Mountain riding

After the pretty moist weather we have been experiencing lately (it did rain one day after all) we decided to go see the enduro trails, the rider had visited last time he was here. The path was located near Lorca and is actually a way through which the water runs down from the mountains when it rains heavily. The path was in excellent riding condition and we almost lost sense of time while the rider was cruising up and down the trails and mountains while the assistant walked along with the cameras. Unfortunately the only picture from the highest top is in the riders head, so next time we need to get the cameras up too. Anyway, you can get the idea of the surroundings in the video below.

Today we visited Torremendo track again. Because the rider was a bit tired due to 2 hours enduro yesterday, we took the training more lightly and choose a sunny detour home afterwards.

First we drove around tourist area of La Manga, which consists of a narrow, sandy spit of land, has beaches on both sides and a lot of 80's style hotels. Probably crowded during summertime. Then we continued towards Cartagena and drove trough the La Union area, where the landscape was very weird looking. The colour of hills varied from yellow and red to grey and there were lots of cute, ancient looking ruined factories along the road. The view was so odd that when we got back home, we needed to google what an earth had been going on in there. It turned out that the whole area is known of its mining business which has continued centuries, and also of the fact that because of the mining activity the whole area is now highly contaminated... Maybe it's not such a good idea to buy an old factory and turn it into a cool loft house after all.

The weather forecast has finally turned more positive, so we are planning a trip to Barcelona area during next week.

http://vimeo.com/19310302

Dunes of Marocco

Who turned the climate thermostat down? Good thing we have our winter jackets automatically with us, though wearing long underpants during a run were still a bit overacting. The rider has been thankful of his windstopper underwear, and judging by the looks of other pilots, whey would appreciate to have some too. During the past few days it has been a common look to see pilots riding with hoodies on top riding gears...

Despite of the weather we have continued our everyday life. Yesterday we visited totally three tracks; the first one near Mula was in such a bad shape that it was impossible to ride, so we continued to Cehegin, had a nice session there and on our way home had a short stop in Calasparra circuit. A group of German pilots was camping in latest one (with an adorable hippie van!) and they had just returned from Marocco, where they had been riding dunes. Considering the chilly early evening we were experiencing it sounded as a very attempting idea.

Today more Finnish pilots appeared to Totana track and the rider got a good training with Kawasaki on a circuit, which was grooved and watered world champion like.

P.S. They just mentioned in the news that tomorrow 30 provinces in Spain are in state of emergency either because of heavy rain, hard wind or extreme coldness, but fortunately Murcia was not among them.

Easy week

This week has passed somehow very fast despite of the fact that we haven't done anything special. We have enjoyed the facilities of our Alhama camp (electricity and washing machine for example.. life is a lot easier with those) and filled the days with motocross, jogging (the assistant also finally beated the flu), video editing, spanish tv and magazines. Very relaxing!

After some serious thinking the rider desided to invest some more in KTM and yesterday the moto got totally new shock absorbers. Afterwards we tested it in Totana track and now it seemed a lot more suitable for motocross also. Today it was time to join Kullas & co in Torremendo. The rider was a bit sceptical at first, as we had heard that the track was a bit supercross like with lots of small jumps. However as the condition of the track was excellent and the layout of the jumps well designed, it turned out to become a new favorite. The rider was so enthusiastic that he rode until he only barely could hold on the handlebar. You can see some videos of the day (amateur and pro edition) in the links below.

Spain is still experiencing extreme weather conditions. Now the mist and fog are gone, but instead the nights are awfully cold. It's slightly past midnight and the temperature is already below 0. If this keeps going our new gas bottle (propane this time... should be better to our moody fridge) will be empty before we have time to say "cat". Fortunately the forecasts anticipate more long time average like weather for next week. Maybe it will be time for Madrid trip then.

http://vimeo.com/19049545

http://vimeo.com/19042377

Almonte riding and a foggy way back home

As we woke up on Saturday morning it seemed the whole world had turned white. Luckily it was only morning mist and not snow. We spent almost the whole daylight time in Almonte track which was both fun to ride (sandy curves and impressive jumps) and nice to watch (lined with "ball trees" and covered with red sand). You can see the result of the days training in the link below. 

Our plan was to visit a track near Gádiz on Sunday, but as we got nearer on Saturday evening, it become clear that it would have been a really muddy experience. All the fields were soaking wet and in addition to that, the fog which had once again surrounded us on a highway was so thick you could only see few meters forward. With a quick look at the map we took the next intersection towards Malaga. How handy it is to have your home with you and be able to make changes to plans in seconds!

When we continued our trip on Sunday, we got a pretty good picture of Costa del Sol on our way. You have to admit that somehow the small villages outside tourist areas are a lot nicer than these crowded holiday destinations. Germans had decided to maintain homely feeling also in Spain as they had turned a Lidl parking lot to a caravan site. It was a funny sight with tens of caravans parked side to side in the middle of commercial blocks with all having satellite antennas pointed at the same direction. Maybe they were watching Marienhof..

Along the way we visited several tracks on Malaga area and desided to take a ride in Cartama before heading back towards Murcia. We tought we got rid of the fog when heading east, but it turned out the whiteness had conquered the whole peninsula; they even wondered it in evening news as it had caused several accidents and delayed flights. What a strange weather conditions we are experiencing this winter.

http://vimeo.com/18913609

Track hunting part 2 and some touristing afterwards

This time we had coordinates; actually two sets of them, but unfortunately the navigator didn't know any roads leading to neither one. Once again we were wondering how people got along before internet, because with the help of google map and street view, we were able to spot a suitable looking sideroad leading to the track. However, it was only sand covered, and considering the amount of puddles in it, we decided it was wiser to take a look with mountain bikes first. As a result we ended up parking the caravan along the bigger road, packing our things and heading to the track with only moto. It was definitely easier and more safe considering we wanted to continue our road trip later today.

The track would have been perfect with a little less rain during the recent weeks. Now the jumps were broken as the water had been streaming downwards on them and they were in huge need of repair. However, it was still a good soft start to rider recovering from the flu, as you can see in the video below.

After motocross session the clock was not that much, so the border of Portugal being only 50 km away, we decided to take a road trip to Faro. Somehow it seemed that the more west we drove the more summerish the view became. Comparing to the dryness of Murcia everything looked so "spring green" and brite that it was almost unreal. However buildings and roads were definitely in much worse shape than in Spain. Maybe it is true that Portugal is a bit further from the European standards...

As a finishing touch to our turist day we drowe to Playa de Castilla to see the sunset. The beach town was a bit deserted this time of the year, but the beach definitely had potential. White sand to both directions for as long as you could see. Oh, and along the way to the coast was a really weird village called El Rocio. With the sand covered roads and white houses it looked as it was a scenery from some western movie. Some photos along the way can be seen in the link below.

http://vimeo.com/18799408
http://picasaweb.google.com/tk2inc/TheTripJanuaryBeginning#

Through snowpeaks to Andalucia

On Tuesday morning we woke up with the phone ringing. The missing part to the fridge had finally arrived. With our fingers crossed we headed to the Cruz Caravanas. On our way we visited Totana track to say hi to Harri Kullas, who's also currently training in Murcia region. Have to admit that the lap times are faster when an internationally ranked pilot is riding around the circuit...

Afterwards it was time to visit the repair garage once again. We dared to be only slightly optimistic, but to our great relief the mechanic came back after a short while to tell us the fridge was working again. The best birthday present to the rider!

With the fridge working, the rider being well again (by the way, the assistant is having the flu this time, but that's not so crucial) and with the Alhama's ground burning under caravan tires it was time to hit the road again.

With quick look to the weather forecasts it was easy to decide that northern tours could wait a little longer, so our destination was going to be Andalucia. The views on the way were breath-taking. Our poor caravan was really token to its limits with the road going up and down, reaching 1400 meters on its highest. Around Granada the highest peaks had a snow coat. We decided to skip the skiing part though.

After travelling above the clouds in Baza, wondering the houses which were partly caves in hillside in Guadix, driving trough a olive tree fields in Osuna, queueing in traffic jam in Sevilla and laughing to tv antennas in Huelva (apparently every single household needs its own one, and the higher the better), we concluded, with the sun setting before us and the border of Portugal getting closer, that it was time to stop and have a good nights sleep.

Sickness under the sun

How did this happend? We successfully escaped northern influenza season, but now  the rider is suffering from terrible flu in here. This is not what we agreed of, but no can do. With some tea and sympathy covered with extra C-vitamin portions he'll hopefully get better soon.

At the meantime the assistant has been sightseeing surroundings, this time with bike (mental note: bring a camera, also when going just for a quick bike tour). It was interesting to discover that it is possible to ride 45 minutes uphill and then be back at the starting point in 15 minutes with help of downhill. Also the rider conquered some mountain paths before getting ill. If you are not afraid of hights, you can check the link below...

This morning we once again spent some hours in locat repair garage. This time it was Fiat service place and our aim was to get the yellow "check the engine" light to turn out. Unfortunately the first optimistic mechanic ("this only needs an update from the internet") was not able to make the light desappear after all. Apparently they would need more time to dive deeper into the problem (and there should not be the siesta time just starting), so we decided to go back some other day with better time.

We had agreed to visit Antonio's garage after siesta, but as it was still a bit early, we decided to take a tea break on a large and flat parking place of local shopping center. It turned out that they are very popular among the caravan owners. It was almost as we were on a camping site... While the rider was resting
the assistant also managed to take a quick sneak into a shopping center itself.

With Antonios help Kawasaki got more oil to it's front fork, which should make  compression damping more progressive. Solutions to softness of KTM's suspension are still under consideration. At least now one moto is ready when the rider recovers and gets back to the saddle.

http://vimeo.com/18600556

Chilling at Campo

Finnish summer arrived to Alhama yesterday and we were able to open the tanning season by the pool. However, more of similar days are needed before we stop looking like ghosts, and also the pool would need some cleaning before the reality would meet with the picture painted above... But it was a good start anyway.

The rider has started to gain speed and we decided it was time to test new ProCircuit exhaust and Kawasaki racing software to get the bike faster too. The program adjusts the timing and amount of fuel injected to motor and by altering settings you can modify the bike to meet the needs of different track surfaces as well as pilot's riding habits. Only our good intentions backfired as it turned out the suspension of the bike wasn't hard enough to match the new speed. Some more adjustments needs to be done as you can see in the picture beside. There is a bit of a same problem with the KTM, so we also wondered if it would be easier just to get the rider to lose some weight...

Anyway that doesn't seem very likely as in the evening we tested how the gas oven in the caravan works for home made pizza, and it turned out to suit the purpose very well. With whole kilo of pizza flours in our cuppoard we'll probably end up using it several times before the trip is over.

P.S. As it was expected considering our location country, there was no word of the missing part to the fridge. Mañana, mañana.

Nightmares and dreams

The fridge problem is starting to turn out to be bigger than expected. Yesterday we spent hours first in trying to locate one "official" repair garage (we'll definitely give the manufacturer some feedback about their recommendations) and then, when finally giving up with the first one and finding the second one, waiting nicely in the line until the shop was closed. Fortunately the rider's good manners and ability to speak spanish got us a quick look at the problem yesterday, and an invitation to come back today. Sadly that didn't fix the problem either.

After 3 hours of more or less efficient work, the mechanics told us that there was only one more part they could try to replace, but that they would have this particular item earliest on Friday. As a footnote you could say that we still had it better compared to some brittish couple, who had been waiting outside for 2 hours, and who now was sent away with nothing (apparently they didn't speak spanish). So, once again (it was the same yesterday) we were on our way home at the time all the grocery stores were closed. There has definitely been some complications in our food care during present days! Fact that needs to be fixed immediately.

Despite of the bad luck with the fridge, other parts of the past few days have been nice and sunny. Today was time for Cehegin, the roller coaster like circuit the rider has been dreaming about the whole year during his gym sessions in cold home country. Finally the dream realized again and taking a ride along the ups and downs felt as good as remembered. The video transmiting some of the euphoria can be found in the link below. The funny thing was, that the track was totally occupied by Finns today. With seeing the nice foreign landscape but still hearing only finnish it was like attending a traditional package tour. Clearly more then few pilots have escaped the ice age with their families, but who could blame them; here is definitely better.

http://vimeo.com/18444118

Track hunting

Have to admit, that waking up without the sound of rain is better than the tapping few days ago. Also yesterday some rain clouds passed us, but fortunately the only result from that was awesome ending to enduro video. The link can be found below if you want to see your self.

Because it was Sunday today, all the service places to fix the fridge were still closed. We'll have to try to get something done about that tomorrow. However, now we had opportunity to concentrate to more important things. We had agreed to meet some other pilots on a new track near Murcia. The interesting addition to this meeting was, that we only had a highway number and some approximate distances to find the place. Couple of times it seemed that we were going totally wrong way, but at the end we saw such an amount of cars parked along the road that there was no mistake the track had been found. The circuit was quite packed, but the rider still managed to enjoy the challenges of a new track and also met some old friends along the way.

On our way home we spent half of the journey planning what we would have for dinner. It was quite a dissapointement to discover, that the grocery store was closed also today. When do these people end the celebration? Luckily we had some frozen emergency pizza saved for occations like this, so we got our dinner after all. Oh, and we also took a sightseeing tour in Alhama, the assistant jogging and the rider showing the way with bike.

Some photos of our journey from the north and the surroundins in here can be found in http://picasaweb.google.com/tk2inc/TheTripDecember#

http://vimeo.com/18349825

Fighting with the fridge

What an interesting New Years Eve! Cheering about new gas bottle yesterday (we now have a five years gas agreement to Spain, our address being the gas shop) turned into a growling as our fridge decided that it didn't feel like working with gas anymore, neither Finnish nor Spanish.

We have been playing detective the whole day looking for hints, googling solutions, trying possible new tricks, consulting older caravan owners and trying their tips. The rider even turned into a chimney sweeper during the process, but nothing seems to help. Looks like our last hope is to turn into a professional in near future, when the world has got enough about new years celebration.

However there was also many good things in this day. As we woke up to the continuous sound of rain tapping the caravan roof, the rider was forced to rest and feed himself while the assistant got chance to enjoy some spanish vine. We also allowed ourself few candies brought all the way from home.. what a treat. With the bikes checked and maintained during the day too, the whole gang, if not counting the fridge, is now ready for the new year 2011!