If you've been to Spain during the Autumn, you may have experienced this before. In this blog, we share Duncan's story of perilous roundabouts and the lovely Spanish people.
Slippery roundabouts and the local police
Have you ever noticed louds squeaks down in the supermarket car park? Rubber from all the tires has compacted into the tarmac over time and can cause wheels to slip and let out these tremendous shrieks and squeals. The same sort of thing happens to the Spanish roads over the course of the summer and can lead to some hairy moments – especially for motorcyclists.
After a warm Spanish summer, Vida Aventuras guide Duncan was riding through the southern back-roads, a staple of his tours. As he approached an innocuous roundabout he slowed and was caught by surprise as his front wheel skidded from underneath him. Both man and bike fell. After assessing that "not too much damage" had been done, he began to unload from his Moto Guzzi, to aid in lifting the heavy beast. Before he could finish unloading the tail packs, two local gentlemen had already stopped, left their cars, and picked the bike up. How generous!
Before Duncan could give the chaps a proper gracias he noticed blue lights flickering from behind. La Guardia Civil. The local fuzz. Two traffic cops dismounted their motorbikes and made their way over. Back home in the UK you would fully expect a field sobriety test and a puff on the breathalyser after any sort of accident. However, much like the two local men before, even the police took a caring and laid back approach. After offering some water and stopping for a chat Juan (R) took a photo of the new amigos using his smart-phone and smart-watch in combination, modern technology! Duncan was even invited for a beer in Sevilla, which he took up in 2019 when he met up with Antonio (L).
After setting off again, Duncan was 10 minutes down the road when Juan & Antonio chased him down again. As they were motoring down the road, Juan ripped his velcro Guardia Civil badge from his jacket and handed it to Duncan. He now wears it with pride on his jacket.
A tip from this situation is to always approach roundabouts SLOWLY. Slower than you think you need to be, and do not brake! The Guardia even warns that bends on the popular mountain routes, the lovely twisty ones, can suffer from the same issues as they collect rubber over the summer as there is little to no run-off on the roads. So take care on those roads but do enjoy them.
Duncan's Spanish travel books are available on his website - Click here for more info