A Beaky Adventure - Valle de Bujaruelo

I went on a camping trip last weekend, despite the weather forecast promising thunderstorms and the last three camping trips all ending up with storms overnight.

There was an area on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees I wanted to explore that included several cols (passes) and a road sign (really) that I wanted to find.

Saturday's ride down was fine and went without a hitch.

Narrow road. Double Bends.  16km.  Let's Go!

Weird blue lake. 

Stripey mountain.

The camp site is a couple of miles off the surfaced road up a dirt track - not a problem for the GS!

Once I arrived at the Valle de Bujaruelo I checked in at the camp site and set up Camp Beaky.

Camp Beaky ready!

View from Camp Beaky down the valley.

 After setting up, I carried on up the track for a couple more miles to the bridge of San Nicolas de Bujaruelo.

Bridge of San Nicolas de Bujaruelo

Someone always manages to end up in shot.

That evening I had dinner at the campsite's restaurant before heading to bed.  There was no thunderstorm as promised, but a combination of the river's noise, and lunatic owl that kept hooting meant it wasn't the best night's sleep ever. Breakfast was very welcome next morning!

Breakfast at Camp Beaky.

After breakfast, I broke camp and hit the road again.

On the road from the camp.

Small church in the middle of nowhere.

Another cool road sign!

I reached home without incident, although a little rain on the way back dampened the spirits a little. Still, I had a great weekend - 800 miles, and several more cols ticked off the list!

Beaky's Bitz - Part 4 - Pannier

So what do I keep in that left pannier?  The pannier is slightly smaller on this side as there is a cut out for the exhaust, but it neatly holds the smaller hessian bag from Tesco (the larger style fitting the right side perfectly)

This is where I store all the stuff I carry all the time, and runs to just under half the pannier.

Top row, left to right: hi-viz jacket in zip pocket; paracord and maglite; pocket knife; belt cutter.  These all fit into the pouch.

Bottom row, left to right: Kreiga tool roll; duct tape and electrical tape; spare glasses, 1/2" socket handle, spare headlight bulbs (pack of two).

Most of that is self explanatory.  Hi-Viz and bulbs are legal requirements here in France. Paracord, duct tape and electrical tape can fix pretty much everything between them.  The pocket knife is a folding Opinel that I need to modify to not lock open before I return to the UK. 

The belt cutter was a freebie and is designed to cut through car seat belts safely.  I figured it would be potentially more use with the bike than in a drawer at home.

The socket handle is for the 24mm socket I have that undoes the rear wheel nut, but is too large for the tool roll.

Speaking of which...in there are:

Top row, left to right: craft knife; small screw driver; socket handle; stumpy screwdriver for hex heads and 24mm socket (1/2" drive); snips; pliers; cable ties.

Bottom row, left to right: pencil, torx allen keys (T50, 45, 40) and T40 and T25 1/4" drive bits; Torx T40, T30, T25, T20: T15, T10; selection of hex bits; 1/4" drive sockets (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13mm); pressure gauge.

Right side, top to bottom: spanners (17, 13, 13 (again..) 11/10 and 10mm); adjustable spanner (metric!);  allen keys 6mm, 5, 4, 3).

Missing from the photos is a plastic folder with my documents in (another legal requirement here), several rok-straps for strapping on luggage and a couple of regular bungees.