Day 15 - I decided to go for a country few make it to...Andorra. Absolutely a great decision for all you Motorbike riders out there and I'm sure hikers and mountain lovers too.
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One section of the ride through La Molina resort area
Some Curves |
Barcelona to Andorra (250 km) Attempted to get an early start only to run in to a big traffic jam on the motorway which my GPS struggled to navigate away from. BCN to Ripoll was quite good after the traffic C6R7/8T3V7.
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| Going down stairs is easy |
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| Bye Barcelona |
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| yuck |
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| Symptom of a big city... |
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| And finally free |
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| Great day for it |
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| At Ripoll |
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| Love this Sticker!!!! Must be how they roll in Ripoll |
Ripoll to France, just perfect! C8R7T4V8.
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| A taste of sweeps to come |
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| Beginning mountain towns |
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| Snow fall signs! |
The climb to Spanish ski fields (La Molina area) and on to France.
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Transportation of goods to these
places in the winter must be tough |
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| Happy Chappy |
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| Incredible, a mountain tomato, Doesn't it freeze up here? |
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| Lots of warnings means great riding! |
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| Animal warnings |
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At the top of the Spanish section
about 1800 m above sea level. |
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| Near La Molina ski area |
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| La Molina |
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| Lots of Bikers on this route |
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Joining the Tunel Envalira traffic
who paid 7 euros to go more direct! |
Side Story - Some how my GPS took me in to Puigcerda and over to Bourg-Madame, France with out crossing the border officially. Check out the road and you'll see why...Oh GPS...
France to Andorra as good as anything on this day. C7R6T5V8 traffic picked up in Andorra as they only have one main road to handle all the Duty Free Shoppers.
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| Where the hell am I? |
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| This is the hwy to France? |
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| Wow, I'm in France |
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| Just as nice, but the people definitely drive closer to the line |
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| Nice bridge |
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| Top of France in route to Andorra - N20 |
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| Nice Lunch Rest |
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| Curvy Curvy |
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| Border, yeah! Country 54! |
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| What's this... |
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| Andorra!!! |
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| WTF? |
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| Top of the world |
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| More curvy |
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| One of the 5 towns in Andorra |
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| Check out the gas prices! 1.20 e/litre (Spain 1.35 e) |
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| Lots of retaining walls |
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| Very similar terrain to Switzerland |
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| Encamp town |
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| Andorra la Vella, the main city |
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| Non-EU license plate, Odd... |
Arrived in Andorra near 5 pm as the temperature began to drop off. Left BCN 26 deg C to cool off down to 16 deg C once the sun set. The town is quiet in September which is probably the in between season before skiing. Worth the ride here, but for me one night was enough. Met 5 hardcore Belgium riders at Chester's Burger joint that wasn't so cheap. Went for a few beers with them and their Sean Connery looking buddy, then headed home to ready for a huge ride the next morning.
"Belgiums never invite foreigners to their homes"
Cervol Hotel room tour that is apparently 4 stars for 25 euros a night! No heater or A/C controls and loud traffic what seems like the only road in town and not very central if you can believe that in this 50,000 people town.
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| Great views |
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| Lots of space |
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| Actually a hamburger in a hot dog bun |
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These guys look like trouble
Must be moto riders! Yep. |
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| Belgium Sean Connery |
Other Things
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| OMG - 77 Honda Civic! |
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| Safety First |
1 comment:
Awesome pictures of the mountains. Call me when you get back to Calgary we will go for beers & wings, Safe travels
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