Spanish Flyers
Spanish Flyers
UP FRONT
David Edwards
HOW’S THIS SOUND FOR A SUMMER vacation? A week of hard, fast riding in the Pyrenees followed by two days spectating at the Grand Prix of Catalunya, just outside Barcelona, watching whizkid Valentino Rossi whip up on the big boys of world roadracing.
You should have been there. Actually, 30 of you were, for the ninth-annual Cycle World GP Euro-Tour, hosted by our friends at Edelweiss Bike Travel. About half the tour members were repeat customers, so these things are really starting to feel like high school reunionsexcept instead of catching up on careers, kids and ex-wives, we chat about All Things Motorcycle, usually over adult beverages in the hotel bar after a good 400 klicks in the saddle.
First morning, walking to our bikes, I meet a new face, Charlie Fertitta from New York state. This is his first tour and he’s got questions.
“What bike are you riding?” he wants to know.
“An 1150GS BMW, that’s my favorite for these flogs,” I tell him.
“Really, that big adventure-tourer?”
“Yep, nice wide bars for leverage in the hairpins, long-travel suspension for bumpy roads, anti-lock brakes for gravel and the wet, easy-to-modulate power, comfy sightseeing ergos, saddlebags for raingear, water bottles, flat fix, extra gloves, etc. Pretty much the perfect mountain bike.”
I sense Charlie mulling all this over. It did sort of sound more like a diabolical two-wheeled obstacle course than a sport-tour.
“So, what are you riding?” I ask brightly.
Slight pause. “Well, gee, a Suzuki GSX-R1000.”
“Umm, that wouldn’t be my first choice...”
It did not help that the skies over Barcelona were clouding up and our a.m. ride had us on the seaside roads of Spain’s touristy Costa Brava, no doubt liberally doused with diesel spillage from rattletrap cars and delivery trucks.
And, in fact, the greasy wet roads did catch Charlie out, as he lost the Gixxer’s front end in a simple low-side, no real damage done (except to his insurance deposit). Fortunately, we had sunbathed backroads for the rest of the trip, and Charlie warmed right up to the big GSX-R, entertaining the rest of us with the strongest corner exits this side of Rossi’s NSR500.
Costa Brava also tripped up Bud Hoelscher (despite his being on an 1150GS), who spun out in a particularly slippy downhill off-camber-right in front of me, no less! Impressively, even as the Beemer pivoted 180 degrees on its cylinder head, sparks flying, Bud was up on his feet and running after the bike. More impressive, Bud is 62 years old. A spry 62.
That also describes Randy Clark from New Hampshire, who runs a Honda VFR800 and ST 1100 at home, keeps a race-prepped Kawasaki EX500 for the occasional track day and volunteers as a cornerworker at racetracks all along the East Coast. Or how about 74-year-old Perry Colwell, retired from AT&T, who fills his time with Smithsonian Institution educational treks and motorcycle tours of Europe. Senior citizenship is looking better all the time.
The energetic Bud Hoelscher was with us at the suggestion of my friend Peter Wylie, also 62, world’s quickest dentist, tour veteran and unofficial leader of the “Seattle Gang.” Besides Pete and Bud, there was Terry Afdem, Peter Adachi and Darryl Havens, who between them know all the good roads in the Pacific Northwest corner by corner, and who keep sharp by attending as many track days as possible. These guys are good, riding at an 8/ioths all-day pace that’s fun to be part of. Adachi, aboard a little F650 Single, kept up (or led) by wiring the throttle wide open and leaving it there for the duration.
One day, tour guide JuergenWeiss led Wylie & Co. plus a few of us on a 500kilometer blitz of the Spanish-French border, later subtitled, “The Day of 1000 Switchbacks.” It was a glorious romp, an easy Top 10er in my bulging book of memorable rides. Speeds were, shall we say.. .er, brisk.
“I ride like this on a regular Edelweiss tour and I’d be waiting 10 minutes at every turn,” Juergen said, maybe exaggerating just a bit to flatter the clients, “but with you guys, every time I look in my mirrors I see eight headlights on top of me! I’ve already put in my request to guide next year’s CW tour.”
Our backdrop for these high-speed shenanigans, the Pyrenees mountains, may just be the Last Best Sport-Touring Spot in the world. Think Alps without the tour busses. Unlike the south of Spain, which reminds me of Southern California-same topography, same weather, same language, even-northern Spain is greener, cooler, less arid. Ancient castles, quaint hill cities and numerous monasteries dot the landscape, but much is modern about the region, too. Seems there wasn’t too much in the way of development during Generalisimo Franco’s oppressive rule. In the past 30 years of democracy, roads have been repaved, hotels built, plumbing fixed.
Wendell Phillips, majordomo at aftermarket powerhouse Lockhart Phillips and no mean endurance racer in his time, still knows how to ride the wheels right off a bike. Quite literally, it turns out, as mid-week his RUOOS BMW sat on blocks outside the walled city of Sos del Rey Católico, awaiting a new set of llantas.
A first-time GP Euro-Tourer, Wendell was bowled over by our traveling road show. On several successive rides, he could be heard to say, “I’m telling ya, today is the day. Yesterday was awesome, but today is the day...”
And how did you spend your summer vacation?
For information on next year’s Cycle World GP Tours-we may do as many as three to celebrate our 10th anniversary on the road-phone Edelweiss North America at 800/582-2263.
