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Motorcycles » uk.rec.motorcycles » Pyrenees
| Pyrenees [message #776369] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 09:53 |
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I've done large chunks of the Alps a few times and reckon it might be
time to try something new. I'd like to stick nearish to France in the
main so the obvious thing is to stick the bikes on the Ferry and go to
the Pyrenees, starting and Bairitz and going to Andora and back.
Some questions:
Are the Pyrenees going to compare favorably with the Alps?
What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
Spanish?
We will be forced to go in August. What's the typical weather? I'm
guessing plenty of rain on the northern slopes & sod all on the souther
slopes? Will it be way too hot? (The alps are plenty high enough to
cool down, how about the Pyrenees)
TIA.
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #776378 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 10:15 |
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toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> I've done large chunks of the Alps a few times and reckon it might be
> time to try something new. I'd like to stick nearish to France in the
> main so the obvious thing is to stick the bikes on the Ferry and go to
> the Pyrenees, starting and Bairitz and going to Andora and back.
It's Biarritz & Andorra.
> Some questions:
>
> Are the Pyrenees going to compare favorably with the Alps?
Absolutely.
> What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
> campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
> Spanish?
Don't like the food meself & haven't camped there, but the roads beat
the Alps imo. The road surface tends to be better on the Spanish side
thanks to huge EU grants, & they're generally faster - i.e. not so many
hairpins. If you get far enough south, the N260 from Biescas to Sarvisé
is right up there with the best roads in the world. Utterly fantastic.
> We will be forced to go in August. What's the typical weather? I'm
> guessing plenty of rain on the northern slopes & sod all on the
> souther slopes? Will it be way too hot? (The alps are plenty high
> enough to cool down, how about the Pyrenees)
Dunno about rain, but it'll certainly be hot. I never find it a problem
whilst moving though. Just avoid the big towns.
--
Krusty.
http://www.muddystuff.co.uk
http://www.muddystuff.us
Off-road classifieds
'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger (FOYRNB) '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #776379 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 10:16 |
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toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> I've done large chunks of the Alps a few times and reckon it might be
> time to try something new. I'd like to stick nearish to France in the
> main so the obvious thing is to stick the bikes on the Ferry and go to
> the Pyrenees, starting and Bairitz and going to Andora and back.
>
> Some questions:
>
> Are the Pyrenees going to compare favorably with the Alps?
I've not ridden in the Alps, but I do like the Pyrenees.
> What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
> campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
> Spanish?
Where I ride/drive, the roads in Spain are much better than on the
French side. You can tell the difference, the instant you cross the
border. The roads are better maintained, more sweeping, bendy and wider
(mostly dual carriageways). Much better views too. The French side can
be narrow country style lanes and sometimes it's too difficult to get a
good ride, due to the amount of traffic [1].
Mind you, Spanish Plod is more present. What with the fact that they
have to go searching for limbs [2] of bikers that don't understand how
to ride properly, probably has an influence.
Oh, FYI, if you're being chased by Plod from one country to the other,
they _will_ continue to follow you when you cross the border. They're
allowed to do this, see.
There are a fair few camping sites on the French side but I don't know
about the Spanish side. Petrol is a tad cheaper in Spain.
> We will be forced to go in August. What's the typical weather? I'm
> guessing plenty of rain on the northern slopes & sod all on the
> souther slopes? Will it be way too hot? (The alps are plenty high
> enough to cool down, how about the Pyrenees)
Generally. I find it's generally damper on the French side with fog
occasionally and slightly colder. I've never been disappointed on the
Spanish side, but it's "Hot. With added hotness."
[1] Generally caused by Artics and Coaches slowly navigating their way
on said narrow roads.
[2] The latest story I have from my BiL, was that he had to climb down
a fairly steep slope to retrieve the foot of an English biker that
decided to have an argument with a crash barrier. The crash barrier
didn't like the idea, so whipped off the foot of said biker. This was
the second time he's had to do this.
--
Cab :^) - argue's like a girl
GSX 1400
UKRMMA#10 (KOTL), IbW#015, BoB#4, POTM#3, SKA#1
email addy : ukrm_dot_cab_at_rosbif_dot_org
http://www.rosbif.org
The gingeometer: http://www.rosbif.org/ukrm/gingeometer/
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #776388 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 10:31 |
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> I've done large chunks of the Alps a few times and reckon it might be
> time to try something new. I'd like to stick nearish to France in the
> main so the obvious thing is to stick the bikes on the Ferry and go to
> the Pyrenees, starting and Bairitz and going to Andora and back.
>
> Some questions:
>
> Are the Pyrenees going to compare favorably with the Alps?
>
> What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
> campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
> Spanish?
>
> We will be forced to go in August. What's the typical weather? I'm
> guessing plenty of rain on the northern slopes & sod all on the souther
> slopes? Will it be way too hot? (The alps are plenty high enough to
> cool down, how about the Pyrenees)
I don't know the western side at all - but the med side is also excellent as
Krusty and Cab have already said - especially those nice EU finded roads in
Spain. If you need new biking gear Andorra is a must visit.
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #776495 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 12:27 |
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Thanks everyone. All comments printed off to go in my Michelin Road
Atlas's.
Anyone know a cheap source of Autorail or Ferry tickets? Coming up at
=A3700 - =A31200 for two bikes. Seems a bit steep.
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779024 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 14:20 |
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<toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1152705994.291454.186680 [at] m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>Thanks everyone. All comments printed off to go in my Michelin Road
>Atlas's.
>
>Anyone know a cheap source of Autorail or Ferry tickets? Coming up at
>£700 - £1200 for two bikes. Seems a bit steep.
Why not ride down - if the Mediterranean side interests you can I recommend
the A71 straight down the middle of France past Clermont Ferrand - a great
road over the Auvergne and the Millau Bridge. Turn right at the Med and hang
a right after Perpignan. I did it in a longish day before the bridge
pened - should be easily doable now.
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779027 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 14:24 |
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toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Thanks everyone. All comments printed off to go in my Michelin Road
> Atlas's.
>
> Anyone know a cheap source of Autorail or Ferry tickets? Coming up at
> £700 - £1200 for two bikes. Seems a bit steep.
When I did Biarritz I got the overnight ferry to Cherbourg, which
docked at around 7.30am IIRC. That left plenty of time to ride down to
Biarritz with a leisurely lunch stop on the way. It was only around 500
miles I think.
--
Krusty.
http://www.muddystuff.co.uk
http://www.muddystuff.us
Off-road classifieds
'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger (FOYRNB) '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779028 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 14:31 |
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Buzby wrote:
> <toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:1152705994.291454.186680 [at] m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>> Thanks everyone. All comments printed off to go in my Michelin Road
>> Atlas's.
>>
>> Anyone know a cheap source of Autorail or Ferry tickets? Coming up at
>> £700 - £1200 for two bikes. Seems a bit steep.
>
> Why not ride down - if the Mediterranean side interests you can I
> recommend the A71 straight down the middle of France past Clermont
> Ferrand - a great road over the Auvergne and the Millau Bridge. Turn
> right at the Med and hang a right after Perpignan. I did it in a
> longish day before the bridge pened - should be easily doable now.
Autorail has always seemed insanely expensive so yeah, riding it is
--
Hog
'96 Bastard12 '89 R100RS '81 XS650 '78 RD400
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779034 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 14:54 |
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"Krusty" <dontwantany [at] nowhere.invalid> wrote in news:4hk7v8F1s5qljU1
[at] individual.net:
> toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>
>> Thanks everyone. All comments printed off to go in my Michelin Road
>> Atlas's.
>>
>> Anyone know a cheap source of Autorail or Ferry tickets? Coming up at
>> £700 - £1200 for two bikes. Seems a bit steep.
>
> When I did Biarritz I got the overnight ferry to Cherbourg, which
> docked at around 7.30am IIRC. That left plenty of time to ride down to
> Biarritz with a leisurely lunch stop on the way. It was only around 500
> miles I think.
>
What he says. Ferries to Spain are prohibitively expensive this time of
year. In May you'd get a return on Pont Aven for £130-180.
As well as Cherbourg look at LDLines who took over the Le Havre route from
P&O. They are much cheaper than Brittany Ferries, just make sure you don't
need to buy food etc on the boat as it is very expensive.
--
wessie at tesco dot net
BMW R1150GS
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779069 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 17:15 |
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"wessie" <putmynamehere [at] tesco.net> wrote in message
news:Xns97FE8D25D880Bwtymmmsas [at] 80.5.182.99...
> "Krusty" <dontwantany [at] nowhere.invalid> wrote in news:4hk7v8F1s5qljU1
> [at] individual.net:
>
>> toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks everyone. All comments printed off to go in my Michelin Road
>>> Atlas's.
>>>
>>> Anyone know a cheap source of Autorail or Ferry tickets? Coming up at
>>> £700 - £1200 for two bikes. Seems a bit steep.
>>
>> When I did Biarritz I got the overnight ferry to Cherbourg, which
>> docked at around 7.30am IIRC. That left plenty of time to ride down to
>> Biarritz with a leisurely lunch stop on the way. It was only around 500
>> miles I think.
>>
>
> What he says. Ferries to Spain are prohibitively expensive this time of
> year. In May you'd get a return on Pont Aven for £130-180.
>
> As well as Cherbourg look at LDLines who took over the Le Havre route from
> P&O. They are much cheaper than Brittany Ferries, just make sure you don't
> need to buy food etc on the boat as it is very expensive.
and don't forget Speedferries at approx £25 each way, any time, any day -
its a bit longer by road (for some)
than the more central routes but then again its a bit cheaper too, but only
approx 60 mins from soil to soil !
Done it several times and its my preferred route to most areas
Nick
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779073 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 17:34 |
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Nick wrote:
> and don't forget Speedferries at approx £25 each way, any time, any
> day - its a bit longer by road (for some)
> than the more central routes but then again its a bit cheaper too,
> but only approx 60 mins from soil to soil !
> Done it several times and its my preferred route to most areas
> Nick
Hmm nice, £19 bike and rider
--
Hog
'96 Bastard12 '89 R100RS '81 XS650 '78 RD400
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779093 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 17:58 |
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"Hog" <hogSPAM [at] freenetCHIPS.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4hkj41F1au7U1 [at] individual.net...
> Nick wrote:
>
>> and don't forget Speedferries at approx £25 each way, any time, any
>> day - its a bit longer by road (for some)
>> than the more central routes but then again its a bit cheaper too,
>> but only approx 60 mins from soil to soil !
>> Done it several times and its my preferred route to most areas
>> Nick
>
> Hmm nice, £19 bike and rider
Used them at the weekend [1] - they have a special bike area and all bikes
appeared to be properly tied down.
Thoroughly recommended - the downside is they only have one boat, so if it
goes wrong . . . . .
[1] Le Mans Classic - and very good it was to
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779107 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 18:45 |
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On 12 Jul 2006 00:53:04 -0700, toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk squeezed
out the following:
>I've done large chunks of the Alps a few times and reckon it might be
>time to try something new. I'd like to stick nearish to France in the
>main so the obvious thing is to stick the bikes on the Ferry and go to
>the Pyrenees, starting and Bairitz and going to Andora and back.
>
>Some questions:
>
>Are the Pyrenees going to compare favorably with the Alps?
>
>What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
>campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
>Spanish?
>
>We will be forced to go in August. What's the typical weather? I'm
>guessing plenty of rain on the northern slopes & sod all on the souther
>slopes? Will it be way too hot? (The alps are plenty high enough to
>cool down, how about the Pyrenees)
You might find a bit of this useful - write up of a trip we made.
http://www.colinandpat.co.uk/France04/France04.htm
--
Colin Irvine
YZF1000R BOF#33 BONY#34 COFF#06 BHaLC#5
http://www.colinandpat.co.uk
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779110 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 18:47 |
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Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779115 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 18:52 |
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On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:53:04 -0700, toad_oftoadhal wrote:
> I've done large chunks of the Alps a few times and reckon it might be
> time to try something new. I'd like to stick nearish to France in the
> main so the obvious thing is to stick the bikes on the Ferry and go to
> the Pyrenees, starting and Bairitz and going to Andora and back.
>
Didn't like Biaritz, too "busy"
We did this back in 2001
http://www.ytc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Pyrenee_2001/2001-tour.h tml
> Some questions:
>
> Are the Pyrenees going to compare favorably with the Alps?
Dunno, off to see the Alpes in oooo 4 days
>
> What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
> campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
> Spanish?
Spanish side is dryer and less green but has some campsites and lakes.
Better road network French side.
Cheaper petrol in Spain, good food in Spain
>
> We will be forced to go in August. What's the typical weather? I'm
Hot
> guessing plenty of rain on the northern slopes & sod all on the souther
> slopes? Will it be way too hot? (The alps are plenty high enough to
> cool down, how about the Pyrenees)
>
> TIA.
--
XJR1300SP, XJ900F, GS550, GSX250, 750SS
POTM#1(KoTL), WUSS#1 , YTC#1(bar), OSOS#2(KoTL) , DS#3 , IbW#18 ,Apostle#8
*(Emails to the posted address will be ignored)*
"The internet is a huge and diverse community and not every one is friendly"
http://www.ytc1.co.uk There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/
Get the Software http://wwws.sun.com/software/solaris
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779120 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 18:54 |
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"Buzby" <gb [at] pumpupthe.net> wrote in news:4hkkhiF1k71U1 [at] individual.net:
>
> "Hog" <hogSPAM [at] freenetCHIPS.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:4hkj41F1au7U1 [at] individual.net...
>> Nick wrote:
>>
>>> and don't forget Speedferries at approx £25 each way, any time, any
>>> day - its a bit longer by road (for some)
>>> than the more central routes but then again its a bit cheaper too,
>>> but only approx 60 mins from soil to soil !
>>> Done it several times and its my preferred route to most areas
>>> Nick
>>
>> Hmm nice, £19 bike and rider
>
> Used them at the weekend [1] - they have a special bike area and all
> bikes appeared to be properly tied down.
>
> Thoroughly recommended - the downside is they only have one boat, so
> if it goes wrong . . . . .
>
They send you to Dover to use SeaFrance: happens a lot in the winter as
their catamaran can't sail in rough seas.
Personally I'll stick with the longer crossing: extra miles/cost on the
boat are offset by avoiding 280 road miles in the UK including stretches on
the M25 & M20. My lad lives near Portsmouth so it seems a bit daft to
travel from there to Dover. Our outward journey to the Black Forest is
lengthened slightly but this is offset by a shorter homeward leg as our
last night will be near Paris.
--
wessie at tesco dot net
BMW R1150GS
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779179 ] |
Wed, 12 July 2006 20:58 |
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toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Are the Pyrenees going to compare favorably with the Alps?
>
Better IMHO.
> What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
> campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
> Spanish?
>
I have always stuck to the French side for camping and gone into Spain
for the day. [1]
> We will be forced to go in August. What's the typical weather? I'm
> guessing plenty of rain on the northern slopes & sod all on the souther
> slopes? Will it be way too hot? (The alps are plenty high enough to
> cool down, how about the Pyrenees)
I can recommend the area just down a bit from Andorra towards the med
(Bourg Madame, Font Romeu atc.). The Cerdagne is so high it always
cools down at night but has a wonderful plateau which is v. sunny (e.g.
solar furnace installation at ?? ).
[1] speaka da lingo un peut and I think the French camp sites are more
numerous and better value
--
Pete Fisher - only 600 metres high here but still cooling down nicely
now after >28)
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779323 ] |
Thu, 13 July 2006 09:22 |
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YTC#1 wrote:
> > What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
> > campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
> > Spanish?
>
>
> Spanish side is dryer and less green but has some campsites and lakes.
> Better road network French side.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You reckon? I've never been impressed.
> Cheaper petrol in Spain, good food in Spain
That, I agree with.
--
Cab :^) - argue's like a girl
GSX 1400
UKRMMA#10 (KOTL), IbW#015, BoB#4, POTM#3, SKA#1
email addy : ukrm_dot_cab_at_rosbif_dot_org
http://www.rosbif.org
The gingeometer: http://www.rosbif.org/ukrm/gingeometer/
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #779333 ] |
Thu, 13 July 2006 09:44 |
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On Thu, 13 Jul 2006 07:22:47 +0000, Cab wrote:
> YTC#1 wrote:
>
>> > What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
>> > campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
>> > Spanish?
>>
>>
>> Spanish side is dryer and less green but has some campsites and lakes.
>> Better road network French side.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> You reckon? I've never been impressed.
Network, not surface. When faced with needing a quick blast from Perpignon
(sp?) to Sab Sebastian there were more direct roads on the French side
(IMO).... mind ewe, it was wetter :-(
>
>> Cheaper petrol in Spain, good food in Spain
>
> That, I agree with.
--
XJR1300SP, XJ900F, GS550, GSX250, 750SS
POTM#1(KoTL), WUSS#1 , YTC#1(bar), OSOS#2(KoTL) , DS#3 , IbW#18 ,Apostle#8
*(Emails to the posted address will be ignored)*
"The internet is a huge and diverse community and not every one is friendly"
http://www.ytc1.co.uk There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/
Get the Software http://wwws.sun.com/software/solaris
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #786959 ] |
Mon, 17 July 2006 13:39 |
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toad_oftoadhall [at] yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Are the Pyrenees going to compare favorably with the Alps?
If you expect a replica of the Alps, no. If you expect to discover some
different sort of mountain, yes.
> What's the spanish side like? The french provide decent food, good
My experience says that at the same price, better food/drink in Spain.
> campsites, good road surfaces and loads of petrol stations, do the
> Spanish?
You can find extremely crap road surface in the French side and
orgasmatronic surfaces in the Spanish side. And the opposite applies as
well.
> We will be forced to go in August. What's the typical weather? I'm
> guessing plenty of rain on the northern slopes & sod all on the souther
> slopes? Will it be way too hot? (The alps are plenty high enough to
> cool down, how about the Pyrenees)
A bit warmer in the south, and expect that in the evenings there might
be quick storms. The heat raises clouds and then tehy discharge.
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| Re: Pyrenees [message #786960 ] |
Mon, 17 July 2006 13:44 |
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Cab wrote:
> [2] The latest story I have from my BiL, was that he had to climb down
> a fairly steep slope to retrieve the foot of an English biker that
> decided to have an argument with a crash barrier. The crash barrier
> didn't like the idea, so whipped off the foot of said biker. This was
> the second time he's had to do this.
Tamango from es.charla.moteros had a similar argument losing both legs
several years ago :-( In the meantime, most crash barriers supports
have been protected to prevent such fatalities.
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