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.