Fuel Stops - Homeward Route

Another route filled out with prospective fuel stops.  This is liable to change and  have have shared it with my brother. 

I suggested that we go down to Spain his way and come back mine. 

This is the bare bones route, overnight hotels and the fuel stops.  

There's plenty of time to see about some stops on the way to break up the journey and take a lunch or tourist type break!

It is a holiday/vacation not simply a rubber and fuel burning exercise!

The Routes - So Far

In blog-time it's not that long since I made the first post. I have been working on this in reality for the best part of two weeks though!

So where are we at the moment?

Day 1 - Shuttle or Ferry to Calais. Overnight - Tours Première Classe

Day 2 - Tours to Bayonne. Overnight - Bayonne Première Classe

Day 3 - Bayonne to Morella. Overnight - Morella El Cid

Day 4 - Morella to Motorland Aragón to Morella. Overnight Morella El Cid

Day 5 - Plan A - Morella to Motorland Aragón to Morella. Overnight Morella El Cid

           - Plan B - Morella to Motorland Aragón to Lleida. Overnight TBC

Day 6 - Lleida to Cahors. Overnight Cahors Campanile

Day 7 - Cahors to Chartres. Overnight Chartres Hôtel Inn Design Resto Novo

Day 8 - Chartres to Shuttle or Ferry - Overnight Home.

There are a few ends to tie up but this looks like this could be the final plan.

If the weather is still nice and warm, hot even, I might get to wear my bandana again!  Without anyone laughing!

It's rude to laugh!

Inward Route and Hotels - Plan B

Plan B already!

Working with Google Maps and MyRouteApp in different windows I can see that with the road conditions crossing the Pyrenees, either by the suggested (shortest?) route and my alternative route via Andorra are going to be over ambitious.

So Andorra is definitely dropped.

Google Maps gives three options from Morella. Via the Bielsa Tunnel, the Somport Tunnel and via the N-232 to Pont de Reu and the border there.

I am moving more towards a re-vamp of the plan as follows.

Lleida is about 110 miles from the El Cid and about 75 miles from Motorland Aragón, Packing up my stuff at the hotel on the morning of race day and after the racing finishes mid-afternoon go from there to a hotel in Lleida. I've had a look and there quite a few at a very reasonable price!

This would cut down the mileage on Monday by that 110 from the El Cid. From Lleida to the currently planned stop at Cahors is around 280 miles and six hours on the road. It takes the N-230 to the border which is a bridge over the River Garonne at Pont de Reu (3)

It's a further 150 miles to the Campanile already booked in Cahors. From there it is pretty much as already planned up the N20 as far as Orleans before diverting off to Chartres.

The N20 and A20 are toll free for all but a short distance near Orleans so we can make good time on the dual carriageway sections.

I haven't changed any bookings as yet. You never know what changes are still to come.

Hotel near Motorland Aragón

As you can imagine with a Covid restricted crowd as big as 20000 in 2021 and a circuit basically built in the middle of nowhere, there is pressure on all accommodation and on hotels! In non COVID years the crowd is even bigger.

Last weekend they estimated that there were 75000 at Valencia for the final GP of the year and to see Valentino Rossi's last GP.

If you like to camp then that's okay with me. See you another time. I've been a hotel or b&b only man for about 22 years.

Having camped at GP events before I know first-hand there's not a lot of sleep to be had!

Looking on booking.com wasn't that good either. I use them as they offer easy accessible information on hotels and also you can book with "free cancellation" and most often no prepayment.

Many of the hotels come up as full or sold out.  Gradually you get further and further from Alcañiz and the circuit itself that is to the north-west of the town.  At the same time, the hotels that are coming up are eye wateringly expensive. Even the Parador is fully booked!

So as I worked my way in an ever expanding circle,  I finally arrived in Morella. The El Cid Hotel.  It's £145 for three nights for a twin room with private facilities so fits in with my £50 a day target. It has parking on site.  There is also a restaurant and it's in a scenic bit of northern Valencia province.

Hotel El Cid

I have been to Morella before back in 2008 as we drove inland from Marina D'Or where we went for Claire's birthday week.  

Morella

A reminder of Marina D'Or.  A completely manufactured resort town where they had ploughed over the orange groves and built hotels etc.

Morella though is about 43 miles to the circuit.  It's a "holding" hotel and I will check to see if others come online during the next six months or so. I have seen a few others nearer but they don't look too good and they don't have free cancellation should things go a little pear shaped...

Morella is on the main N-232 road that goes from the coast towards Zaragoza and right past the track as well as the hotel!

How to get there?

If we consider that this is a motorcycle trip, then there are a few options.

1. I can ride all the way there and back - Eurotunnel and/or short ferry
2. I can take the Brittany Ferry one way and ride the other way
3. I can send the bike on a truck and fly down to collect it possibly ride back

I have to admit the third option only appeared after I had read an article this afternoon where some guys packed their bikes up with a specialist transport company, then they flew and met the bikes and  as they were "professionals" they left the truck to bring the bikes back and the flew home.  Possibly not for me, but worth pricing up?

"But" I hear you say, riding is the point of a bike/motorcycle trip. And you would be right.

So I have been mostly looking at options 1 and 2.  

1. The return trip is in the environs of 1800 miles from the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais to Motorland. On top of that will be all the wrong turns and detours en-route to get to petrol and to hotels. On top of that there will be petrol getting to and from the circuit on practice/qualifying day and race day. Eurotunnel is 6 miles from my house.  So the petrol budget would need to be about £200.  I'd estimate two stops on the way down and two on the way back. A total of 7 nights in paid accommodation @ say £50 a night. plus food.
   
   
2. The Brittany ferry with a bike, rider and the cabin would be around £375 one way. Accommodation included. Depending on when it sails and arrives in Spain there may be an additional hotel needed on top of the three nights near the circuit. Bilbao is 275 miles to the circuit (£20 in petrol?)  Maybe a lot more to a hotel. The ride home another 900 miles so that's £100 in fuel. That could mean six nights in hotels at the same £50 a pop.

I'll look at option 3 another time. Looking at the above it does make the long ferry and ride one way look a lot more expensive.  But it does include a cruise!

It looks like there is a lot to be considered.

Bucket List

A trip in 2022 to the MotoGP at the Motorland Aragón circuit is a bucket list trip.  

It night not be on my wife's list of things for me to do in 2022 or any other year.

I have wanted to "do" a Spanish round for a few years. Until lately that has meant only Jerez or Catalunya.

It looks as though the Spanish organisers want to have as many Spanish rounds as possible.  Aragón is really the only one that would fit in with my other commitments in 2022.

As I said in the first post. Covid-19 is very real. It is still a threat to life as we know it.  Even those of us with THREE vaccinations! Yep, two plus the November 2021 booster.

So let the planning commence!

First Post - Aragón MotoGP 2022

A first post has to be the start of what's to come.

This blog is meant to be for a single motorcycle trip that is at the planning stages in November 2021.  There is a 50% chance that it might not happen and maybe another 50% that it will.

The bike to take the trip on will be Vera Strom, my 2018 Suzuki DL1000XT L8 V-Strom.

Circumstances change.

In November 2021 Covid-19 is still about. 

It is still hospitalising people all across the world.

It is still infecting people

People are still dying.

With all that in mind, this trip may just turn out to be a bit of fun working it out, and never take place.

Thank you for joining the circus..............