written by Ian O'Brien

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Having decided to try some foreign trails, the Spanish Pyrenees & Andorra were chosen for exploration in June, when the snow had melted from the high passes and before the weather became too hot.

In planning the trip, I tried to obtain information from different website forums with little success. I looked at various websites and found www.vibraction.org which offers road books for various countries & areas including several for the Pyrenees which claim to use 60%unsurfaced roads. Although we didn't buy any road books in the end, it is worth a look at the site since it gives an outline of the routes covered & then we referred to detailed maps of the area that we bought in the UK. We used "Rando" series maps scale 1:50,000 from Hereford Map Centre that showed unsurfaced roads marked as "pistes."

The bikes we took were 2 KTM EXC 400's with 13 litre tanks & a KTM LC4 with 18litre tank. We fitted Bridgestone Gritty tyres on the front & Mitas rears with HD tubes.

After a short crossing from Dover to Boulogne, we trailered the bikes through France aiming for the ski resort of La Molina south east of Andorra which Austin Vince uses as a base for his "Mountain Madness" event. We figured that being out of season there would be plenty of empty rooms-well there were, but nothing was open in the resort. We drove on and noticed a small hotel/restaurant that was open and after enquiring about rooms, were ushered in by the manager David who ordered us a beer, gave orders for beds to be made up & found secure storage for the bikes. It turns out he has a KTM EXC 530 & proceeded to mark up our maps with trails. We had intended riding one area & moving on but we finished up staying all week & I can't recommend the staff or hotel enough: l'Hostal Escadarcs just south of Puigcerda in the Catalan region. ( www.lhostaldescadarcs..com )

We ventured South on unsurfaced roads around Ripoll and North and West along the border between Andorra and Spain. We climbed to over 8,500 on the "Pic Negre" above the snow line where there was a fantastic view of St Julia de Loria 5,000 feet below us which was reached by endless switchbacks through the forest. We rode through ski resorts and the classic trail through the abandoned village of Tor on the "smugglers route" from Andorra into Spain (legal route). I was told that the police patrol the passes from Andorra to check if 4x4's are carrying duty free goods out of Andorra into Spain. At the border crossing no one is stopped when entering Andorra but every other car is searched going back into Spain.

There were very few gates which makes a pleasant change although in some areas there are a number of electric wires (cattle fences) across the road which can give a sharp shock if not careful when unhooking & re-fastening. I missed spotting one until too late & finished up sliding down the road but no damage was done. (That was how Steve McQueen got his bike in "The Great Escape").

The weather started off cold & wet but got hotter as the week went on with one day a sweltering 35 degrees in Andorra. We filled our camel backs with ice to help stay cool. We had no punctures or problems with the bikes all week, with a total of about 2,000 miles ridden between us. (Except for a missing sprocket bolt which the barman from the hotel managed to obtain a replacement from the local motorbike shop)

The trails are not particularly technical & could easily be ridden by a big trail bike. We saw only one group of trail riders all week although occasionally we came across road bikes on standard tyres which is definitely pushing your luck. Some of the trails are quite remote. and one day we passed a 1000cc Yamaha Fazer parked up minus back wheel-presumably punctured, leaving the owner the best part of 10 miles from the nearest surfaced road.

The locals seemed friendly towards bikers with many people seeming to have a trials or enduro bike tucked away (or used by forest workers & farmers) & always willing to give directions at any opportunity. This backfired on one occasion however when some Spanish walkers indicated we could ride up a track into Andorra but we were stopped by Spanish police in a car coming down the other way. They took our document details & escorted us off the track complete with flashing blue lights with a warning we would have to pay to get our bikes back if we were found where we shouldn't be again. This was in a National Park where we found that a number of trails have been closed in the last year (sound familiar?). It was also evident that many of the "pistes" shown on the map have been concreted and until the maps are updated it difficult to know what to expect on the ground.

I still consider this an area well worth visiting, but don't leave it too late since unsurfaced trails are being lost all the time. Our trip only took in a small part of the Pyrenees, and since I haven't been to other areas, I can't compare riding the rest of the mountain range. I would welcome any information on riding other areas or any routes from Spain through Portugal.

Ian O'Brien