Almost ready, One week to go.

So while Lindsay is away on a short bike trip to Kent with his 11' o clock club, I have almost completed the basic ride plan, and plotted on Tyre ready to upload to the TomTom later this week. Here's the POI layout of the places we wish to visit:

.... and here's the basic itinerary we are hoping for, assuming weather is kind to us:

1. Potes, Picos Mountains (Camp), Cantabria, Asturias, Castille and Leon. 
2. Ponferrada, then Montfort de Lemos (Camp), Castille and Leon and into Galicia.
3. Pontevedra, on the coast near O'Grove, Galicia. (Camp)
4. Santiago de Compastela, Galicia - (Hotel) visit the Cathedral.
5. Ride out to Fisterre - the Worlds End.
6. Porto in Portugal - (Hotel) to visit the old town, Port wine houses etc.
7. Ride the River Douro (River of Gold) - Lamego (Camp).
8. Salamanca (Camp)
9. Segovia, nr Madrid, to visit the Roman Aqueduct, (Camp)
10. Ride around Sierra de Guadarrama North of Madrid and visit the Valley of the Fallen.
11. San Vicente dela Barquera on the Northern Coast, Cantabria (Hotel) 

Following Campsite locations en-route include:

• Potes. Camping La Viorna
• Ponferrada (El Bierzo) - Camping Valle de Seo 
• Nr Pontevedra, O'Grove - Camping Muineria
• Lamego, Duoro Valley - Camping Lamego
• Salamanca - Camping Don Quijote
• Segovia - Camping El Acueducto

Anticipated Highlights of the trip

Santiago de Compastela

This is on the pilgrims  route, the way of St James, the Camino. The region of Galicia looks rugged, and has some great roads. Visit the Cathedral too, and spend a day off the bike looking around the city.

Porto
Looking forward to getting my hands on some tarts.

http://www.casaversa.com/blog/top-10-things-to-do-on-a-weekend-in-porto-portugal/

Douro Valley

Why are we heading to the Douro ? Some of the roads and places to visit (Quintas) look ideal for Motorcycle touring. The whole place is designated UNESCO world heritage. Here's a good article I came across recently:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/driving-portugals-wine-country

Segovia
I work with a systems engineer 'Richie' who married a Spanish woman, and had the wedding ceremony in Segovia. Her family are from Madrid, and the mountainous region of Sierra de Guaderrama is one of the top destinations for people of Madrid. As I understand, its high enough for skiing in the winter. Segovia comes highly recommended by Richie, and is a very popular destination to visit the Roman Aqueduct. Again another city with UNESCO world heritage status. We are really looking forward to visiting Segovia!