Great motorcycle roads of Spain

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Geo: 42.3588, 1.46144

After getting the bike loaded, we bid our host adieu, jump-started the bike and headed back north to Formigal to see a mechanic that Mariano recommended. This was an interesting situation: the mechanic, Manola, spoke no English, and we could not communicate much, other than to confirm that we were the folks sent by Mariano. He pulled the battery, said it was bad, with a customer translating for us, and said he would check on the availability of a new battery. After we determined that it would be a least a day to get a replacement, we told him we couldn't wait. He told us to go have some coffee at a place nearby while he put the battery on a heavy-duty charger.
An hour later, the battery was back on the bike. We crossed our fingers and hit the starter. It fired right up! So, we headed down the road to our next stop, six hours away in La Seu d'Urgell.
The ride there took us east and south across the Spanish Pyrenees on route N-260. This 185km stretch offers some of the best motorcycle riding in the country. Terrain and roadways vary greatly, from narrow stretches with no center lines and sharp switchbacks, to four-lane highways with no speed limits and nice "sweepers."
We took the scenic route, heading south for a while to Tremp, then turning north again to Conca Della, There we picked up L-511 for 30 miles of twisties and switchbacks, winding through the mountains to Coll de Boixols summit, with a spectacular view of snow-capped peaks. This road is another amazing motorcycle road, like riding the "Tail of the Dragon" three times, end to end, through the mountains, with no traffic (we only saw three cars along the way). From there we wound our way down to Coll De Nargo, then into La Seu D'Urgell for our overnight stay.
La Seu D'Urgell is a small city with a thriving downtown, a historic "old town," and a tree-lined boulevard with lots of stores and outdoor cafes. After a short walk around the area, we settled for one of the sidewalk cafes and had some sparkling wine, tapas, and a light meal. It had been a long, tiring ride and stressful day worrying about whether the bike would start when we stopped for gas. But we had made it this far okay, and hoped our luck held when we fired up the bike in the morning.

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Photos

Along the N-260
N260

The road to Tremp
N260

Col de Boixols
Col de Boixols

Col
Col de Boixols

La Seu d'Urgell
Moon over La Seu d'Urgell

Comments

[Stephanie]

Just beautiful!! :-)