What's your tipple?

With many anticipated hot days in the saddle, it's a sure fire bet that Sanch and I will be partaking of the odd beer or three each evening.

In Portugal, I expect we'll down a few Sagres or Super Bock, whilst in Spain, where we shall be for 3/4 of the trip, the choice is somewhat larger, Cruzcampo, Mahou, Estrella Damm, San Miguel, etc.

Sanch's preferred tipple

Sanch won't be my only companion drinking though. Ginny, as I have recently discovered, whilst happy to sip at 95 RON unleaded, right pinky in the air style, has a real liking for (her not so secret vice), 5w40 BMW Advantec liquid gold, certainly compared to any other bike I've owned. I'm told, by a BMW mechanic, that I should expect Ginny to drink a litre, every 800 - 1000 miles. She does have six cylinders, so maybe I should expect her to like the lube but it takes some getting used to. Not only that but it now presents me with a slight issue, in so much as, I shall have to carry some oil with me AND almost certainly look to purchase more during the trip. I'm expecting us to cover about 4500 miles, so potentially, Ginny could slurp her way through 5 litres. It's all part and parcel of getting used to her I suppose. Although I've had her 14 months, I've not spent the same time with her, as I did my previous bikes. They were used for commuting as well as touring, consequently, I got to know them a lot quicker.

Ginny's Ruin

Ginny's had her 6k service and will be new booted before we go away, so she'll be ready to roll. When out in France with my bro', he asked if I had a puncture repair kit. I have never had one and touch wood, have never needed the use of one on tour and for many a year in any case, however, it did get me thinking. Sanch is happy to rely on his breakdown cover and whilst I have breakdown cover for Ginny, I figured it may be better to repair a puncture myself, than sit by the side of a mountain pass for hours, waiting for Pepe the repair man. So, I've bought myself a small repair kit online. Hopefully, when it arrives, it will fit under the seat on Ginny, otherwise it'll be something else I have to squeeze into my topbox.

Talking of squeezing things into luggage, I am still tinkering with my packing, swapping some bits of clothing, for lighter items, not necessarily for weight saving but because they roll up smaller. Who knows, I might have to find room amongst my pants for some oil!

That's all for now.

I can almost smell the sea now

3 weeks today Grizzly and I will be on board the Cap Finistère, bound for Bilbao. It's a long overnight trip and all being well, we shall arrive in Bilbao 24 hours later, around 12:45.

Brittany Ferries' Cap Finistère

My prep has already started. As my luggage was already out this weekend, from the Le Mans trip, I have taken the opportunity to try and pack everything in, that I intend to take, mainly to gauge what I can actually take, for a 30 day trip. Clearly I shan't be taking 30 sets of everything, so this dry run has given me a good insight into what I can and can't fit in the panniers. We will have a couple of 2 nighters along the way, so there may well be some opportunity to wash some things along the way. On our 2014 tour, I wore 2 sports t-shirts for riding and swapped them each day. They are quick dry material, so I was able to wash them in the evening. I'm hoping that the drying process will be made a bit easier this time, with us being in Portugal/Spain, rather than rainy Germany, as we were then, so the opportunity is there (hopefully) to wash other bits and pieces and have them dry in baking summer temperatures!

Before we set off, we are meeting with our Route 66 chums Simon & Viv. I had hoped it would be a reunion of the entire crew, Dudley excepted but being midweek, David & Francoise can't make it down and Biggsy, well he's as reliable as a Rolex watch bought in Bodrum market! Maybe in 2020, the 10th anniversary, we can get together.

Nothing else to say at this juncture.

Adios