All over and waiting for a delayed Ferry

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Last night I had a lecture (in French) from the well meaning elderly campsite owner about the perils of missing my ferry due to road closures, accidents and punctures (and yes, apart from a few words I understood the conversation fully). So, not wanting to ignore him I left early this morning with a Sat Nav arrival time of around 4pm for a 7pm check in

Well, sods law, all went very well, here by 2.30 and just received a text saying the ferry is delayed by 2 hours due to wind. I am now at in the local Mcdonalds on the free Wifi, I wonder how long I can pretend I am still drinking this coffee?

Anyway, a misty start to the day and I finally broke though the cloud just in time to ride the Col de Pourtalet (photo 3 is at the pass) at 1794m before dropping down into Spain again and eventually picking up some country roads heading toward Bilbao. At this point, it was time to jump on the Motorway and head for Santander and a long wait. 

Other than the ferry and a short ride home at the other end, the trip is over. I achieved the trip aims of reaching the South and West points of Europe, climbing the Rock of Gibraltar and visiting Andorra. 

The total distance was 5589 km (3471 m) and  that equated to 84.33 hrs riding time and amazingly got an average of 54 mpg. 

Of course, one advantage of the delay is I can spend this time planning next years tour when of course I have nowhere left to go but head East. Watch this space (well in a year or so) …….

A bit of a plug for Alpkit. The lighter on my 2 1/2 year old stove broke yesterday and I emailed them to ask if it was repairable and with no hesitation they said it was covered on warranty and a new one would be in the post for me today. Great products and excellent customer service.
Location: Santander, Cantabria, Spain

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