TRAVEL Q & A
Q
Everything’s booked for a tour of Spain using RIDE’S excellent guides — except the final two days. I drop off the pillion at Santiago de Compostela airport at 2pm, then a dash to catch the 3pm Santander ferry the following day. Any pointers for roads and a stop-over en route would be much appreciated.
A
From the airport, take the N547 and A54 to Lugo, pick up the LU530, which becomes the AS28 to Grandas de Salime. Then take the AS14 and AS15 to Cangas de Narcea and overnight there. Next day, take the AS15 to the motorway and use that to dodge Oviedo. At J14 of the A64, pick up the N634, then the N625 and AS114. From Panes, take the N621 back to the A8 and ride to the port on the motorway with half-an-hour to spare.
Q
What are self-guided tours like? Are they a good idea?
A
You’re paying a touring company for their expertise but once you set off, you’re on your own. They’ll have booked your crossings and hotels, and you’ll have their tried-and-tested routes but you ride them alone and you’ll have no company in the evenings. It’s a good option if you don’t have time to research routes and book stuff... but our RIDE Guide To Europe is stuffed with complete tours you can follow in the same way — you just have to do the legwork of finding and booking your hotels, that’s all.
Q
My wife has agreed to come on a European tour this summer. The furthest we’ve been so far is to York (from home in Derbyshire). How many miles should we aim to do each day?
A
There’s no fixed figure, as it depends on the roads: higher on motorways, lower for mountains. It also depends on the pillion, so start gently and see how you go… don’t put her off for life with a series of 12-hour ordeals. Stop regularly for short (and we mean short) stops and don’t get too ambitious. Assume you’ll do two-thirds of the daily mileage you would riding solo.