After a day of rest yesterday some of us were getting itchy boots so more riding was in order today. Me, Jules, Jase and Kirky planned to ride a few more trails on the TET out of Potes then loop back on the road then head out of Potes SW on a great mountain road to see the Granite Bear.
We were on the bikes and gone shortly after 9am. The weather was really warm, close a muggy, as if a thunderstorm was needed to clear the air ...... but we'll come to that in a bit.
We hit the first trail and headed up (a very common theme on the trails over here!). The trail was wide, hard-packed gravel and every so often there was a raised lip across the width of the trails forming a gully on the other side directing rainwater away from the track. These provided a little kicker to get a bit of air on the bikes. Great fun.
We rose up and up and up until we had stunning scenery across the mountains around us and in the distance (mountain views, another common theme on this trip!)
We tracked around the mountain before heading downhill and my oh my what a rough and rocky descent it was, and it went on and on and on. Jase and I waited at the bottom for Jules and Kirky ...... and we waited, and we waited. Something was up so we headed back up the trail. We didn't get too far before coming around a corner to see Jules's bike propped up with the front wheel out. Puncture - "Drama on the trails boys, drama on the trails" ..... as Jase would say.
20mins and we were off again. A short road section before we were onto the final trail of the trip. Another fantastic mountain pass with great views.
Our road burn back to Potes was a great twisty, winding B-road. We then his the more major A-road which was still undergoing roadworks which Taff said they were doing 2yrs ago when he was here last - widening the road out over the river. About 20 feet above the road were huge metal catch-nets for any rocks or boulders that may fall from the mountain above, and there were a fair few in there, and some big ones too! I certainly wouldn't like to get hit by one if those!
We picked up a fellow dirt biker on a KTM 790 on our road burn back to Potes. We saw him later out the front of the bike shop with his seat off so obviously some fix/ maintenance needed there.
We stopped at a cafe for a late breakfast of Spanish tortilla (omelette) and coffee. We then headed for fuel the plan being a road ride up the mountain pass to see the Granite Bear. Jase bowed out so it was just me, Jules and Kirky.
The road was great, twisty with lots of switchbacks.
We came to a lookout with the brass Deer statue so we stopped to take some pics. We continued on and made it to the bear. It was deserted of tourists so we rode the bikes up the short walk from the carpark to get some pictures of the bikes with the bear. Jeez it was windy up there all of a sudden amd the clouds were rolling in looking like rain.
We headed back down to the main road back to Potes but stopped briefly in the main carpark and got chatting to a Dutch guy and his son. They were on Harley Davidson's, the sons being a custom engine build and bike build by his son. But all was not well. The sons bike wouldn't start due to some fuelling/ fuel pump issue. This wasn't the first time they'd had the issue on their trip and they were struggling to accurately diagnose it but leaving the bike to cool resulted in it restarting so they were waiting for it to cool. We chatted until they tried the bike again and got it going so they shot off. We got our gear on and followed shortly after. As we rode back down the twisty mountain pass the clouds rolled in and we were hit with our first spats of rain. Big heavy drops. Jules and Kirky stopped to put their jackets on but it was still really warm so the thought of wearing my jacket did not appeal so I said on the comms I was going to continue on. I was glad of my decision as it didn't rain again during my ride back down the mountain ...... although the road was wet almost all the way so the going was slower than the ride up.
I pulled up to the hotel and Taff and Marc were sat outside the hotel in their bike gear having a few beers after the ride they'd had - they went to the cable car at Fuente De.
I grabbed a beer and we waited for Jules and Kirky. They seemed to be taking ages. Eventually they appeared round the corner but Kirky had his hazards flashing. They rolled up amd Kirky had a flat front which he got a few miles out of town but decided to slowly roll into town to fix it at the hotel.
Kirky promptly jumped onto fixing his tyre which was done in a flash then we sat there drinking beer and chatting till it was time to get ready for dinner.
Gunna have a nice dinner and a bit of a blow-out tonight to celebrate our trip. What an AMAZING trip.
