90s enduro trip

After participating in some rallies over the years I thought it would be really cool to organise a multi day trip through the mountains of Andalusia on 90s bikes with full 90s atmosphere without the race aspect. Riding, camping and campfire stories.

So that’s exactly what we did. 10 riders on vintage bikes: Honda XR600, XR250, Yamaha XT600 and one very brave Dakar replica BMX R80 GS.

Monday evening everyone arrived at our guesthouse in Mijas. We made a typical Andalusian paella, did a briefing about the plan, do’s and don’ts. After dinner some of the riders did some wrenching in our workshop to make sure everything was ready for departure the next day.

Tuesday morning we packed our bags, load the bikes with gearbags and of we started the 5 day trip of 1000km.

Day 1:

200km on the agenda, going from Mijas to Ardales, a beautiful trip crossing 2 mountains with beautiful high dark rocky walls. We rode 2 hours around a surrounding lake while the sun was going down. We arrived at our camp spot next to the lake at sun down and started a large campfire, we ate Jamón, cheese, bread and drank Andalusian red wine. Everyone smiled while enjoying the last red glow of the sun behind the mountains.

Day 2:

All night we had a clear sky full of stars. I was up first to enjoy the last stars and to light the campfire again so everyone could warm up and enjoy a warm coffee, toast with cheese during the sun rise. Some of us took a refreshing swim, the water was warmer than the outside temperature, making a nice mist above the water. Using the fire to dry ourselves.

After packing and cleaning the campsite, off we were for another 200km of off-road mountain trails. We had some small breakdowns along the road, such as a broken throttle cable and a flat tire, but they were all easy fixes.

We made it to our next campsite in time for another beautiful sunset. This time we made burgers to fuel up our body after a long day. Roasting our buns, grilling our beef burgers on the campfire, topped off with cheddar, pickled union, lettuce, tomato, lime mustard mayo, ketchup and sea salt. Can you taste them? All of this with blues playing on the background, it was magical.

Day 3:

We woke up after a warm night, and of we were off for 250km of long fast tracks. We had to pass Sevilla on our way to El Palmar. It was raining lightly making the trails interesting and fun. Everyone sprayed mud on each other, making others laugh like hell. Good stuff.

We arrive at El Palmar beach around sunset, we changed into our wetsuits for a magical sunset surf session. The ones not surfing are having a beer on the beach. Smiley faces everywhere.

Tonight we are sleeping in tipi tents and have a hot shower to wash the filthiness off. We had pizza and a beer to end up in bed quit early. Everyone is tired and fulfilled.

Day 4:

After packing, we have an hour drive on the coastline with the sun low above the ocean, we’re all looking at the clean waves coming in, perfect morning ride. We arrive at our brunch location Power House in Tarifa and stuffed ourselves with the best food.

After this we have a long day ahead. We cross mountains and forests.

One was crazy, we call it ‘the place beyond the pines’: Deep sandy trails going downhill a pine forrest for about 1 hour. The slower you go the harder it is. Everyone going left and right trying to find the correct route as fast as possible, the faster you go the more likely you miss a turn. We’re all competitive so it ends up being a little race.

We stopped in the forest to have a break and talk about how fun it was and we continue our journey direction Ronda. We had a fast day of riding, with everyone on the top of their navigation game, almost no mistakes were made and we make a lot of progress.

We finally made it back to the finca just after dark.

Day 5:

We enjoyed a slow morning at the finca, have a nice breakfast and off we go for our last day of riding. Today we go direction Ojén, 120km easy gravel roads with beautiful views. We have lunch at a local vent in a authentic small town.

Tonight we’re having a fancy dinner provided by a private chef. We light the outside fireplace in the patio. It’s so cosy, candles everywhere, nice music playing in the background and reminiscing about the trip.

A table full of food, we raise our glasses and enjoy together. Roasted chicken, roasted vegetables, grilled potatoes and side salads. Chocolate desert with salt flakes and red fruits to finish the feast.

After dinner everyone is sharing stories about motor experiences and we watch movies on the big screen. You can see everyone’s glowing and fully charged, ready to go home and already looking forward to the next trip.

Stay tuned for our next adventures or get in touch to have a similar riding experience!

Images: @conograph & Bram Van Roy