So last night as I staggered back to my hotel, I saw a bunch of folks taping posters to all the shops.....turns out they were threats for them to not open. A General strike was called from midnight to midnight.....all shops cafes etc....So my buddy said I should be okay if I stay away from any of the Plazas....they are everywhere and the small villages might be okay. The plan was to exit the city today anyways....but now I'm not sure if gas stations will even be open. I had a full tank so was good for about 500 k....depending on how I drove...if the roads were going to be what I suspected...that turn into 300k...Alcaniz was recommended as a place to stay...awesome Parador there.

So got up at a decent time...performed the rituals..and packed up....Oh....forgot to mention the day before I got a parking ticket...how the heck.....so I moved my bike to a different spot...another parking ticket WTF...bikes parked everywhere...no RT's mind you......no dollar values associated....so I showed the guy at the desk..we both figured they may be warnings. I'll take the tourist card.

So quick breaky and go for a quick exit....I looked at the map and saw some roads that looked cool to the north...tickling the pryanees mountains...wanted to go there but was warned the weather would not be good to early in the year. Before I decide I need to get out of town first...so right out of the gate....I took a wrong turn that put me right near a traffic circle that had the huge statue of Columbus....so I pulled onto the side walk to take a quick pic. Hop off and commence to clicking...well...seems one rule I learned is don't park in front of a military base full of soldiers...oops...talk about touchy...made a hasty retreat to the bike and I waved...no intiendo.....as I rode away.

Getting out of Barcelona I bumped into the strike mob .... surly looking bunch...and a lot of em ....so needed to get out of there way and had to skeedaddle as around them they were torching things and stuff....the police were just watching. It's tricky being Switzerland...near the cops razing the strikers...near the strikers razing the coppers...sheesh.

So I zig zaged me way out and no Molatov cocktails, tear gas canisters, or rubber bullets hit me so I figured was doing ok...so as soon as I got out of town I went strictly for secondary roads preferably the green ones on map that ultimately would get me to Alcaniz. Except...Alcaniz was to the south...I headed north....to the Pyranees. Why Not!

Wowser...started by hitting a road with a sign say something like AYYYY KARUMBO YOU GUNNA HAVE FUN!..least that's how I interpreted it. Sign on the side of the road says watch out tons of curves ahead. :)

It started an amazing ride.....

Right out of the gate I ended up on this awesome mountain road with no one on it.....for the most part it was in great shape but some sections were rough and loose gravel so took a bit of reading to play it safe...one slip it was over the edge...long drops no rails. Small villages...picture postcards everywhere....

The high point of the day was the ride.....holy crap....wow.....it was a great weather day and absolutely crazyyyyyy riding. I ended up on the coolest roads and at a ski hill at some point...and was absolutely getting spent from cranking the corners....my shift toe was hurting and my twist wrist was hurting, and my arms were getting tired...plus it takes a lot of concentration so mentally you get a pretty wiped too.

Some of the funnest riding I've done cause it went on forever...and no one on the roads....and scenery everywhere. Very mountainous was very close to Toulous....thought about it....but decided I best swing south.

I got lucky too as most gas stations were open still and there was always a cafe open somewhere....not many but a few. So I managed to stop and get some Tapas and a cool ones as I rolled along.

I stopped in one village for a quick breather and a coffee and the bike was parked across the street. This older guy and woman were walking around the corner and would walk right by me as I was sitting at a table on the sidewalk....he saw the RT and he started rubber necking...he saw me and my BMW hat...walked straight over to me and started yacking at me 100 miles a min not so bad but in german...I got that glazed look and did the any chance you speak english thing....he did.

So he laughed went on about how great the bike is and that I need to get farther north as the towns are amazing..apparently they film a lot of hollywood films there as the towns are so meieval. He like I was touring by meself and off he and his wife went. He drove buy a few minutes later waving and honking. Everyplace I stopped someone came up to chat.

I finally descended back into a more desert like terrain with big boulders ...very bizarre looking and the road calmed down a bit and it lead me ultimately to Alcaniz....earlier in the day I called from a bar I stopped at in some small town to see if they had rooms...big sale 50 euros...awesome. My last name is a challenge to english speaking folks sooooo my reservation is in the name of Mr Tod.

In the same town I made the reservation (pre paid sim cards are great) I ran into a huge gaggle of strikers again....had to detour a bit. They leave a trail of garbage and burnt out garbage bins...wasn't sure if they beat the crap out of anybody yet.

Its all good, I finally rolled into Alcaniz..as the sun was going down, long day of riding...smoke trailing from my boots.....was pretty tired and had to ride a wild windy road to the top of this village to find .... holy crap.....a 12 century castle....amazing.

The view from the castle is awesome. Seems its good to be the king .... you get the best views. Had to let the boots cool off a bit then hobbled in to check in. They all knew who I was Mr Tod has arrived....seems my attempts to get them to spell my last name was quite entertaining.

So I was pretty tired so hobbled to me room did a quick change and proceeded to wander around whilst there was still light of day to take pics. Most cool...everything has been restored and with art hanging everywhere and the rooms are in awesome shape. If you ever go to Spain I can't recommend enough the Paradors...they are government owned and seem to have excellent service and ... 50 Euros.... are ya kidding me?

Wandered around till the sun went down and was pretty tired so just went to the bar and had some Tapas and some drinks and hit the hay.....big drive day tomorrow.....taking on the windmills of Don Quiotex and again the roads are suppose to be stellar.....ultimate stop I think will be Toledo....cause it would be cool to say Holy Toledo in Toledo.   

Wandered around till the sun went down and was pretty tired so just went to the bar and had some Tapas and some drinks and hit the hay.....big drive day tomorrow.....taking on the windmills of Don Quiotex and again the roads are suppose to be stellar.....ultimate stop I think will be Toledo....cause it would be cool to say Holy Toledo in Toledo.