Hell on wheels

This could have been titled several things, WTF?, Marquez to Lampkin, Who needs a GS. What I chose is probably most appropriate though, just ask Sanch.

Pinhao to Tua by the shortest route indicated unpaved road. No problemo, as we've already discovered, that means a village has cobbles and we can do cobbles.

Sure enough we got to a village with cobbles. As I 'went straight on'  I found myself cresting onto a steep downhill uneven cobbled hill, barely more than a path. I was past the point of no return but just had time to glance in my mirror and see Sanch pull to the side. He was also past the point but just hadn't reslised yet!

I carried on for about 50 metres and waited.  Eventually, Sanch appeared bouncing over the cobbles.

What came next was simply 7 miles of cobbled hell. This was hardly a road, more a track through the vines, with the tighest steepest  switchbacks you will ever encounter. Add too that rock/dirt strewn sections with a huge drop on one side, with only vines to stop Ginny and I ending up in the river about 500 feet below and you have a pretty good picture of this torturous last few miles to the hotel. Oh, yes, we took a wrong turn too, so had to turn around.

We made it through though, both unscathed, if a little frazzled by the experience.  What impressed us most though (besides us not having to change underwear), was that two fully loaded bikes, a tourer and a cruiser had made it through something more suited to an adventure bike. I'd quite like to see some of these GS posers take that on, let alone on a 350+kg tourer.