Wow, the A138 road is an
awesome bit of tarmac.
A beautiful grippy
surface, super twisty,
but with many corners
banked like berms, and
it went for a miles – just
unbelievably cool with
almost zero traffic
It went like this... I pulled up to the barrier
arm. There was only a slot for a toll card
and a Visa card. Sweet, so I put in the visa
card and nothing worked, I pushed the
information button and got what sounded
like a recorded message in Spanish – I speak
zero Spanish. Cars were building up behind
me and I was getting nowhere. I pushed
the bike back out of the toll booth and
watched a few cars go through, and then
shot under the arm as a car went through.
About now one hell of a racket broke out,
crazy loud alarm bells, so I rode forward a
few metres and parked on a median strip.
I was expecting to see armed guards
running from all directions, but nothing
happened and no one came. I’d thought
when they showed up I would explain
the situation, pay and go. But still no one
appeared. So I thought bugger this and rode
off. For the next few kilometres I upped the
speed somewhat and kept a decent eye on
the mirrors. Much later I entered another
toll both with a human in place and paid for
the whole trip from Barcelona. All was well.
Wow, the A138 road is an awesome bit of
tarmac. A beautiful grippy surface, super
twisty, but with many corners banked
like berms, and it went for a miles – just
unbelievably cool with almost zero traffic. It
felt genuinely remote, the terrain was arid
with scrubby trees and some very old stone
farm buildings.
The road swept past the beautiful Embalse
de Mediano reservoir, which has a drowned
church. A sandstone building off to the
right in some low hills caught my attention;
a farm house I think. It was a long low
structure and appeared brand new at the
far end. The opposite end, however, had
collapsed into crumbling rock blocks. In the
middle were two sections that progressively
improved until meeting the new part at the
other end. It looked as though every 100
years or so somebody had built a new part
on the right hand end rather than repair the
old... giving four distinct, attached sections
separated only by time. Whatever the true
facts, it was a fascinating and puzzling sight.
KIWI RIDER 85