After talking to him for only a few minutes it became clear we had a lot in common. He once ran a successful business, but now runs a lifestyle business. He too has a sense of adventure and a wander lust. He too has direct debits imposed by a divorce court. He's way ahead (or perhaps behind) me though as he has three!
It was not long till he too had come to a similar conclusion and asked if I was up for an adventure in 2010. It turns out he's working on the logistics for the first hovercraft crossing of the Sahara. Was I interested in talking to the organiser? Sorry Michelle, I told him I was.
I figured that in a country where the moped, scooter or motorbike are primary forms of transport that it would not be that hard to get my new rear tyre fitted. And so it proved. After 5 minutes of cruising I found a bike dealership. Figuring that a Spanish motorcycle mechanic probably spoke little English I had got the hotel receptionist to write a note for me.
He gave me a price of 28 Euros including balancing and I decided that, whilst a bit expense, he was probably better that the Spanish version of QuickFit. In an amalgum of "Spanglish" we got the job done. He got to learn of the benefits of UltraSeal as it fell out of the old tyre all over his floor and I got to see his chaotic and hot workshop.
As I croutched on his workshop floor desperately trying to squeeze a new bottle of UltraSeal in through the tyre valve and sweating like a condemned man he laughed and left the workshop. Great I though, at least he could have helped. A couple of minutes later he walked back in with a large bottle of ice cold water and told me it was for free.
I'd decided to hold on to the old tyre to put in the support vehicle that way if any of the Beemers get a badly sliced rear tyre we can put on my old one. It was, however, still full of ultraSeal. Now what they don't tell you on the packaging is that the bright blue colour that is supposed to show you've got a puncture is also an effective dye. Still, the condensation from a few beers should soon wash my blue hand away!
On returning to the hotel I could only see one other bike with off-road tyre fitted was a KTM so I figured the other boys were not around and headed into town solo.
I'd always thought of Malaga as just an airport for low cost airlines but it is a major port and historic city. I wandered initially along the seafront road, but it soon became apparent that this was not the heart of the city Heading north I was soon into the commercial area with inviting side streets. I found a nice bar and sat down for some lunch.
The seating overlooked a fantastic church. I grabbed the menu but couldn't understand much of it. I picked a salad that I could tell had bacon and prawns in it. However, when it turned up I couldn't recognize one of the main ingredients. There were scampi like prawns, bacon, salad and loads of things that looked like short spaghetti. But they were grey on the top and white underneath with tapered ends. This was all presented in a really light and crispy tortilla.
Having tasted the "spaghetti" and examined it more closely I realised they were elvers - baby eels. It was delicious.
With a good lunch inside me I wandered back to the hotel taking in more of the sights. We all then met up in the bar for our tour briefing. Julian had arrived from Portugal and Phil had flown in from Wales. The team was assembled.
After the briefing we headed out to a tapas bar for a selection of Spanish delicacies with lashing of beer and wine. We had to be on the road by 7:30, but that didn't stop me drinking too much!
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