minutes and starting to climb into the mountains. What that means, is that if you ride a supermoto, you too can enjoy some of the best roads in Europe without killing your arse getting there. The smiles start almost immediately and if you’re someone who’d rather pootle than scratch, you’ll be loving it too. The area just inland looks a little like some parts of Yorkshire, but with generally better weather and no traffic. If you choose to keep riding south, then in less than a tankful you’ll be in the archetypal, slightly yellow Spain of unrelenting sun and dusty bullfights. Stay in the Basque mountains though and as an introduction to what’s on offer, two very different passes get the juices flowing immediately. You won’t even see the passes marked on a map unless it’s really detailed, but aim for Puente Viesgo, Villacarriedo and Vega de Pas and you’ll be forced to cross them. The first offers perfect switchbacks, seamless
tarmac and quick stretches. The second climbs higher, is rougher, more technical, narrower and every bit as much fun as it climbs beyond the trees and into something which, if the cloud is low, will remind you of Hovis. More by luck than judgement, I chose to stay in Espinosa de los Monteros and was gifted a
mountains, turning east instead of south, you enter deep into Basque country and perhaps the most extraordinary part of the Pyrenees. Sandwiched between the Picos de Europa mountains and the Atlantic end of the Pyrenees, it’s certainly the most culturally intriguing part of Europe. Many may know the
The smiles start almost immediately and if youʼre someone whoʼd rather pootle than scratch, youʼll be loving it too.
fantastic display by a touring Mexican dance troop as part of the town carnival, before I was chosen to be a stooge in a magic show. Would you believe it, it really is all magic?
Remaining within the coastal
area as one where mathematics is interpreted very loosely, and where 4+3=1 graffiti can still be seen. Others may think of violent insurgence, but the Basque Country is like no other and deserves exploration. It has given
Europe and the world, so much more than just the beret, the game of pelote and world champion cyclists and yet the origin of the people remains a mystery. Nearly 50% of the population is blood type O, some academics claim they descend from Cro-Magnon man and others that they are, rather like everyone else that can’t be easily pigeon-holed, the lost 13th of Israel.
Tribe
The appalling maths is in reference to the four Spanish provinces and three French, who collectively identify themselves as one; Basque. The area, delineated by the Arbour river in the north and the Ebro in the south, identifies itself as much by language as territory.
The change on the road signs is stark and like nothing else you’ll witness in Europe. The language, Euskera, is the oldest in Europe and has no relatives. The frequency of ‘x’, ‘z’ and ‘k’ is stark, but reasonably phonetic for English speakers to get their tongues around, at least once
The ROAD 31
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