DAY 8 THURSADAY 14TH JANUARY 2010

BENIDORM TO GRANADA
Didn´t sleep well last night due to hotel room being too hot. The hotel had set the entire interior temperature to cater for their elderly winter guests. While this was was comfortable for the old folks it was uncomfortable for us hardened bikes who were more aclimatised to the sub zero temperatures of the UK and Northern France.
As soon as we were all dressed up in our bike gear, we couldn´t wait to get outside into the fresh morning air. Now a group of 7, we set off from Benidorm and immediately joined the motorway south. For the first time since last summer, I was actually warm whilst riding a bike. This made me realise why I actually ride a bike, because it is fun!
The fine weather did not last however and soon we were subjected to vicious cross winds so strong it would blow us across the two lanes of the motorway. Passing large trucks became "interesting" as they offered a very temporary reprieve from leaning the bike against the wind but it struck back with a vengeance once you came level with the front of the truck. You had to time it precisely to steer into the wind, too early and you would swerve towards the truck, too late and you got blown towards the central reservations.
In addition to these severe winds we then had to cope with driving rain as well making visability difficult. In some ways this was the worst of the riding conditions that we had encountered.
By the time we finally arrived in Grenada, we were all shattered from the efforts of riding and just wanted to find a decent hotel. We found a small bar to use as our base whilst we checked out the surrounding area. Andres knew central Grenada but since his last visit the city had introduced more one-way systems and pedestrianised areas so it was easier to search for a hotel on foot. The bar owner looked unimpressed as we spread out our dripping wet bike gear which caused puddles of water on his highly polished wooden floor. But as long as we were spending money, he was happy enough.
Whilst we were laughing and joking in the bar. Roger took a phone cal from Richard, who was the last member of our group to join us. He was due to be joining us here in Grenada having ridden down from Madrid this morning. Roger suddenly shouted for all of us to be very quiet as he was struggling to hear Richard on the phone but that something serious had happened. Richard had just informed Roger that he was phoning him from a nearby supermarket carpark but that he was stuck under his bike and may have a broken leg!" At first Roger thought it was a joke but quickly realised that Richard was serious. We managed to get the location of the carpark and immediately set about a plan to help him. Andres as the only Spanish speaker was immediately despatched along with Bhud who was competent with the satnav to locate Richard and find his way back to the bar.
As soon as Andres and Bhud arrived at the supermarket, they phoned to tell us that Richard had already been taken to hospital by ambulance. The local police were extremely helpful and professional and helped sort out Richard´s bike and marked on the satnav the precise location of the hospital. Andres rode off to the hospital to find out more details whilst Bhud stayed with Richard´s bike. We now needed to get Richard´s relatively undamaged bike recovered back to our hotel for safe storage. It was decided that I was best suited to ride Ricard´s bike as I rode a similar model whereas all of the other riders rode the later lighter machines. I of course agreed to help even though it meant a pillion ride across town on the back of another bike to get there. Like many experienced motorcyclists, I do not like to go pillion on another bike as I hate the feeling of not being in control. I need not have worried as Gert who carried me across town was an incredibly smooth rider and we were soon at the carpark where we found Bhud and the bike. Richard had originally planned to ride down all the way to South Africa and back up the Eastern side so he was carrying a substantial amout of gear on his bike. We unloaded some of the gear and spread the weight on to Gert´s and Bhuds bikes. I gave Richard´s bike a good check over as I was nervous of riding a bike that had been potentially damaged. We found out that Richard had been riding at very slow speed and just over balanced but had got his leg trapped under the pannier as the bike had toppled over. Consequently, damage to the bike was minimal but I still wanted to assure myself that everything worked correctly before I rode it back across town in the evening rush hour. I rode it back rather gingerly and soon had it safely stored in the hotel´s underground carpark.
Andres remained at the hospital but was unable to get much information on Richard other than he was obviously being kept in overnight.
The rest of our group were very subdued and saddened that a member oof the team had been injured and wouldn´t be able to continue the trip.
There was nothing more we could do for Richard that evening so we decided to get some much needed food. A restaurant was found just a few hundred yards from the hotel which looked promising. It advertised on the door a tourist menu for 12.5 Euros that looked good value so we decided to eat there. I had just grabbed a jacket quickly as we were leaving the hotel and it was my internal heated jacket complete with wires coming out and a big control switch with green and red buttons. I got some very funny looks as I walked into the restaurant from the other diners as I must have looked every inch a suicide bomber with this jacket on. Perhaps because of this, they put us in a separate area around the back! They then informed us that the 12.5 Euro menu was only available at lunch times and instead we would have to order from the very expensive looking a la carte selection. We soon ordered drinks including a good bottle of the local wine. The waiter tried four times to get the cork out of the bottle, each time just extracting a small amout of broken cork, much to his obvious embarrassment. Eventually, he admitted defeat and reurned with a fresh bottle. This time he managed to remove the seal and take the cork out in one smooth movement for which we gave him a slightly sarcastic round of applause.
The meal was fantastic and a real gastronomic delight. Each dish had numerous flavours and all six of us agreed it was one of the finest meals we made enjoyed in a long time.
We decided that due to Richard being in the nearby hospital that we would remain in Granada the following day so that we could assist with arranging whatever was needed for Richard and his bike.