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Nearly on top of the Pyrenees! Regarding Pyrenees passes it doesn’t get much higher than the Port de Cabús (at 2305 m above sea level) leading into Andorra via a very challenging climb from the small Catalonian village of Alins through the Valle Tor which transforms right before Tor into very technical and steep gravel. I reached the top right as the sun was about to set.
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Fast auf dem Dach der Pyrenäen! In Bezug auf Passüberquerungen gibt es nicht viel höheres als den Port de Cabús (mit 2305 m über dem Meer), der als sehr anspruchsvolle Kletterei von dem katalanischen Alins durch das Valle Tor und von Tor an über einen sehr technische und steile Gravel-Weg nach Andorra hineinführt. Ich erreichte die Passhöhe gerade als die Sonne begann, hinter den Bergkämmen zu verschwinden.
Serial number: 28218
Line Number: 160
First flight date: 24/11/1998
Engines 2 x CFMI CFM56-7B27
G-OJSW 11/12/1998 Sabre Airways
G-OJSW 16/12/2000 Miami Air
G-XLAB 16/05/2001 Excel Airways
G-XLAB 15/10/2006 XL Airways
G-XLAB 25/05/2007 My Travel Airways
G-XLAB 20/10/2007 XL Airways
G-XLAB 16/11/2007 Xtra Airways
D-AXLF 30/04/2008 XL Airways Germany
D-AXLF 19/11/2009 Air Namibia
D-AXLF 30/04/2010 XL Airways Germany
C-GDGY 30/11/2010 Canjet Airlines
D-AXLF 25/04/2011 XL Airways Germany
C-GDGY 02/12/2011 Canjet Airlines
D-AXLF 11/05/2012 XL Airways Germany
C-GDGY 13/12/2012 Canjet Airlines
Stored 12/2012 as N282AG
TC-TJM 04/06/2013 Corendon Air
Stored 11/2018 as VP-CCF / 2-ACSA
N820TJ 13/03/2019 Swift Air
N820TJ 30/05/2019 SmartWings
N820TJ 15/10/2019 Swift Air
N820TJ 01/12/2019 iAero Airways
My trusted steed after 3100 km riding from Passau to Vienna, from Vienna to Nice and then from Nice back into Germany to Freiburg. What a pleasant summer it was despite all the circumstances.
Ready for a bit of sight seeing and strolling around on a lazy sunday in Freiburg im Breisgau. Really not the worst place to live, I guess.
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 14-May-24.
Later renamed Excel Airways and then XL Airways UK.
Named: "Tinks".
This aircraft was delivered to ILFC International Lease Finance Corporation and leased to Sabre Airways as G-OJSW in Dec-98. It was sub-leased to Miami Air in Dec-00 for the winter season.
While it was away, Sabre Airways was renamed Excel Airways in Jan-01 and the aircraft returned to them at the end of Apr-01. The aircraft was re-registered G-XLAB in May-01. Excel Airways was renamed XL Airways UK in Nov-06.
In May-07 it was sub-leased to MyTravel Airways for the summer season and returned to XL Airways in Oct-07. The following month it was leased to Xtra Airways (USA), returning to XL Airways UK in Apr-08.
The aircraft was transferred to XL Airways Germany as D-AXLF three days later. On 18-Oct-08, while en-route from Frankfurt (Germany) to Antalya (Turkey), the aircraft suffered a fire in the No:1 engine and diverted to Belgrade (Serbia) [see note below].
Blended Winglets were installed at Istanbul in Feb-09. In Nov-09 it was wet-leased to Air Namibia for the winter, returning to XL Airways Germany in May-10. In Nov-10 the aircraft was sub-leased to CanJet (Canada) as C-GDGY and returned to XL Airways as D-AXLF in Apr-11.
It was leased to CanJet again in Dec-11 as C-GDGY, returning to XL Airways as D-AXLF in May-12. The process was started again in Dec-12, the aircraft was leased to CanJet as C-GDGY but was still at Dublin (Ireland) having the titles applied when XL Airways Germany ceased operations and it was returned to ILFC as D-AXLF.
It was registered N282AG the same day and was stored at Dublin. The aircraft was leased to Corendon Airlines (Turkey) as TC-TJM in May-13 and returned to the lessor in Nov-18, it was stored at Lourdes, France.
It was re-registered 2-ACSA in Jan-19 and leased to Swift Air (USA) as N820TJ in Mar-19. The aircraft was wet-leased to SmartWings Airlines (Czechia) in May-19 and returned to Swift Air in Nov-19. Swift Air was renamed iAero Airways in Jan-20.
iAero Airways ceased operations 06-Apr-24 after failed restructuring efforts during bankruptcy proceedings. After initially being parked at Greensboro' NC, USA the aircraft was returned to the Aviation Capital Group and ferried to Marana for storage in mid Apr-24. Updated 14-May-24.
Note 1: A fire occurred in the No:1 engine and the aircraft made an emergency landing at Belgrade (Serbia). The engine was still burning on landing and was extinguished by ground based fire services. The aircraft was evacuated and there were no injuries to the 182 passengers and 6 crew. As well as the engine damage, the fire caused severe structural damage to the wing as well as damage to electrical and hydraulic systems within it. It took 6 weeks to make temporary repairs and replace the engine and the aircraft then ferried to Istanbul at the end of Nov-08 for permanent repairs. It returned to service in mid Feb-09.
Note 2: On 20-May-20 during a ferry flight from Victorville, CA, USA to San Diego, CA, USA, parts of the lower tail fin-fillet detached causing some damage to the rear horizontal stabiliser. The aircraft landed without incident. The crew were unaware of any problem until after arrival at San Diego. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service.
KEN Plotbot`s Solo Show at X-lab Gallery Berlin as it happened. January 26th - February 22th 2013. Photos by Paola Verde
June 2010 - [DUS/EDDL] Düsseldorf - International
Final 05R.
cn 28218, delivered to Sabre Airways as G-OJSW in 1998, ex G-XLAB with Excel UK, meanwhile flying for Corendon as TC-TJM.
G-OJSW Boeing 737-8Q8 Sabre Airways 11 Dec 1998 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 leased from ILFC
G-OJSW Boeing 737-8Q8 Miami Air International
16 Dec 2000 Y189 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26
leased from Sabre Airways
G-XLAB Boeing 737-8Q8 Excel Airways 16 May 2001
Y189 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 ret leased from ILFC
G-XLAB Boeing 737-8Q8 XL Airways 30 Nov 2006 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 tfd leased from ILFC
G-XLAB Boeing 737-8Q8 MyTravel 17 May 2007 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 leased from XL Airways
G-XLAB Boeing 737-8Q8 XL Airways 19 Oct 2007 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 ret leased from ILFC
G-XLAB Boeing 737-8Q8 Xtra Airways 16 Nov 2007 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 leased from XL Airways
G-XLAB Boeing 737-8Q8 XL Airways 20 Apr 2008 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 ret leased from ILFC
D-AXLF Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) XL Airways Germany
30 Apr 2008 Y189 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 leased from ILFC
WL fitted 02/2009
D-AXLF Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) Air Namibia 19 Nov 2009
Y189 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 leased from XL Airways Germany
D-AXLF Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) XL Airways Germany
30 Apr 2010 Y189 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 ret
leased from ILFC painted in "Sunweb.nl Reizen" special colours
Ferried WDH-ACC-FRA 30 Apr 2010 on delivery
C-GDGY Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) CanJet 2 Dec 2010 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 leased from XL Airways Germany
D-AXLF Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) XL Airways Germany
25 Apr 2011 Y189 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 ret
leased from ILFC
painted in "Schauinsland Reisen" special colours 07/2011
C-GDGY Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) CanJet 2 Dec 2011 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 leased from XL Airways Germany
D-AXLF Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) XL Airways Germany
2 May 2012 Y189 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 ret
leased from ILFC
painted in "Öger Türk Tur" special colours
C-GDGY Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) CanJet 12 Dec 2012 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26
leased from XL Airways Germany
N282AG Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) Aviation Capital Group (ACG)
21 Dec 2012 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26
TC-TJM Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) Corendon Airlines 31 May 2013
Y189 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 leased from ACG
Ferried AUH-AYT 4 Jun 2013 on delivery
wfu 22 Oct 2018 std at LDE 7 Nov 2018
2-ACSA Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) Aviation Capital Group (ACG)
18 Jan 2019 2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 ret
N820TJ Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) Swift Air 19 Mar 2019 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26
820
leased from ACG
Entered into service 17 May 2019
N820TJ Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) Smartwings 30 May 2019 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26
leased from Swift Air
N820TJ Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) Swift Air 15 Oct 2019 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26820
ret
leased from ACG
N820TJ Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) iAero Airways 1 Jan 2020 Y189
2x CFMI CFM56-7B26 820
leased from ACG
Incident 20 May 2020 en route VCV-SAN when parts of the tail become detached in-flight and caused damage to the rear stabilizer
A typical picture for bikepacking races: a bike at night at a gas station. Not so typical for the Transpyrenees Race as you would be lucky to find any station at all in the small places the race route would lead us through. And if there were any they typically wouldn’t offer the services, i.e. food, which we would seek from them and wouldn’t open for longer hours then normal shops in the first place. The only thing „24 hour“ about them would be automated tanking by card payment. For this station at Martinet I knew that it would feature a Coke vending machine. Something I conveniently already knew from my route planning of this years Three Peaks Bike Race where I researched already the N-260 between La Seu d’Urgell and Puigcerda as one option. In the #TPBR2019 I choose my other alternative via Ax-les-Thermes and the Port d’Envalira. For the #TPRNo1 my planning clearly showed the southern route out of Andorra and thus avoiding the arduous climbing over the Port d’Envalira as the clearly faster option.
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Ein typisches Bild für Bikepacking-Rennen: Ein Rad in der Nacht an einer Tankstelle. Nicht so typisch allerdings für das Transpyrenees Race. Denn das führte uns durch kleine Orte und einsame Gegenden wo man glücklich sein musste, überhaupt eine Tankstelle vorzufinden. Geschweige denn eine, die auch tatsächlich Essbares verkaufen würde. Und auch länger aufhaben würde, als normale Läden. Das einzige "24 Stunden" mäßige an solchen Tanken waren die rund um die Uhr verfügbaren Zapfsäulen.
Für diese Tankstelle in Martinet wusste ich allerdings, dass sie einen Cola-Automat vor sich stehen hatte. Etwas, was ich praktischerweise schon von meiner Routenplanung für das Three Peaks Bike Race wusste, für das ich bereits die N-260 zwischen La Seu d'Uurgell und Puigcerda als eine Option untersucht hatte. Im #TPBR2019 wählte ich allerdings die Variante über Ax-les-Thermes und den Port d'Envalira. Für das #TPRNo1 zeigte meine Planung allerdings klar, dass die südliche Route aus Andorra heraus und so den langwierigen Anstieg über den Port d'Envalira vermeidend die schnellere Option war.
So before I get to many #nobikesnolikes I guess it’s time for some bike bling or even bling bikes again.. ;-)
So see my @22bikes Drifter on the evening before the start of the #TPRNo1 in front of the famous Rocher de la Vierge at sunset overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. While I don’t went downright dipping my wheels into the Ocean I wanted to at least have a first look at the sea after I just was around the Campanile and the Skate Park all day, arriving in Biarritz, getting registered, briefed, buying stuff (a.k.a. food) for tomorrows start and stuff.
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Bevor ich noch zu viele #nobikesnolikes bekomme, ist es wohl wieder Zeit für etwas Bike Bling bzw. für bling Bikes. ;-)
Deswegen hier mein No. 22 Bicycles Drifter am Abend vor dem Start des #TPRNo1 vor dem Berühmten Felsen der Jungfrau in Biarritz zum Sonnenuntergang über dem Atlantik. Während ich mich nicht zum Strand herunterbemüht habe, um die Räder in den Ozean zu tauchen, so wollte ich doch wenigstens einen ersten Blick auf das Meer werfen, wo ich sonst den ganzen Tag im Umkreis des Campanile und des Skateparks verbracht hatte: Ankommen, Registrieren, Briefing, Einkaufen (Verpflegung für den Tag morgen).
My 22 Bicycles Drifter above the Lago de Moncortès. Here the first Code Box for the passive controlling of the lettered parcours was situated. There were numbered parcours around the manned checkpoints and lettered parcours A to F which had such passive controls (besides the Raid Pyrénéen.
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Mein 22 Bicycles Drifter oberhalb des Lago de Moncortès. Hier war die erste Code Box für die passive Kontrolle der "Buchstaben"-Parcours platziert. Es gab nummerierte Parcours um die betreuten Kontrollpunkte herum und Parcours mit Buchstaben von A bis F, die solche passiven Kontrollen aufwiesen (bis auf den Raid Pyrénéen.