18 FEB – Well, that was a fun day…! I left the delights of Seville this morning with the intention of heading to Portugal, somewhere between Albufeira and Lagos. It was a bright sunny morning and after paying my bill at the campsite I got on the open road – which was spookily quiet. Then I remembered it was Sunday so most people will either be at home or at church – and not on the roads.
I filled-up with fuel and soon I was leaving Seville behind and heading across Andalusia, noticing the subtle differences in the landscape as I headed west. Andalusia is very green and lush, and heading west the soil starts to turn from deep red to a lighter shade of red.
About 10km before a town called Huelva – I suddenly felt my rear-end give and start fish-tailing. Straight away I knew I had a flat so I quickly pulled over and coasted to a halt on the hard shoulder. And yes, I did have a flat. My first thought was a nail so I got the compressor out and as I started filling with air, I noticed steam coming out of the tyre. Because the air was cold and the tyre was hot, the air became a steam of condensation which allowed me to see where the damage was.
One of the blocks on the tyre had started to lift, leaving a hole on the tyre. I could have taken the tyre off and fitted an inner tube but if the tyre had started to delaminate then I couldn’t see that getting me far. So, plan B it was – which meant recovery.
Just then two police bikers stopped and seeing what was wrong they called me a recovery truck, but first I had to get off the highway as apparently, it’s against the law to stay too long or recover on the motorway. So, with one motorcycle cops ahead and one behind me as an escort I had to ride my bike 1.5km on the flat tyre before we got off the highway, fishtailing all the way as the tyre was just rotating on the wheel. Memories of Mauritania came back to me, but fortunately this was only 1.5km and not 10km like last time. It was hot and sunny and I was so relieved when we finally got off the motorway, as I was sweating like a kid in a chocolate shop.
Once off the motorway I only had to wait about 15 minutes before the recovery truck arrived, and with the bike loaded and strapped down we arrived at Huelva and stopped at the local bike shop, which by chance happens to be Triumph/Suzuki dealer, so the bike is now outside their shop, locked up and waiting for tomorrow – and new tyres.
I managed to find an Air B&B nearby and quickly booked myself in. And because I had removed all the luggage off the bike, I managed to flag a taxi down to take me and all my luggage to the Air B&B.
Two things. Firstly, while I was sat on the hard shoulder about a dozen Harley’s all rode past in a big group. All wearing their cut-offs and dripping in chrome. My helmet was on the floor behind my bike – which is a universal sign of help needed – but all the Harley’s just rode past and didn’t even look or wave. What is it with Harley riders…? A guy on a scooter did stop to see if I was okay. I shook his hand and waved him on his way.
Secondly, my tyres: I could have changed the tyres when I got back into Spain, but I estimated the rear was good for another 2k miles and my front maybe 4 to 6k miles so I was going to change the tyres when I got back to the UK. It’s only a few weeks early, but still, the ‘northern lad’ in me would have liked to get a few more miles out of these tyres.
But, I feel thankful that the blowout was gradual rather than fast, otherwise I could have ended up like scrambled egg on the A49 motorway. Mind you, I can’t complain as I’ve had 12k miles out of these tyres, so maybe I was expecting a little too much.
19 FEB – My Air B&B is excellent. The room is very comfortable and although it’s a communal shower/toilet, the shower is hot and immaculately clean. When I arrived at the Air B&B there was a bit of initial mis-communication but using Google Translate we got there in the end. Once I had the access code for the door I found out I was on the third-floor, which also meant three trips up the stairs. On my final trip with my last bit of luggage I stopped to catch my breath, and there – lurking in the corner – was an elevator. Well, it’s a good job that I’m fluent in pure anglo-saxon…
My first port of call today was my bike and MOTOBLANCO. It was only about 1km to walk so I went to the bike shop and talked to the guy in the workshop. They were expecting me…! The only tyres he had in stock to fit was Continental Trail Attack 3’s. I asked if he could get Metzeler Tourance tyres but he said it would take a few days, so I told him to carry on and fit the front and rear with the Trail Attack 3’s. I also told him to put new pads in the front brakes. I knew my front pads were almost down to metal and although I had a spare set of pads, it would be much easier for them to do it while the wheel was off. He told me to come back tomorrow morning.
I spent the day walking around Huelva, browsing in the local shops, eating some delicious pastries in a coffee shop and just enjoying the pace of life in this small and modern town.
20 FEB – At 9.30 I went to collect the mighty V-Strom – with it’s new boots. The bike was outside and ready to go. I paid the bill – which was 425 euros – and I gingerly rode away. Yes, it does seem a lot but that covered the cost of the tyres, fitting plus four new pads. My rear-hugger was in bits and I’d also told them to remove it, which was also covered in the bill. I had packed all my luggage first thing in the morning, so I went straight back to the Air B&B and got all my luggage down in one trip – due to the elevator, loaded the bike and got back on the road. I was away by 11.
I really do hate it when I’ve got new tyres, as a bike will always feel a bit sketchy until the tyres bed-in – but straight away the tyres felt great. The guys at MOTOBLANCO had done a great job and I was really happy with the tyres. I wanted to stay in the area for another day so I decided to head south-east along the coast as there was a large campsite at Mazagon – which would be much cheaper than the Air B&B.
After a pleasant ride in the warm air with a big blue sky I easily found the website, and it’s huge. Massive. I paid for one night and it cost 20eu. It’s a bit expensive but it’s a big site. It was either this or wild-camp, so i decided to stay here as it was just so much easier. The site was mostly empty so I found a pitch next to a tree and with a convenient picnic table. It was the middle of the afternoon by the time I set up camp, so a little later I went out for a ride to explore the local area, visit a shop for some food and milk, and make sure my tyres were scrubbed-in. It truly is a lovely part of the world, and at this time of the year there are no tourists so I enjoyed the empty roads.
