'Round the World with an Italian Supermodel

Phl said:

the only things you will regret in life when your heart is in its last beats:
the things you haven't done!

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Or haven't done multiple times

Happy Birthday Dennis

Thank you all. Seriously. Ok, onward! Back to Spain.



And to my second - or maybe first - favorite road in the world:




(So good it gets two near-identical shots.)



I think I rode up and down it four or five times. Even though it's short, it was breathtaking enough to not even speed.



Here's where it is, just in case anyone's in the neighborhood:



There's a hidden castle at the base of the mountain. I say 'hidden' because, even though it's in plain view (sort of), the entrance is nowhere to be found.







I spent way more time in Asturius than I expected to. I still had to get back and grab my gear and ride to Madrid. But the roads....the roads....the scenery....I didn't want to leave and it was one of the only times I fell prey to the internal 'I must get going' neurosis that I so often ignore. Regret that, because there's so much I more I didn't see. But that's Europe, really. You can be there for months, as I have, and you don't even crack the surface.

Oh yeah....and if there's any other consolation, those roads above were all 1st and 2nd gear corners....once I got on the freeway it was triple digit sweepers while heading towards Madrid--and when I say triple digit I don't mean kilometers. The roads were near empty. On average, I'd pass a car every 5 miles (or every 1 minute 49.09 seconds). I'll let you math wizards figure that out. It was as memorable and thrilling for the local denizens as it was for me. And unlike places in the US where those kind of speeds are achieved only in a straight line, in Spain (at least on these roads), you're never on the center of the tire.

Boogers boogers boogers:


Oh yes. It was reassuring that gas stations were placed strategically, as I wasn't exactly riding with high mpg in mind.



Next up:

163 mph.

We have a friend who frequents Spain he raves abt the amazing roads and scenery. Looks like you had a blast!
I notice you have rear foot rests on, does that mean you carry the rear seat with you?

It's always nice to see a rear tyre with a smile on it.

The Duchess of Desmo said:

We have a friend who frequents Spain he raves abt the amazing roads and scenery. Looks like you had a blast!
I notice you have rear foot rests on, does that mean you carry the rear seat with you?

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I've got the passenger footrests just in case a damsel in distress needs a ride. The plastic seat is comfortable enough for short rides and uncomfortable enough to make 'em not want to do it regularly.

Haha, good plan!

Loving that tire!

Mr. NoGoodID, I couldn't help but think of how the roads in N. Spain are perfect for your style of riding.

So unlike Ducati Paris, who did everything they could to ensure I wouldn't bring my bike in for service, Ducati Madrid welcomed me with open arms. I'd sent an email in advance of arriving. Unfortunately these guys are BUSY.



Having not seen many bikes on the road (and almost no Ducatis), I was kind of expecting their service dept. to be rather empty. Anything but.



But I none-the-less rode in and within seconds of my bike being turned off had two guys working on it.





Their service manager, Jose Luis, was a real pleasure to work with. Friendly, cheerful, helpful (he even went way out of his way to get me tires, which I'd failed to mention I needed prior to arriving) and just an all around cool dude I wished I could have had a beer with. The polar opposite of the previous service manager I dealt with in France.





They even had prepared a small care package for me, which included a helmet cover and a Ducati Madrid T-shirt. :freaky

Josito, the owner of Ducati Madrid, invited me to come down to the showroom and offered to show me around. No way I was turning the offer down.

Whenever I visit a Ducati showroom, it's a mixture of excitement and depression. Allow me to explain.



I've never been to a strip club, but I'll use the analogy anyways....the sights are intoxicating, arousing a partial side of your mind that--even though you know is there--always surprises you every time it awakens. You feel good, as if that part of your brain that's aroused supercharges your imagination and fuels feelings of invincibility. As you get closer to the bodies (bikes), they lean towards you as if beckoning for just a touch....sometimes you can even do more than that, but unless you came in with a thick wallet ready to be emptied, you eventually walk out with your hands in your pockets, slightly depressed now knowing there's a multitude of pleasures that are just out of your reach. Then you go home and scour Craigslist for something used that won't cost you as much.

I'll admit, I'm guilty. Even though I have the supermodel in my garage, I can't help but want more. Unlike women, bikes don't mind at all if you bring another home. But like most women, they just won't allow you to ride two at a time.


(I'd extend the already extended metaphor a little bit more with an anatomical reference, but I'll let the above picture speak for itself.)

After all the talk of sex and Ducati--hell, man. Do yourself a favore and visit a Ducati showroom if you've never been. Tell them AntiHero sent you to check out the porn. Oh yes--and unlike strip clubs, you get to test-ride any one of the gorgeous models for free. Totally different than your local Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha dealer that has nice, but comparatively ugly 'models' that, ironically enough, you can't test ride at all. (And if you try, the police are going to show up.)

Josito, the man!


Rachel--her smile says it all. (Before y'all get any ideas, she's married to Josito.)







We went out on a ride and they took me to a cool motor bar. Can't recall the name of it. I took a few pics of the outside, but I seem to have lost a series of photos. Grrrr. The inside was super cool, though:









I think I mentioned that the Spanish were the most passionate-about-bikes nationality I'd run across. This bar and the people above was yet more proof of it. Can't imagine the energy when MotoGP is on!

awesome sauce!

As a non regular user of the forum I've only just happened upon this thread, and I'm loving it!! Fair play to you AntiHero!! Not jealous, just disappointed in my own lack of balls to go and do something similar!! Ride safe )

Rachel looks like she is about to give you a five finger death punch . What do you mean you have never been to a strip club ?
I saw some a live sex show in Barcelona it was fascinating and funny . I saw it by mistake .
Go back to Barcelona .

Is he Josito, or Capirossi

Hate to disappoint, but that's it for Madrid. I was only there for a few days, mostly without a bike. But both the video and the pics I took up until the last day have vanished. I suppose it's a good thing there aren't more of them....

But still, GRRRR.

Josito and his wife actually rode me back to my hotel the final day. I'd packed everything up in advance, so I actually ended up back out on the street before they'd even ridden away. Very much wished I could have spent a little more time with them. Two truly incredible, interesting, warm and genuine people who share the same love of bikes and life I do.

My visa, unfortunately, was days away from running out, though, so I had no time to spare. My 'plans' of visiting Portugal and Morocco evaporated, but I had two choices: get stuck in Morocco for 3 months or head to the UK for 3 months. I chose the latter, but nearly as soon as I headed north I began regretting the decision. DAMN SCHENGEN. I guess most of the EU countries like Spain, Italy and Greece are doing so well financially that they simply don't need any additional revenue from visitors.

Castle of Torija in Castile-La Mancha. Built by the Knights Templar in the 11th century. Yet another incredible sight in Spain that I had all to myself. If it had it been in Italy or France, would have been mobbed by tourists. Spain rules.



And these things, "Osborne Bulls":



Loved them, but had no clue what the hell they were. I struck up a conversation with a hippie who looked far happier to be stranded than absolutely ANYONE (including me). By this time I'd already lost my sense of smell, which would have guaranteed I win the prize for the 'person who spoke with her longer than anyone in the past 7 days', had there actually been a prize for it. I gave her a few Euros for gas (yes, she had a car, which was the only thing dirtier than her for miles around). Anyhow, she explained that the bulls were originally advertisements for sherry. In the 90s, Spain banned road-side advertising (and so should we in the states). The bulls, which had been around for years, were so loved by the locals that they were painted black (to remove the actual adversiting portion) and, well, there you have it. I have to say that I don't like being watched anymore than anyone else does, but I found the menacing bulls, scattered across the horizon, rising up from the arid landscape into the cerulean sky. They were kind of comforting, in an oppressive, optically-tyrranical sort of way.



Made it to another small town. Had nothing to do, no need to be there, but it was there, so I stopped.



My first bull-fighting ring!:



And then: Castle of Molina de Aragón. As you can see from the way I just stopped in the middle of the street, I nearly had the city to myself.

Don't worry about the visa. Just tell police you are not a tourist, actually bringing money to EU, but instead a refugee, illegally landed (together with other 30 ex convicts and 22 drug lords) with a boat on some remote Mediterranean coast, and they will feed you, and give you free medical assistance and money!

I wish it was that simple, HotIce!

Ok, Mick Doohan's NSR500, the 3rd 500cc GP-Era 'Tribute' painting in the series is finished and up for grabs HERE.