Spain trip | GTAMotorcycle.com

Spain trip

Brian P

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This thought just crossed my mind a couple days ago, but now, further investigation has me leaning towards doing it.

This will be centered around the first European round of WorldSBK at Jerez, 27-28-29 March 2020. Going to a motorcycle race on a motorcycle just seems like the right thing to do. I always do that here, why not do it there. So ... rental bike.

At WorldSBK - Paddock pass is included in general admission, which for this event is very reasonable (40 euros for the 3-day pass), and there is no assigned seating - go where you want. Hotels in Jerez de la Frontera seem to be available and reasonably priced (the lack of that is largely why I didn't go to MotoGP in Australia last fall even though I was not far away). The hotels right next to the track are expensive for that weekend, but I can handle being in the city (about 10 km away).

Most likely I'll pick up a rental bike elsewhere in Spain a couple days earlier, travel in the general direction of the track over those couple days, then use the bike to get to and from the track Fri-Sat-Sun. On Monday I'll have to hotfoot the bike back to the rental agency and catch a flight home, because my trip to MotoGP in Texas is already booked and that flight leaves Thursday 2nd April.

Putting this out there ... suggestions ... rental agencies (already have one in mind but I'm open to suggestions, nothing's booked yet) ... or in case anyone else wants to join in ...
 
enjoy, send us lots of pics!
 
Sounds like fun. Why not just fly straight to Texas? Gives you a bit more time and I wouldnt be surprised if the ticket wa cheaper than landing in TO.
 
Sounds like fun. Why not just fly straight to Texas? Gives you a bit more time and I wouldnt be surprised if the ticket wa cheaper than landing in TO.

Sounds like the TO->Texas MotoGP trip was already booked and he's mulling over whether to add the Spanish SBK trip right before it.

Might be expensive to cancel or switch flights.
 
For sure take the ride down to the rock-Gibraltar. Intriguing place, would love to go there one day and its not that far from Jerez.
 
Get a GPS if you plan to do any kind of big city riding, even passing through. Lots of small streets and limited signing.
Gibraltar is nice, like being in the UK, kinda weird everyone speaks English, but I would be more interested in going up the coast to Marbella, and Malaga is nice as well. You can't go wrong in Spain it's sunny most of the year.
 
Sounds like the TO->Texas MotoGP trip was already booked and he's mulling over whether to add the Spanish SBK trip right before it.

Might be expensive to cancel or switch flights.

You got it. I'm travelling with a group to MotoGP and we've already got the travel arrangements booked. This add-on ahead of it looks like it will be just myself. Round-trip airfares also tend to be less expensive than a series of one-way trips. And, I'll have to carry my riding gear for the Spain trip, and this way I can drop that off at the house and not have to cart it to Texas and back.

I made a big mistake. I opened Google Maps and looked around north of Malaga on streetview. Dangit. May have to add a couple more days up front to go exploring. It landed on a road that looks like it could be a racetrack, except it's through mountains.
 
and in case anyone is wondering ... (not quite true yet, but will be soon)

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If you don’t mind riding a GS these guys look interesting.

Have not used them but they offer bikes , self guided and organized tours in Spain and Morocco.


 
For those who have flown someplace to pick up a rental bike ... How did you do it? The hockey bag that I normally use to cart leathers and helmet and boots and whatnot internationally, will not fit on the bike nor in any of its luggage. Can it be left with the rental agency for the duration? (Obviously I'm going to ask IMTbike this as well)
 
For those who have flown someplace to pick up a rental bike ... How did you do it? The hockey bag that I normally use to cart leathers and helmet and boots and whatnot internationally, will not fit on the bike nor in any of its luggage. Can it be left with the rental agency for the duration? (Obviously I'm going to ask IMTbike this as well)

Yes, all the rental agencies I've used have had storage facilities that you can use to toss suitcases/dufflebags into.
 
Good for you Brian..i'm sure you'll love Europe;-)
I'll be down in July at the Passo dello Stelvio with the bicycle though...and who knows it would be nice to do rent a motorcycle as well;-)
 
The plan. Landing in Malaga around noon (local time) Tues 24 March. Staying at Holiday Inn at the airport (walking distance). Wander around Malaga for a day - walking - it's not far from the beach. Picking up bike at IMTbike in Malaga morning of Wed 25th (possibly evening of 24th). Good suggestion about the GPS - I requested that. IMTbike is walking distance from the hotel and I have confirmed that it is no problem to store my gear bag there for the duration, one less thing to figure out how to carry on the bike. 25th is set aside for riding in the mountains north and west of Malaga. Thurs 26th is for the ride to Jerez de la Frontera. It's about 200 km on the motorway, but what's good about that ... I can find a route that will take much longer. Staying at B&B Hotel in Jerez - near downtown but not "in" downtown ... has vehicle parking (which the downtown hotels don't). 27-28-29 are at the track - it is about 10 km from the hotel. Mon 30th is for the ride back to Malaga to return the bike in the evening. Flight home is bright and early Tuesday morning. I'll have one day at home before leaving for MotoGP. The only thing that's not booked or in the process of getting booked, are the admission tickets to the track (not on sale yet) ... but I'm not worried about that. Also I haven't booked the hotel for the last day in Malaga - I will probably stay at the same Holiday Inn given that I can walk to the airport from there.

That bit of poking around on Google Maps now has me really looking forward to this.

WorldSBK is apparently less mayhem than MotoGP (I'm fine with that) and the paddock and riders are more accessible. We'll see. The first roadrace that I ever saw live, was WorldSBK at Mosport in 1989. Dang - more than 30 years ago. That triggered an expensive addiction, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
 

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