We have had the routes sorted out for quite a while and the outward journey will be taking the westerly "N10" route nearly as far as Bayonne before cutting inland.
The first stop will be at the Kyriad Hotel in Chambray-les-Tours to the south of the main city of Tours. Claire and I stayed nearby many years ago at a Campanile Hotel. I don't remember ever staying in a Kyriad before but they are part of a larger chain.
According to the route planning software it should take us the best part of seven hours to complete a non-toll journey of over 310 miles.
Neill has planned the outward journey and we will follow a route he took a few years back when he did the trip solo.
There is a fuel stop around halfway where we can have lunch at a McDonalds. I don't tend to use them when away, and rarely at home, but they are good for free wifi and of course a McPee.
Day two is also a long day in the saddle. The planner shows it as 316 miles and another 7 hours in the saddle. The second overnight is still in France at another Kyriad in Orthez.
I am hoping there ae some good cheap restaurants on both nights. As I have said I am not a great fan of dinner at McD! But we need to try and keep costs down.
But before all that I need to make sure that Vera is up to the trip. She needs a good clean and the chain adjusted and cleaned. Careful maintenance in the year since I bought the bike means that I have not had to adjust the chain myself. It was done when the new tyres were fitted.
On that front there should be plenty of life left in them and they may need replacing after I get back. The same goes for a service. I have done a little over 4000 miles in the last year and the interval is 7500. The trip to Spain will be about 2000 miles return.
This time I will take less with me as well. On the Czech trip many of the t-shirts and a pair of jeans had a round trip of 2000 miles without being worn or even removed from the bag!
For a number of years I have been using the Fuelly app and its desktop version to track the mileage and miles-per-gallon I get from the vehicles I own.
It's easy to use and came about when I switched from an iPhone to Android and the app I was using on iOS wasn't available on the Android platform.
I currently keep a log on the three vehicles that we own as a couple, the Juke has replaced the Insignia, Vera Strom has replaced the Rocket III, and I added the Kettle "Suzi Triplo" just to see how much fuel I use!
It all helps when planning a trip. How? It gives me a pretty accurate idea of how far I can go on a tank of fuel.
I am one of those guys that likes to have a full tank when I set off on a ride/trip. Belt and braces I guess. My metaphorical pants aren't going to fall down!
When I am away on a longer trip this applies too. I'd rather fill the tank, even if I have only done 50 miles on the current one before I leave the overnight stop. If that means tanking up before the hotel/B&B, then that's what I will do.
So for this trip that's my thinking. Fuel stops also mean giving the butt a rest, a change for a pee and a coffee/lunch!
Vera's current Fuelly dashboard. It's a public post so anyone can view the stats.
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..............
