April 10
Today was going to be a 360 mile sprint to Moraira. By now the weather was hot. I opened all the vent zips on my trousers and jacket and at my steady 65, this provided enough cooling. I'm glad I was on the Autopista because on the one occasion I stopped for the autopista peaje, the heat from the bike was immense. In fact, Harley have thought of this and you have the option to set a cylinder cut-off in the engine management system for just such an occurence. The idea is that one less cylinder firing in traffic will reduce the amount of heat being pumped upwards. Maybe it works in major traffic jams but I didn't notice much difference on a short stop. Having cleared the toll, I now set my head down and wound the speed up to 75. The Classic leapt forward as if to ask why we hadn't been doing this before. Further and further south, the miles clicked by and just past Tarragona, I caught my first glimpse of the sparkling Mediterranean sea. Weather started to get hotter and hotter and now I had to keep my jacket and visor open.
After another hour or so, Valencia appeared on the nose and I knew my journey south was nearly at and end. I hadn't been exactly rushing things but there is something satisfying about setting off on a journey near Ipswich, in cool, green surroundings and arriving 1300 miles and four days later into a sunbaked, white and dusty land where palm, orange and lemon trees grow. So it was, an hour later, I pulled up to the Villa in Moraira.
It was 4pm and after all that distance, the only injury I suffered was to my back as I lifted the RiggPak off for the last time!
For now, the sissy bar, screen and rack came off and I gave the bike a good wash down. A quick photo and I left her to rest for three weeks.
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