So I thought I would just give a quick summary of a trip we, me and Mrs Visor, took in Oct as per the title. I’m not a man of many words so it will mostly be a photo dump but please bear with me. It started off a few weeks earlier when Mrs Visor said that we were both off work at the same time so why don’t we take a trip to Jerez, she had found a route in Ride magazine which took 4 days each way. We checked ferries and Jerez and there were tickets available for both so it was on. The plan was to get the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao, because the dates worked better than Santander, then 4 days riding through Spain and Portugal staying off motorways, 3 days in Jerez and 4 days back the same way. Cheap hotels and rooms for the journey and a cheap apartment with secure underground parking found in Jerez old town were all sourced and booked and the plan was complete. The trip to Portsmouth was uneventful other than some VERY muddy roads through Herefordshire and we were loaded on to the ferry for a 36 hour crossing. We unloaded at about 0800 from Bilbao after the calmest crossing I have ever seen and I’ve been on hundreds of boat trips, it was literally flat calm all the way. I had bought an Ultimateaddons case and used an old phone as the satnav by hot spotting my phone to it and using Calimoto to navigate after downloading the GPX files. These were the daily routes.
As you can see it consisted mostly of mountain routes and worked really well. There were a few teething problems with Calimoto but once I’d got my head round it, it worked really well. My big takeaway is that default setting is “twisty route” the problem with this is it really can take you down some meandering lanes and will sometimes take you off a nice road to go through a small village with cobbled roads to then put you back on the nice road just because it’s slightly twistier. Better to opt for the “non motorway” setting which still gives great roads but is a somewhat quicker option giving more time to explore each destination. Anyway, day one we had almost reached our destination when the heavens opened with an hour to go and we got drenched (thought it was a quick shower so didn’t stop to waterproof up, then was too wet to bother). The hostel didn’t have drying facilities so day 2 was spend in damp clothes but from then on the weather was glorious. On day 2 we ventured into Portugal which was a bit surreal as there was no border control so officially we were never there Now for the photo dump.
Apologies but these are just photos from the entire trip as I can’t remember what was when. Our return trip was the reciprocal. We arrived in Jerez on Friday so missed day one of practice but got Saturday and Sunday, our view from the grandstand wasn’t bad we were surprised at how few stands there were, particularly food stands but apart from that a great race weekend was had. As I said the return trip was just the reciprocal but great to see from the other direction. The ferry on the way back was anything but calm as we went through the Bay of Biscay, and the cafe lost most of their stock as they weren’t expecting it but other than that was ok. We had a cabin each way which I would highly recommend and an uneventful trip home. All told we did 2300 miles on some great twisty roads, had a fantastic 2 weeks and needed 3 new tyres on our return (Mrs Visor had just changed her rear tyre before we left as it would never have done the trip)
Smashing trip! How did @Mrs Visor cope on the Striple? Not the comfiest of bikes for touring. Glad you did the gentlemanly thing and carried the luggage
She actually finds the seat quite comfortable anyway but just prior to our trip she had had the seat recovered and put some extra padding it there so had no problems with it at all and yes I carried everything luckily we travel light so could fit it all in the panniers it was done by this guy if you have Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556445292842 Hoods & Stitches, based in Newport, S. Wales, he gives discounts to veterans as well if it applies
@Dawsy it was great for all of the twisty mountain roads and hairpins.....we didn't do too much in the way of straight lines and motorways so all good! The re-covered seat with an extra layer of foam was worth it, for sure!!
@Helmut Visor and @Mrs Visor, as @Dawsy said, great to have you BOTH back on the forum. I know you’ve been here pretty regularly,Helmut, but you’ve been sorely missed, Mrs V! What an absolutely terrific trip that looked to be. It sounds like you had a fantastic time and that it was quite the adventure. Thanks for sharing so many great photos. Mrs V, love that seat on your Speed Triple, too.
Thanks Sandy, sometimes I just need less internet!! I have missed you too though. I am really impressed with the job Neil did on the seat.
I'm with you, Mrs V. I'm really feeling like I need less internet these days. I've been on the forum--and the internet in general--less and less these days. But it is nice to reconnect! Yep, that's a standout seat.
It really is, I often think of you and wonder how you're doing, but it's not the same as actually asking!!!
Thank you for sharing your impressions and great photos with us!!! Now I am sitting with "long teeth" in front of your report to show up there with my wife too. Maybe 2026, because 2025 is stuffed with some great touring.to other spots in Europe and abroad.
