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SOUTH & WEST POINTS OF EUROPE - 2014

European peninsula can be delimited at North, South and West. After having brought my old V7 Special to Nordkapp in year 2010, I desire to touch the South and West points of Europe. Year 2014, after the experiences of Banbury Run & Iseran with flat tanks, is over with a nice trip of the “Twin Sisters” to the remaining land-ends of our continent.

Journey begins with a ferry transit from Genova to Barcelona; ferry is mainly used by north-african prolific families and passengers directed to Tangeri, next destination after ours in Barcelona. Granada is the first significant stop, reached after a transit in a meaningless landscape, enriched only in its final part, by crossing the Sierra Nevada. Our real first interesting stop is at Europe Point in Gibraltar.  Not too far of one of the two Pillars of Hercules, we reach Punta de Tarifa, that is the real most southern point of the European peninsula. We are happy to be in the first destination of out journey, visible watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, although the site is not properly publicized. Our trip, now winds northbound through Andalusia. We have a very nice stop in Seville before entering Portugal toward its capital. Few kilometers form Lisbon, Europe ends in Cabo de Roca, nice and well known Point, that stretches out in the Atlantic Ocean.

Beyond the positive achievement of our two motorcyclist objectives, a special mention also to other two gastronomic objectives in Andalusia: wonderful and giant “mariscos” and  the very prestigious baby ells, sadly disappeared from Italian restaurants. Left Lisbon behind, in the Spanish town of Don Benito, Giorgio’s V7 experiences a serious failure, that cannot be solved in Spain. Giorgio comes back to Italy by plane and I, in company only of my faithful bike, ride about 2.000 kilometers in a day and half to get his home.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS

Whether conditions came out to be very favorable, a part few drops of rain.

Traveling in Spain is impressive positive: many highways with large and flat lanes, very few ongoing works, very effective sign system, everything very clean. A mark, compering  the Sapinsh highways and the Italian motorways: 5 to 1.

Failure to the Giorgio bike: breaking of the sprocket of the rocker arm connected to the engine main shaft.

Malfunction to Sirio bike: no sparks ignition, easily solved changing the distributor cap and rotor.

i miei viaggi
my trips