Ride Spain & Portugal: places we see & people we meet Part 2


Ride Spain & Portugal: places we see & people we meet Part 2

The information I wrote in Part 1 gave some background to this years trip. Here in Part 2 I head from the ferry for the town of Ojedo then down to Vimioso in Portugal.

A change of plan before I left home

Last year, after leaving  Ojedo I headed for the Portuguese town of Braganca in the far north east of Portugal and about 14 miles or so from the Spanish border.

This time I had intended to stay in Chaves about 65 miles west of Braganca. However, the week before I set off there were large areas of Portugal being significantly impacted by wildfires. This included fires near Chaves – the place I had intended to head for.

No complaints though

Prior to leaving I had spent an age looking at maps and Google earth and had pretty much nailed down some of the roads I wanted to do in the Chaves area.

The situation with the fires made it sensible to have a rethink.

I could hardly complain of having to pause and re-plan. Folk were losing lives and property and in fact nine people died in this year’s fires.

Serious wildfires

The Wikipedia entry mentions there were more than 1,000 wildfires and at least 128 of them were described as devastating.

The fires had actually been brought under control a day or two before I left home. Fire crews had stayed in place and some villages had been evacuated. It seemed to make sense to make another route.

 

As an aside

If you do decide to head for Braganca I can recommend the Hotel Santa Apolonia. I stayed there in 2023, it’s located about a mile or so from the old town/historic centre and has excellent motorbike parking.

I decided rather than head for Chaves I would make a one night stopover in the Portuguese town of Vimioso. After that I would head for the town of Trujillo and then onto Elvas in the Portuguese district of Alentejo.

I still get excited

I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of waking up on the ferry, taking a walk on deck and seeing that first sunrise of the trip. It always gives me a sense of good times ahead.

This time was no different and it had been a decent and comfortable crossing.

I must admit that despite my motorcycle road trips not being a new thing, I still get excited about the journey and what lies ahead. I suppose when I don’t have that feeling then it will be time to stop.

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There’s a tiresome argument…

In the biking community there are split opinions of whether it’s best to bike down to Spain through France or to take the ferry to Bilbao or Santander.

I’ve motorcycled extensively in France and loved it. I’ve biked down through France to Spain and loved it.

I’ve taken a one way ferry down to Spain, travelled in and out of the Pyrenees then made a route down the Med’ side of Italy, back up the Adriatic and home via Slovenia, Italy Austria, Switzerland etc and yes I loved it.

I’ve taken the ferry to and from Spain numerous times and loved it.

There really is no best way, each has its advantages and attractions – it just depends what suits you.

Does it cost more?

Some bikers make the economic argument suggesting that the return ferry to Spain rather than the trip through France is much more costly – perhaps forgetting that not everybody makes choices based on saving money. In my case taking a ferry to Caen for example or the tunnel to Calais, leaves me with a couple of overnights in France (both ways) as I don’t slog it out on AutoRoute’s.

So what’s the answer?

There isn’t a single one size fits all answer . Only you can decide. In my opinion I don’t actually think there is too much substance in the cost argument – the real question is about choice and what suits you.

I think the only argument that is more tiresome than this one is the Maps versus Sat Nav debate … I may come back to this in this series of posts!

Time to go and heading for Ojedo

Disembarkation from the Pont Aven was routine. Bikes are usually off last and the time does seem to drag before you can get down to the decks, pack away your overnight bag and get ready to go. But it is what it is.

The journey from Santander was straightforward. The town of Ojedo is only about 80 miles or so from the port. The only downside was that there are extensive roadworks on the excellent N621. I guess anyone doing a modest amount of preparation would be aware of these, but actually they are easy to avoid.

A nice alternative

I had done the N621 a few years ago when it was roadwork free, so didn’t feel too disappointed to plot an alternative route. I headed for Val de San Vinvente then turned for Bielva on the CA181. Then it was on towards Burios and Roza before picking up the N621 at La Hermida for the last 10 miles into Ojedo. Temperatures on this short leg of the trip had been decent at around 23C.

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Ojedo

Ojedo is small town in the administrative region of Cantabria and is very close to the ever popular and pretty town of Potes

Potes is worth visiting, but it is very touristy and has all that goes with that – including plenty of accommodation and places to eat.

Ojedo is quieter and is only a 25 minute or so walk into Potes.

In 2023 I made my first night’s stay at the Hotel Infantada, this year I opted for a small Posada across the road from the Infantada called the Posada Ojedo Los Neros,

Good accommodation

I’m happy to recommend both the Los Neros and the Infantada as decent places to stay. Prices to eat and drink were good in Ojeda as they were throughout my time on this trip. (Note: I stayed in Ojeda on the way back to Santander a couple of weeks later and walked into Potes – so plenty of pictures and information in a later post about that)

I’d recommend them both

The Infantada is a large hotel with good parking, the Los Neros is simpler accommodation and has on street parking (which is perfectly safe – there really are no issues).

The Los Neros is probably about 40% or so cheaper than the Infantada but I’d happily stay at either again.

 

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It turned out that some of the old bikes that I had seen at Plymouth were headed for the 37th Moto Club Piston Rally’s that were taking place in and around the Picos at the same time I was there. As far as I can work out there were sort of three separate events that made up the 37th Rally.

These were the: Picos Tour, the Rally Piston and the 5,000 Curvas – you can read more the event at this link.

I decided that in the morning before I headed off I would have a wander around and make sure I took plenty of pictures of some of the remarkable bikes that were there.

37th MC Piston Rally bike collection

The picture gallery below is an extensive one. It features just some of the extraordinary bikes that were in Ojedo at the time I was there.

A ‘heads up’: if you don’t like looking at old bikes you might want to skip this gallery, but this gallery is here because I know there will be a few folk who love this sort of thing. Note if you skip the gallery you’ll miss the picture of me wearing what apparently is a traditional hat from Gran Canaria!

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On the road to Vimioso

I was on the road by about 09:00am and made a decent route via Potes, taking the superb N621 towards San Gloria.

Have you even been to the Picos if you’ve not got a picture at the Bronze Stag at the viewing point overlooking the mountain pass?

As ever and even though I have this picture multiple times I stopped for yet another to add to the collection.

After that it was on towards Boca de Huergano, Las Salas, Bonar (CL 626) then onto La Robla, Astorga (LE 451) and then finally Vimioso.

The roads were cold and damp across the mountains with temperature’s down as low as 8C.

The road to Riano

I just love the road that heads down to Riano, it’s just relaxed and easy riding with fantastic vistas opening up in front of you. I stopped for petrol at Riano and couldn’t help but wonder how many petrol stations have better views that this.

The Spanish Plains

The weather across the vast plains of Zamora and Leon was variable and for the most part overcast, temperature’s never really got above about 18C and although the riding in the Picos had been good the day was a sort of 50/50 day really.

Vimioso

I hadn’t picked the town of Vimioso for any other reason than it was a convenient way point on my route; it was also a fairly late call after changing my plans for Chaves. If I’m honest I’m not so sure I’d stay in Vimioso again, I don’t want to do it a disservice but there didn’t seem a great deal there.

Accommodation

I stayed at the A Vileira hotel which seemed to be a medium sized hotel and not quite the sort of accommodation I would normally select. Having said that the service was good, the room was comfortable and the breakfast was decent – so it ticked the boxes. After getting cleaned up I went for a walk, stopped off at the XX Bar had a couple of beers and a packet of crisps for less than €4 and didn’t do much else that evening apart from listen to the Manchester City v Watford game on my ‘phone.

Picture gallery en route to Vimioso

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Rob & Janice

The place seemed absent of guests other than a British couple who arrived just after me and were driving a cracking looking Porsche 911. We spoke at breakfast the following day and it transpired that Rob and Janice had been having a fine time travelling in their very, very decent looking Porsche 911 (although I had initially thought it a Boxster but Rob put me right on that one – sorry Rob & Janice).

We chatted over breakfast and swapped a few travel stories. Rob and Janice were from the market town of Beverly in the East Riding of Yorkshire and were making their way back to Santander for the crossing to Portsmouth later in the week.

Quite a motor

I can only imagine how good a car like that must be on some of the superb roads of Spain and Portugal. The car certainly packed a punch and it sounded the part when Rob fired it up with its 3.6 litre twin turbo engine bursting into life as I loaded my bike ready for the next leg of my trip to the town of Trujillo. (coming in Part 3)

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Click here to go to Part 3 as I head to Trujillo and Elvas. The weather looked grey and damp as I got ready to leave Vimioso – is that how it remained?