WHAT an Incredible day that was!

AFTER that, ahem... delay in the morning, things went rather well I'd say. The weather was perfect for riding in light gear, no need for the fleece nor the 'lectric vest.

FROM Oliana I rode West then North, then West again. Zaragoza, Soria, Burgos, Leon.

NEARLY 1000kms later I was passing thru Ponferrada. Just a few kilometers short of

A Rua, and after nearly 15000 kms of riding from Hungary, to Berlin, to Athens to Espana, except for two obscure instances in Albania, (that were just plain weird. I was pulled over by legal looking, uniformed Police driving decrepit run down civvie cars!) I had not had so much as a speeding ticket.

NOW, I found myself along with a dozen or so motorcyclists, pulled over to the side of the road at a Police checkpoint. The officer approached me and requested my papers, and then proceeded to explain that I was being required to have a breathalizer test administered. Now, this is the very first time in my life I have been requested to do so, and I am certainly not familiar with the Law in Spain, but looking around me, I saw riders huffing and puffing! I opened the package, filled my lungs, and Blew...! Zero, nada, goosegg! Have I mentioned that Europe has no tolerance for drinking drivers and obviously, riders.

AS I'm putting my docs away safely (chuckle) in my jacket pocket, I realize how extremely tired I am.

I had no idea at this point I had covered this much ground, but it had been just such a perfect day. Ahem... well apart from the passport issue!

RIDING Spain is such a favorite. Lots of bikes, friendly people, Great scenery. Superb pavement, not a single toll road all day...

SINCE my first trip there (read CDN Biker December 2002 issue) when Lisa and I had gone over to visit with Holly while she was attending University in Valencia, I have longed to return. On that trip my plans had been to ride an old vintage Spanish Bultaco or Montesa, only to find that those bikes were in museums or private collections... We settled for a couple of Kymcos in 125cc displacement, a Harleyesque little Custom and a scooter. The lack of velocity only meant we could explore the tiniest villages. Would have been nice though to have a little more power.

TODAY, I had more power in my Diversion 600 and it had carried me 966 kilometers on the day!

A Rua proved to be a very good choice. A room right in town at the Hotel Espada for 24Euros with breakfast, a cafe/bar only a few blocks away with a coin operated computer, and, very hot weather. Shorts and T shirt hot weather.

SIPPING a cold Cuna (a small draft beer) at the 4 Camiones, I had an opportunity to catch up on emails from home. One Euro for one hour.

THE best deal I found in all of Europe.

SPAIN is still relatively inexpensive, at least when compared to central Europe. Gasoline averaged 1.05-1.10E per liter, accomodations about 60% of France or Italy, food was very cheap and good and... very friendly, helpful, joyful people.

IN my wanderings around the central part of the city, I found (and fed) some very hungry little gatitos, had more than a few espressos, did my laundry and soaked up the atmosphere of North West Spain.

HAVE I mentioned at all how much

I LOVE ESPANA!

TOOK a couple of days off to veg, catch up on journal, take some pics and do a little body maintenance.

AFTER finishing my last Travis McGee, I packed my gear, added the first oil into Piroska's crankcase since beggining the ride, and packed her up for the dash thru Portugal to the Atlantic coast.

I was less than 4 hours away now...