lockdown lookback – motorbike years part 11…

07/06/2020

As Lockdown restrictions are eased, and (hopefully) we head towards the latter stages of the restrictions, this post sees me arrive towards the end of my Lockdown Lookback series with Part 11. If you missed Part 10 you can read it here. Links to earlier parts in the Lockdown Lookback series (parts 1 to 9) are provided later in this post.

It would be no exaggeration to say that 2017 was another decent biking year. At the start of the summer I had headed off on a trip on my own without any particular plan. I wrote in Part 10 about that trip and my travel in: Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and then into Belgium before heading home.

My second main trip in 2017 was in September when my wife and I headed off to Spain and Portugal. When we set off, the extent of our plan went only as far as having a ferry booked down to Santander and a return ticket for the journey home of weeks later – in between was blank and we just pretty much let the trip unfold.

After a long and very wet ride down to Plymouth we enjoyed glorious weather for the rest of the trip and had a fantastic time. Initially we were in the Picos then Asturia and Galicia before heading down into Portugal and spending time in the National Parks and mountains.

We did the trip on the Kawasaki Vulcan 650 S, which in some respects would seem an unlikely choice for such a trip – the reality though, was that other than some pretty heavy wear on the rear tyre (which we replaced near Madrid) the bike was very good and much better than I had initially expected. My surprise at how the bike performed in turn prompted me to write a separate post asking ‘Can you really tour on a Kawasaki Vulcan 650S’ you can read that at this link.

The trip also confirmed to me what a terrific country Spain was to ride in, and as I have said in previous posts, in terms of roads and riding it’s probably my favourite European country to ride in – so much so that I was back in Spain and Portugal the following year (2018) on my BMW RnineT – and there will be more of that in the 12th and final part of the Lockdown Lookback series

If you want to check out my non motorbike related posts you can do so at my rainycity blog. Click here to go there.

If you want to follow me on Instagram – click here If you want to follow this Blog and receive automatic updates when there is a new post please add your email in the subscribe box towards the top of the page. You see can earlier posts in this series by clicking these links: You see can earlier posts in this series by clicking these links: Part 1 Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9

I have posted a lot of pictures below, more than on a typical post and they are presented in a slightly diferent style gallery than in previous Lockdon Lookback posts. clicking on any one of them should open a scrollable gallery.

They are probably best viewed on a desktop, laptop or tablet – but should be viewable on a mobile device. If you have any problems viewing these pictures then please let me know either by using the comments faciity or mailing me direct at themotorbikeblog@gmail.com

PICTURE GALLERY SPAIN & PORTUGAL 2017