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 ...