Mournes - Merindades

2025 saw us developing DelNorté vintage motorcycling touring, and continuing to develop  the workshop facility in San Cristobal de Almendres. 

Situated in the beautiful Las Merindades region it offers a well positioned recovery and workshop facility to support the tour activities. The location was chosen as it offers easy access in little over 1 hour to the airports and ferry terminals of Santander and Bilbao. Being approximately 50 miles inland it is a location that offers protection from the Atlantic coast weather systems but within easy travelling distance of the coastal regions. Temperatures in the spring and autumn offer perfect riding temperatures and the summer highs are not prohibitive for hardy adventurers. 

Northern Spain offers a host of opportunities for road touring with great variety and excellent accessibility. San Cristobal is only a few kilometres from the historic medieval town of Medina de Pomar, where we have accomodation and garaging for up to six riders and machines - "Campamento Base" (Base Camp!). The Picos range is a short distance to the north west and the Rioja region is to the south east. The whole region is dominated by the mountains and the river systems and every valley offers spectacular roads and riding opportunities. 

We will be in Spain again next year, carrying out the workshop renovations and planning future events. 

June 2024 saw the first "Ulster Tour"  which ran for 5 days and then met the Antrim Coast event on the Friday at mid-day. It had started in Newcastle and the 40 entrants had toured between venues from the south east coast of Northern Ireland to Malin head, across Donegal and back into County Antrim to join the annual VMCCni Antrim Coast event. 

In July, I organised the kingdom Of Mourne event in Kilkeel for pre-'31 vintage motorcycles. 35 machines toured for the weekend around the Mournes and Leitrim hills.

Lucy and I travelled down the edge of the Pyrenees in mid June to join the Norton International event with our 1946 Model 18 Norton. We had a number of motorcycling visitors over the late summer and we took full advantage of the good weather to show off the high mountain routes in the area.

September took us to Potes for the MC Piston Club event which again defied a changeable forecast and delivered a dry event. 

The workshop is  nearing completion and the project to create more accommodation in the adjacent building is approved and ready to begin.

2026 has started with a new direction. Lucy, quite by chance, discovered a property for sale in the beautiful village of Pomar. This small traditional rural pueblo is 1km  from Medina de pomar, bounded to the east by the Trueba river, and to the west by the outskirts of Medina de Pomar. 

The property is large enough to house all the elements of our project under one roof, albeit in need of renovation, and is in a perfect location beside the river on one side, and the excellent Romanca restaurant and hotel on the other. 

This  lucky discovery has given us an opportunity to shift our focus  and rely on the local facilities for accommodation while we develop other facets of our plan.