Here's my spring 2012 trip to Spain and France. Daily blogs are below.

Wednesday 13 June 2012

A great day to finish a fantastic ride in northern Spain and southern France. Perfect weather and scenic roads along the beach from France and back to the Barcelona area. Time to wrap up this trip and head home. Today's ride on the motorcycle totaled 347 km. The total for the motorcycle portion of this adventure was 2320 km.

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Can the days keep getting better? Seems that every day is better than the last. Rode over numerous passes again today. The first pass was great! Many bicycle riders training on it. Seems though we are following the route of the Tour de France all across the Pyrenese. At the top of the first pass, we were at the snow level. The thermometer on the bike showed a temperature of 3 degrees Celcius. Just barely above freezing. As we approached the Mediterranean Sea, the temperature was warm and the sun was shining. Our stop for tonight is right on the beach at Argeles sur Mer in France. We rode 299 km today.

Monday 11 June 2012

What a great day! Followed the route of the Tour de France over many passes in the Pyrenese. We planned to do 10 passes but I think we only did 7 or 8. One road up one pass was only wide enough for a small car. Very narrow and tight switchbacks for miles. Then just before the top it turned into a gravel two-track. The rest of the roads were good but very twisty. The weather was much better than expected and only rained for the final hour of the day. Up until then it was mostly sunny. Coming down one pass out of France and back into Spain, the road was perfect and four of us really had some fun. Our guide, a German fellow, my friend Don and I just ripped down the mountain at a "brisk" pace. Right at the bottom, it seemed like the whole police department was waiting for us and just waived us over. I kept looking up at the mountain trying to see if they could have watched us come down. We all thought we were going to jail. It turned out that they were just checking people coming into the country over that pass for proper vehicle papers and licenses. We were on our way in a few minutes with big smiles on our faces. Tonight we are back in France at Ax Les Thermes. We rode 311 km today.

Sunday 10 June 2012

Today we left Pamplona and headed, via the most remote and twisty little roads there are, into France. One section of road was little more than a goat trail down the mountain. We did several nice passes in the mountains including Col DuTourmalet. The Tour De France has been using this famous pass since 1910 and there are now many professional cycling teams here training on the pass. At our lunch stop, it started to rain and we rode in the rain the rest of the day. Tonight we are in the town of Luz St. Sauveur. The weather forecast indicates that we will be riding in a lot of rain for the next few days. In the last three days we have ridden 1017 km.

Saturday 09 June 2012

It can take about an hour to go from Pamplona to San Sebastian, on the Atlantic Ocean. We did it in four hours. Not a record, but more fun than should be allowed. Tiny, twisty, back roads all the way. San Sebastian is an absolutely beautiful city with the most beautiful bay and beaches that I have ever seen. Another four hour return trip made the day really special. We finished the day by exploring Pamplona on foot for the evening.

Friday 08 June 2012

Another great day (like every other day). Rode some fun roads and passes in the Pyrenese Mountains and arrived in Pamplona. Will stay in Pamplona for two nights. Tonight several of us walked the route that the bulls take during the "Running of the Bulls".

Thursday 07 June 2012

After a couple days of exploring Barcelona, Castelldefels, and Sitges, I have hit the road again. For now, I parked the bicycle and have a motorcycle for the next week or so. Today's ride made a stop at the famous monastery at Monseratt. Fun roads and great scenery. After that more great, twisty, roads and small towns. Finally stopped at Tremp in north central Spain. Tomorrow, heading to Pamplona, and that's no bull. Today's mileage was 346 kilometers.

Sunday 03 June 2012

I just thought I would get caught up. After arriving in Blanes, Spain, a week ago, and having done over 100 miles on the bicycle in two days. Two days that included peddling over the Pyrenese mountains and riding in rain, I decided to stop for awhile and relax. I did just that until yesterday. I read a lot, walked a lot, ate a lot, and sat on the beach a lot. Yesterday I headed out into the countryside to explore some with my bicycle. I had a fun time and rode 31 miles. Today I took the train into Barcelona and from there out to the Cataluna Grand Prix circuit for the MotoGP motorcycle races. In Barcelona a railway worker directed me onto the wrong train so here I sit at a far away place waiting for another train to get me back to the right place. Luckily, I built in a couple hour buffer just in case. It all should work out.
And work out it did. I finally made it to the race track (Cataluna Circuit) and had a good time watching the fast guys go around the track. Then another train ride back here to Blanes. Tomorrow I'll ride my bicycle the 55-60 miles to the Barcelona airport to meet Don Simone who is flying in to do some motorcycling with me for awhile.
Later ...

29 May 2012

After two really tough days of riding where I put on 111.5 miles, with lots of steep climbs, I am going to relax a couple days again. I'm in a small town on the coast and I have a place to stay that is very inexpensive. I slept a full 10 hours last night and plan on that again tonight. I walked around town and along the beach most of today so I'll turn in early and read until I fall asleep. I'll probably do the same tomorrow. I'm actually only a days bicycle ride from Barcelona and I don't have to be back there until Monday. Who knows maybe I'll spend a few more days here.

28 May 2012

After riding along the coast today for about 30 miles I stopped for lunch at a little seaside town and once again ordered chicken. This time it looked like chicken, felt like chicken and, low and behold, it even tasted like chicken. The coast route seems though it should be flat and along the water. But no, it is either straight up or straight down. I began to dread the descents because after every exciting descent was a brutal ascent. Oh well. I'm not too far from my destination today but I am sitting on a restaurant porch watching the lightening show and waiting for a thunderstorm to pass. At least this time I found shelter before I got drenched.
The thunder and lightening finally passed after about an hour but the rain didn't show signs of letting up so I suited up in my rain gear and continued on my way. I arrived in Blanes and found the hostel that I stayed at last week only to find they only are open Fri, Sat, and Sun. But the lady that owns it, recognized me through the window and opened just for me. I am the one and only occupant. She just gave me keys to all the doors so I can come and go as I please. I will stay at least a couple days here.
Rode altogether 44.1 miles today with about 10 of those in the rain.

27 May 2012

Well, I made it back to Spain. The weather was beautiful so I headed through the Pyreneese mountains over Col du Banyuls. This is not a tall pass but it is brutal, specially approaching it southbound. On the Spanish side, I only noticed grades of 10% so heading north would be the best way. On the French side the grade was much worse. Two of the climbs were 18% grades. What a workout first thing in the morning! After peddling awhile in Spain I stopped for lunch. Another surprise. I ordered chicken and fries. I have no clue what I got! They kept saying it was chicken, but ... There were about 10 "nuggets" (I don't know what else to call them). Each was deep fried on the outside and just mush on the inside. They didn't look like chicken, they didn't feel like chicken, and of all things, they didn't even taste like chicken! Oh well. I felt pretty good, even my legs, after riding over the mountains so I just kept peddling. I finally stopped at a beautiful town of Palafrugell. The town is having their spring festival and the whole town is in the town center. When I arrived into town, a parade was going on. Tonight there is live music and the whole town seems to be there and everyone is dancing to the music. Lots of fun!
Did good on the miles today with a fun 67.5 miles peddled.

25 May 2012

When I got up this morning in Narbonne, France, I got to thinking about where I was going. I have no agenda, no set destination. I do however, value my money and my daily expenses have more than doubled since entering France. So the decision to head back to Spain was made. I'll do the same thing in Spain as I am doing in France, wander aimlessly but at much less expense. In the meantime I'll make a stop at Banyuls sur Mer for a day or two anyway. I really enjoyed that little town on the beach and there are many small streets to explore. I have not found a way to connect to the internet in Banyuls so this report and any other emails will probably be delayed until I move on from there.

26 May 2012

Well here I sit on the beach in Banyuls sur Mer, France, eating a pizza. I've been here a couple days now and it's time to move on. Tomorrow I hope to ride over the Pyreneese mountains by way of Col du Banyuls. I hope the weather holds out. I sure don't want any more of the wind and thunderstorms that I had earlier on this adventure. I have been told the the road is good but one source said it was all paved and another said much was dirt. Oh well. So if all goes well I'll ride over the mountains tomorrow and be back in Spain. If the weather doesn't cooperate, I'll either take the coast road south or hop on a train a bit.

24 May 2012

Today was a good day. Lots of variety and great scenery. Another day of strong headwinds so I wasn't sure how far I would get. I left Canet-Plage and just put my head down and peddled north along the beach into about 25mph winds. I had lunch in Leucate and halfway between there and Port-la-Nouvelle I fell off the bicycle once. Don't worry, it was just another way I found to humor the locals. Yeah, right! At Port-la-Nouvelle, I got onto a barge tow-path on the Canal de la Robine and rode that to Narbonne, about 10 miles or so. The path was nice since there was no car or truck traffic, but it was rough. Just a two-track dirt path. My touring bike is a road bike with no suspension and not made for that, so it was a challenge but the scenery and the challenge made it worthwhile. I have settled into a hotel for the night in Narbonne. Todays mileage was 48.3. So far I have ridden 206.9 miles since leaving Barcelona.

23 May 2012

Last night I really enjoyed wandering around the town I was in. Lots of small meandering streets lined with small shops of all sorts. During the night the wind began howling! At one point I got up and wedged a coat hangar in the window latch to keep the window from rattling. This morning met me with bright sunshine but windy. So, today has been a real challenge. Very strong headwinds all day long. It really feels like I have traveled twice as far as I really have. I managed to ride 24.6 miles today.

~~ Bob

22 May 2012

Today was kind of a disappointment. I had been looking forward to riding over the Pyrenese mountains on Col de Banyuls. This morning at breakfast I checked the weather. A waiter assured me that it wasn't going to rain today and showed me the local paper that said no rain locally. I looked out the window and it was raining. I hooked up to the local wifi and checked the weather channel and they said 35mph winds on Col de Banyuls. Soooo, I chickened out. I rode to the train station and jumped on the next train north and got off at the first town in France, Cebere. This is a very small village so I started peddling my way to the next town. It was sprinkling and the wind was blowing hard making it hard to keep the bike in a predictable path. I stopped and talked to a Portugese bike rider. He left his home a month ago, rode up through Spain, and all around France. He was now heading to Barcelona to take a flight to South America to ride for a few months. He said he tried Col de Banyuls yesterday and about got blown away so he turned back and is heading down the coast. Maybe I can give it another try on my way back.
So now I find myself in and living for the night above another restaurant. My room is more of a suite with two rooms, a bed in each room, and a real nice private bath. My bicycle resides in the first room and I have the second room. I spent a couple nights in Spanish towns where absolutely nobody spoke English and survived well. But now, in France, I'm barely surviving. I just can't keep my oui's, si's and yes' straight anymore and I'm consistently using the wrong language, and of course getting some funny looks as I entertain the locals. Oh well, thats my purpose in life - to make people laugh. I only wish they would laugh "with" me rather than "at" me. :-)
My bicycle mileage today was a measly 8.8 miles.

21 May 2012

Day 3 is complete ... sorta. I left Calonge shortly before noon and headed up a scenic road that was really fun. It had five miles of steep uphill just after the beginning that kept me warmed up. Later in the day I took a wrong turn and didn't realize it until I was ready to stop for the day so I am now in the town of Figures where I wanted to stop in Castelle. No problem though. They are both the same distance from tomorrows destination. Today I rode 33.9 miles.l

20 May 2012

Well, this was quite a day! Once again I slept in, walked down the street for a good breakfast and finally got started about noon. I headed inland so as not to ride a very twisty road full of traffic along the beach. In retrospect, I wish I had taken the beach route. I still had a lot of traffic. The route I took had many long steep hills. I spent way too long in the lowest gear my bike has and my average speed suffered. I don't even use that gear riding up Walker Pass near my home. On one of the long steep climbs, the clouds opened up big time. There was no cover to be had where I was either. By the time I donned my rain gear, I was drenched, and then the hail started. I continued droning up the climb in low gear which made the rain even worse since it was taking me so long to get to the top of the mountain. I finally found an old barn at the mountain top and took refuge there from the storm. I felt much better being under cover from the lightening all around me but then I started to get cold. I stayed there a couple hours but at about 6pm I knew it would just get colder so decided to press onward. It was still pouring and it was mostly downhill at this point so I wasn't working hard enough to stay warm but I knew I would find a warm room to stay in at the bottom. When I got to Calonge I decided to get a place there rather than ride another couple miles to a resort town on the beach. Seems though there are no hotels in Calonge but I managed to get a room above a bar that isn't too bad and is warm and comfortable. The room is way better than a same priced room in Mexico. Cost was 15€, less than $20. Another day is complete.

19 May 2012

A pretty good day. I slept in until my alarm woke me up at 0830. Went out for a good breakfast then packed my backpack, closed up my bicycle shipping box and stored it in Castelldefels. I didn't want to go all the way through the heavy traffic in Barcelona so I jumped on the train and got off on the north side of town and started peddling. First I got lost, found the street that goes to the marina, turned the wrong way and rode for about a mile. I stopped and asked directions from a teenage girl that was riding a125cc sport motorcycle and discovered I was going the wrong way. When I turned on that street, had I turned the other way I would have been at the marina in two blocks. When I finally made it to the Mediterranean Sea, I noticed an outdoor motorcycle exhibition. All the factories were there so I got to check out and sit on all the new model motorcycles. That was good for another hour of not making progress on the bicycle. So, I finally got headed north. I used a lot of dedicated bike trails. These have no traffic on them but lots of walkers and joggers so progress was slower than on the roads. I followed the beach road all day. Just before turning inland, I stopped for some food at an outdoor restaurant. When I was just about finished, 12 young ladies walked by. I didn't pay much attention until they all turned around rushed toward me and while eleven of them cheered, and one taking photographs of everything, one came up, gave me a big kiss on the cheek and said something in Spanish. When she discovered that I didn't speak Spanish, she said "will you ..." and then turned to one of her friends for help. When they got it straight, the question was "will you marry me?" Wow, now I know the secret with these Spanish girls ... just let them see you drip some catsup on your shirt and they fall in love. Well, that was a first!
Soon I was heading north again and I turned inland towards Girona, hoping to find a hotel away from the beach with lower prices. None to be found in the small towns on my route. A lady in a bakery in one town said the nearest hotel was in Blanes and she gave me directions. Blanes put me right back on the beach again. I was afraid of what the costs would be but found a Hostel in the middle of town. I am the only person here! And the price is right. Anyway I managed to check out all the new motorcycles, meet some Canadians on the train, get a marriage proposal, and still ride 54.2 miles today. Wonder what new adventures await me tomorrow?

18 May 2012

Made it easily to Barcelona. Staying a couple nights in Castelldefels, a small town just south of Barcelona. If the weather cooperates, I'll head north tomorrow on my bicycle. I met a bicyclist from Germany today and reviewed his route down to here. It is the same as what I plan on doing from here to the north into France. I also talked to an Italian motorcyclist who lives on the island of Ibiza. Other than that, I walked throughout the city of Barcelona all day. Managed to have three helpings of gelato today. Not a bad day.

This is the route following my travels in the first few months of 2012 --

Here is the map of my November 2011 trip to Cabo San Lucas --