Ducati-loving doctors from Durcal do it. Leather-clad lawyers from Lecrin do it too, and every lad worth his spiky haircut in Lanjarón does it. As often and as noisily as he can.
I'm talking about motorbike riding, especially those beautiful giants, the sport touring motorbikes. Almost every weekend, you can see (and hear) large shoals of shiny chrome Harleys, Honda Gold Wings and other two-wheeled gods of the road vroom past on our sleepy Alpujarran mountain roads, loving those hairpin bends and dizzy ravines.
Now there's a new 'temple' in town, offering the correct level of worshipful attention for these magnificent machines. La Moto Chispa (chispa means 'spark' in Spanish) has just opened in a converted olive mill and is revving up for big bike business.
Motorbike mechanic Gus Hall (photo, left) whose mum Lindsay has lived in Lanjarón for several years, is powering this new venture. Lindsay's partner Fernando (photo, right) is the owner of the mill and is helping Gus find his feet in Spain.
Gus's passion for bikes has carried him and wife Claire through all the changes and challenges of setting up a new home and business in this rural region of Andalucia.
"Bigger bikes, touring bikes, are my real area of expertise," says Gus, fiddling with his diagnostics. "And old bikes - I'm just restoring a Ducati 350," (you know, readers, the single one with the overhead valve). But Gus emphasises that La Moto Chispa is more than just a workshop. "I want it to be a centre for bike enthusiasts," he says. "We'll be screening Moto GP and other important race events at weekends," he assures me.
Open for business 9-2 and 5-8 pm weekdays, and 10-2 pm weekends, Gus will welcome your weary BMW F800STs and K1200GTs, not to mention smooth the ruffled feathers of your Gold Wing, and send you on your winding way. Andalucid wishes him every success!
La Moto Chispa is at Barrio Hondillo, 119. Email: [email protected] or call Gus on (+34) 633 290 990. And you can befriend him on Facebook too.
Finally, an ice-cold cerveza for the first reader to i/d the bike in this photo: (You will have to come to La Moto Chispa to claim it): ¡Hasta pronto!
