will spend a few weeks there.
Went to the Millou bridge - a great feet of engineering.
We went up the Trent Gorge and we were blown away by the scenery.
We had to cut our trip short by a few days(due to my bro's work) so we hit the payage (motorway) and headed towards Calais. Close to Paris we decided to leave the motorway and hit the city streets - thats when the sh*t hit the fan doh
It was on a very hot Friday afternoon in Paris rush hour traffic that my gearbox decided that it had had enough.
With the help of the the manager of "Teamaxe" (motorbike accessories), I got my bike of the road and got intouch with the BMW agent.
A mechainic came out to look at my bike and told me that it would take a day to fix. No probs I thought -till I got the estamate for the repair.
Parts were about 100 euros and the 8 hrs labour was 1000 euros.
Fu*k that.
We altered the loads on the other 2 bikes (dumped our tents & cookers) and carried on home on the two bikes.
The staff at "Teamaxe" are looking after my gear till I get back over to Paris to pick up my bike.
I'm heading back to Paris on Wednesday to get my bike.
So all in all it was a very enjoyable and interesting trip - a bit of hastle at the end - but it's all part of life's rich tapestry.
Roll on next year:thumbup1:

Rory