- Date: Oct 31, 2024
- Starting Location: Huelva, Spain
- Ending Location: Malaga, Spain
- Mileage: 185 Miles
Breakfast
We had breakfast at the hotel, and it was not bad.
The Weather
Looking at the weather map was filling us with dread. It was obvious that we were going to get rain, and it looked like we might get a whole lot of rain. So, I tried to come up with a plan that would get us to Malaga in safety.
It seemed that if it rained hard, and we were traveling on one of those scenic motorcycle roads of Spain, that we could be caught out in the open, with no overpass to hide under, and no gas station to hunker down at. We really needed to get back to Malaga, in order to have dinner with Larry and Francis, and I didn’t want to pay to rent the bike for another day, simply due to bad weather.
So, we altered our route, and took highways instead of back roads. We made great time, and while it rained for about 2 hours of our journey in total, we never had heavy rain, and we stayed relatively dry in our rain gear.
I had also brought with me some high-tech rain repellent for our visors, and the windshield. I also had a spray bottle of anti-fog spray, which I would use on the inside of the helmet. This combination worked great, and I didn’t have any issues with visibility for the length of the trip.
Arrival at IMT bike
We arrived at IMT bike at about 1:00 PM. Given all of the possible outcomes, it came as a complete surprise that we could have managed to arrive so early. After traveling 185 miles in sporadic rain, we pulled into the garage, and turned over the bike.
The missing key
About an hour later, one of the managers from the bike shop called us to ask about the key. It seems that they to the bike was missing, and they wanted some help finding it.
Hmmm, missing you say? The key isn’t missing, I have it in my pocket…
So, I apologized to Nacho, and promised to bring the key back when we arrive to pick up the bikes again in one more day.
A Report from the road
The Laundromat (Wash, dry fold)
After spending the better part of 5 days traveling through airports, and riding bikes in the rain, we had a need to get laundry done. When visiting other countries, I’ve always found a laundramat that offers wash/dry/fold service, so using a google search, I found a laundramat that was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel.
The laundromat was located underground, within a large mall that was near the hotel. Finding the place proved to be difficult, but eventually we found it, and found the pricing at 6 Euros/Kilo of laundry. We dropped off the laundry, and asked that we can pick it up tomorrow, Friday. Initially, the ladies of the laundromat said yes to us, but then they quickly realized that friday (tomorrow) was a national holiday, and the mall would be closed.
We would need to return to this place, and pick up the laundry before 9:00 PM, when they close for the evening.
We had a plan, now, we just needed to figure out how to meet our friends for dinner, enjoy the dinner, and return to the mall in time to pick up the laundry before they closed.
Dinner
We were scheduled for a 7:00 PM dinner reservation. Now, getting a dinner reservation at 7:00, instead of 8:00 PM is pretty amazing when looked at separately, but we now needed to try to get them to serve us dinner even earlier.
It was clear that no matter who we asked, we were stuck with a dinner reservation at 7:00 PM. From the previous section of this post, you’ll remember that we would need to be back at the laundry-mat in time to pick up our clothes before they close, at 9:00 PM. The laundry-mat was at least a 15 minute walk from the restaurant, so we’d need to leave the restaurant by 8:30, and almost run the entire distance to the mall, where the laundry-mat was located.
And so, after an amazing meal, with a great wine, we jumped up from the table, said our farewells, and headed out the door, to the laundry-mat.
What would tomorrow bring?
Tomorrow will be the first day of our Morocco tour. We’ll meet in the lobby at 6:00 PM, have a briefing, and then head out to dinner for our first meal together.
