nbjtours

Time Travel

22 September 2015

Zaragoza, Spain

89 Miles 3940 ft

Starting out today in the back of beyond in rural Spain and passing through some very medieval towns and villages we were suddenly transported five centuries from the 1500s to present day Zaragoza in one Big Bang.  

 Monica checked the census of the nearby village of Urries and at last count there were only 59 souls left. Fewer than live in my little cul de sac of 19 houses. 

This was the Spain that this route is hopefully designed to find. Scandinavia was an unknown and after the busy and known spaces from Denmark to France, we will see things that are off the beaten track.  

 Just up the road was the superbly named Sos del Rey Catolico ( Sos of the Catholic King) An incredible little town on a hill that was still as it was in the sixteenth century. I had a quick scout round on the bike on the cobbles (yes, I did cycle up this street) as Nigel and Monica walked round, leaving before two coach loads of tourists spoiled the ancient atmosphere.  

 A good climb over the next ridge brought more views, before a downhill section leading onto a long straight across a barren plain.  

 I normally moan about the weather but today have had a stiff following crosswind pushing me along three sections for several straight flat miles at 30 mph plus, at one stage covering 6 miles in eleven and a half minutes. It is the first time I have ever run out of gears on the flat. The only thing to be wary about being a gust which knocks the bike sideways two to three feet so I ran down the middle of the road to give me extra leeway.  

 A brief coffee stop in Sadaba, a slightly larger town, was followed by another 15 miles straight wind assisted blat to the equally well named Ejea de Los Cabelleros ( Ejea of the Knights). I enjoyed flying past a tractor at over 30 mph as he just could not keep pace.  

 I saw some more vultures and other birds of prey, as well as many butterflies, but agriculture was limited, with occasional olive groves, a small vineyard still loaded with grapes and good old maize. A lot of the land looked rough scrub and not good for much, hence the lack of habitation and human contact all day, although I did see two or three Lycra clad cyclists sprinting in the opposite direction. 

 
Coming off the slightly main road and turning towards Castejon and another good blat, Nigel joined me for the last 3 miles before lunch. 

After lunch, a nice climb up a small valley to the top of San Esteban at 700m, gave a superb view over the wooded hillside, leading to a very arid looking plain around Zaragoza.  

 The final blat of the day on the smoothest road in history, brought me to the suburbs and the difficulty of finding a way to the campsite on the other side of the city, but staying off the motorway, as I had no desire to repeat my Swedish experience. 

Although not signposted, I initially got through a massive industrial estate, then beside a military complex before following another cyclist onto what looked like the hard shoulder of a dual carriageway into town and then switching to a cycle path- phew.  

 Zaragoza is an ultra modern city with some really unusual architecture around the historic core and despite the local drivers best efforts I got through their traffic to the campsite unscathed  

  Tomorrow will be the first day I am not getting on my bike for six countries, much to the relief of my backside,  as we pick Chris & Nick up from the airport, ready for the final push to Tarifa. 

A good end to the day was aided by the first appearance of Monica’s Beetroot and apple salad for at least two weeks. 

Rest Day

23 September 2015

Zaragoza, Spain

0 Miles

Yes, really a rest day, first day with no cycling for 16 days. 

A few hours spent re routing the rest of the trip and trying to get hold of campsites. 

Then we picked up Nick and Chris from the airport got their bikes built back up ready for tomorrow. 

There were going to be no photos today,  but had to show you this. It is blowing a gale out there and this couple turned up in their Renault Clio with a roof tent- I would be worried it will tip over or the thin Clio roof will just collapse! 

Los Tres Cabelleros

24 September 2015

Martin del Rio, Spain

88 miles 6132 ft

We had a choice, straight on down the bigger road or alternatively take a right on the hilly small road which was an extra 5km to the campsite making it 20 miles to go. 

The decision was unanimous, lets go long. It was a great decision as what followed was the best cycling of the day. Two climbs, a nice downhill stretch alongside a river and an awesome section in a river gorge, this is what cycling is all about.  

 This was rather different from our start on the edge of Zaragoza, where we had to circuit the city and find our way out onto a small road into the country. 

 This slow start was not helped by the fact I had a puncture after only one and a 1/2 miles. Before that Nick found he had put his pedals on back to front! Luckily Nigel sorted it before we left, although Nick had a practice later In case he did it again!

 It was not great cycling but needed to be done and done in a safe a way as possible, again running through industrial estates to avoid dual carriageways and even a rough mud track. At one stage we saw these old steam train engines that must have been rusting away for decades.  

 Finally getting to our road out it had been upgraded to serve three kilometres of new industrialestates that were over 50% empty.  

At this stage three Porsches passed going the other way, to which I remarked “probably a press test drive”   Whilst we were stopped for coffe break a bit later, two of the three with German number plates on came passed at full chat using all the road.  Whilst we could hear them, I do hope they gave sufficient space to all the many other cyclists we saw on that road today. 

 After that we then moved into rural Spain full of empty space and semi deserted villages. Sadly it really looks as though the communities are dying and many buildings are deserted and falling into ruin, but the real old world atmosphere they create is incredible still with a mix of Christian and Moorish architecture as here in the narrows streets of Azuara. 
 Or the church of Moyuela   
We also thought that the towers of the various religious buildings of Muniesa were leaning in different directions.   

We kept cycling well, and in general today was uphill for very long stretches of 10-15 miles with a short downhill section after, as we climbed up onto the Spanish plain. There were some other worldly views  of dry and barren hills too. 

 As usual, despite the addition of two extra cyclists Nigel and Monica still were able to come up trumps with coffee and lunch stops. One of them complete with its own almond tree, so another round of scrumping followed  and fresh almonds courtesy of a mole wrench cracker. 

  After our lunch stop, which as usual was nearer tea time at 4 – we have moved onto  real daylight time rather than clock time – there are four hours of daylight before twelve and eight afterwards so two o’clock has become our midday. 
It was now that we had that choice and started the first gentle climb. Thinking that we had got to the top Nick let out a whoop of joy but it was actually short lived, as the gorge that loomed ahead looked very imposing.  

 Surrounded by cliffs Chris was happy that it took us through a tunnel.  

 and Nick was more than happy with the bridge that spanned that rather deep gorge.    

At the same time the other lads yelled to me and said that there were some animals just above me and there was a mother and calf Iberian Ibex clambering as they do so well over the rocks.  

 Finally emerging from between the rock faces we had arrived at the top of the climb and then had a terrific downhill blast for 9 km to the main road where a short stint took us to the campsite, which was situated halfway up the hillside behind the town. 

As has often been the case we were the only people present and the owner had opened up especially for us ( I am pleased I had emailed him yesterday). In fact to save cleaning he only opened up the ladies. 

Adding some salty Spanish snacks to our evening beers went down well, although Chris had a couple of short bouts of cramp to which no one showed any sympathy, as on one occasion he hopped 30 yards away until it eased. Monica told him to put more salt on his bolognese! 

Twin Peaks the it’s all Downhill till we Disappear!

25 September 2015

Near Vallanca,Spain

84 miles 3845 ft

At the start today we knew that we had two good climbs after initially following the river valley to the beginning of the first one.  

 This first climb  took us through two mining towns and past some mine workings, some old but one that looked fairly modern but still abandoned.  

 The hill continued for seven miles to 1408m as the picture below shows. We sped down the other side and then had another 3 mile climb back up to 1381m.   

  Chris had recovered well from yesterday and was pushing Nick along, I let the fresh legs take the lead and followed.  

 Down the other side we managed to find the camper for coffee after 29 miles. The next segment started an elongated run downhill alongside a river as far as Teruel, the biggest town that we came to today. We passed this shepherd and his donkey living the same way as they have had for centuries.  

  For much  of this part of the route an abandoned railway ran alongside the only remains being bridges , tunnels and superb station buildings, the stonework all in top order but the roofs caved in , which made us think that someone had come along and stolen the tiles.  

 We arrived in Teruel just as they were kicking kids out from school at 3pm and the parking chaos is the same as in the UK.  

 Finding our way out of the town, the lunch stop was just round the corner. We found Monica in the middle of surgery to Nigel’s shorts as he had a accident when getting his leg over my spare bike saddle on a quick ride into town for provisions. 

It is worth mentioning that the Spanish roads have been excellent, often with a good wide shoulder that we were able to use to cycle on. This kept us out the way, although in fairness the traffic was excellent always giving us room, the lorries often advising us of their presence well in advance and giving us wide berth. 

Coming the other way all day were hundreds of motorcycles all on their way to the Moto GP event in Aragon.  

 Nick found his own town although did not ride out to see it as it was all uphill  

The road continued down the river valley for 25 miles before we turned off towards the agreed wild campsite for the night.  

 Again we had saved the best until last with a climb going up and looking over a deep gorge.  

 Despite the fact that this road served but two remote villages it was totally resurfaced.  

Just passed the first village, we almost missed the camper tucked away next to a bespoke barbecue and covered picnic area.  

 Quick showers were followed by a fantastic barbecue and stewed blackberry and apple with some sweet bread and cream. 

Not only had we collected blackberries but the roadsides were plentiful and our bounty included almonds, walnuts, pomegranates, figs to add to apples and Dennis’s peaches. In addition there are plenty of herbs and todays pickings were rosemary and thyme.  

 As we had met hardly any vehicles along this road, for some reason the whole world decided to use this dirt track. A farmer with a bowser filled the Sheep trough next to the tents, and told Nick that 300 sheep would be along in an hour, another put up a sign saying boar hunt starts here tomorrow, two cars went up the track and came back sometime later and another farmer went passed on his tractor with the full olive tree shaker on the back, and yet another with a trailer load full of almonds.  

 The banter around the campfire continued for some time but much to Nick’s sadness the sheep he was expecting to keep him warm for the night were kept penned up and did not appear. 

Apologies for the very late blog we were really wild last night and had no comms. 

Moya. The Last Two Men in the Village

26 September 2015

Kikopark Rural nr Villargordo del Cabriel, Spain

50 Miles only 2772ft

We had decided to stop to see this magnificent castle above the village of Moyà. Nigel and Monica had started to talk to a couple of people and then Nick was able to chat with them in their native tongue. 

  The man in the foreground had come to the village to pick up his mother and take her back to Madrid, the two men in the background were the only two men left living in Moyà, the village next door, Pedro Izquierdo, only had 15 souls left. Sadly rural Spain really is dying. 

We had seen this castle from miles away so when our route took us near, we had to stop, however to get there from our overnight wild camp was another story,  as it was the probably the slowest segment of the tour.  

 It all started well with a steady climb up to the very remote village of Negron, where we were able to scrump some huge quinces.  

 After Negron however, the road began to deteriorate until we crossed the community boundary when the Tarmac ceased altogether.  

 As usual Nigel did a manful job of getting the camper down where no camper ought to tread, in particular on this bit below, which we were glad was downhill as it would not have been possible the other way.  

 It was at this point we could see this massive castle above a small town, yet there were no indications on the maps   

 
It’s size and height became more imposing as we got nearer 

 Although we had done only 10 miles, it had been over an hours work, so I called Nigel and we made this an early coffee, with a view to have a look round. 
  
What a great stop, this 12 century castle had been a very important strategic dry port in the 16 century, after the Moors had been expelled,  where the local producers brought everything to a safe market place.  

 
You could see that there were streets in the castle complex, with at least two churches and a hospital. The locals told us that it was still actively inhabited until the 1950’s, but was obviously now deserted as was (almost) the village below.  

 
Once again the vultures were in close attendance waiting for us to slip. 

Moving on from Moyà we had a great run down a brand new road that had been built specially for us to cut about ten miles from the route, I am not sure a single car overtook us for the full 19km section.   

 
As we came close to the small town of Mira, bizarrely in amongst the almond trees, was this full sized helipad complete with windsock.  

 We made good time on this road and the camper which had restocked with vitals had yet to catch us. Seeing an artisan cheese shop in Camporrobeles, we called in to sample what was on offer. Some cows cheese infused with rosemary and well matured goats cheese was purchased. The lady serving confirmed that we were the first Englishman she had ever had in her shop and never before had the tasting dish been emptied so quickly- although she was grateful that we doubled her daily sales!

 With only ten miles to do we stuffed everything, including some breadsticks into our cycle jerseys and headed off. Actually Nigel soon caught us, so we were able to pass the cheese across and Monica shared some grapes, which they had been given by a lady whose daughter had been desperate to practice her English on them after a summer in Brighton.  

  This last section was fairly straight and there were many vineyards which had replaced the almond and olive trees. We even managed to overtake this grape harvester. The guy waved in a frustrated way to us as we motored past at 22mph. 

 The last town featured the local bodega where they were crushing their grapes and Chris is stopped here next to the waste – the smell was delicious.    

  
The campsite tonight was at the bottom of a two mile steep hill that we will face tomorrow morning. 

A very short day but packed full of excitement. Sadly it is now raining – what on the Spanish plain! 
 

Empty Tanks

27 September 2015

Penascosa, Spain

114 Miles 5466ft

We knew that today was the longest day of the Spanisb leg of the tour, but having rearranged the route in Zaragoza my calculations were a bit out and my estimate of 95 miles turned into 114 with the finish being  a five mile climb out of the valley to the campsite with three pairs of very weary legs. 

On the way up this climb was a religious shrine which saw Chris suddenly get the urge for divine assistance and it is true that whilst he struggled to that point, he climbed the rest of the hill like a gazelle! 

 
It was all very different from the start which once again saw Chris stretch his back on the concrete apron of the local bodega – the smell of grape must filling the air  

 Leaving our start saw us join what was the main road, now superceded by the motorway and our first photo  stop was over a dam at which point Chris said our average speed at present is 31.6 mph – a good downhill start! 

 
The route today saw a lot of straight roads over the Spanish plain. At first surrounded by grape vines full to bursting with grapes ready to pick   We passed several large bodegas with the roads so red in sticky grape juice that made the tyres stick and Nick exclaim that it smells so good I am going to lick the road. 

 
The only good thing about the straight roads and initial lack of wind was that we were able to run quickly in peloton swapping over as each of us got tired  

 As the day was longer we split it into a three stopper and temperatures got higher as the afternoon hit,  meaning that we did take advantage of the lemon Popsicles at tea stop. 

The least said about the lunch stop the better,  as the camper attracted in hordes of flies which found crevices that they should not have been clever enough to find. This meant a stressful stop so we cut it short and got going again and left Nigel to gaffer tape up the air vents. 

 The best stop of the day was this garage which the owner offered to Monica  to buy, as since the local farmers buy everything through their coop had to close. She declined but it made a great laundry though. 

As the roads through the fairly flat countryside were not that interesting. The few highlights of the journey were the town square at Tarazona de la Mancha which we managed to get to by cycling the wrong way up a one way street and emerging into it through an archway by the church. 

Stopping in the other big town we went through,   La Roda it was noticeable that the Spanish have the same problem as we do in the UK and reminded me of one of the reasons I am doing this ride  

If you have yet to make a donation please do look out my Charity Partners page and make that donation now. 

Just along from this were several car transporters full of German registered cars -some disguised as below.   

Our final segment was only 21 miles but we were surrounded by storms we did manage to stay dry, although as I write this a storm has hit and it is pouring outside. 
   

 As before this last segment gave us the most spectacular sights of the day  as we emerged from the plain overlooking a large valley to some mountains   

 
Nick had the added bonus of trying his goat and sheep shepherding skills in order to clear the road, just to prove that Cabrera does mean something. 

  
A superb descent followed to the bottom but as I said earlier we then had to climb five miles up to our campsite on some very tired legs. 

As usual the campsite had stayed open just for some cyclists – there were a Norwegian couple and three Dutchmen in too, but we are having to be out by 9 am tomorrow as the owner is locking up. 

Tomorrow hopefully will be a shorter day, but we are to stay in the mountains, so it should be fun. Only five days and just over 400 miles to go to Tarifa. 

The Day it Paid not to Listen

28 September 2015

Cotos Rios, Spain

86 Miles 6096ft

We had just had a quick visit round the market at Siles, as it was the first town we had seen for some while that had some life.  

 Leaving the town down a long sweeping hill, I said to the guys it’s a left turn along here shortly, but too late, Nick was off as usual at top speed, adopting the full tuck position with Chris in hot pursuit. Halfway down the hill was our left turn, which the boys had no chance of stopping for as they whizzed passed at 35mph. 

Lunch stop was along this road in about 7 miles. With no initial sign of the boys and they being a good couple of kilometres further along the road,  I consulted the map and then phoned Nigel, agreeing with him to meet where the alternate routes converged in about 20 miles.  He was a bit disappointed as had just got his motorcycle out ready to enjoy what he said was the trickiest and steepest climb he had seen and we were now going to miss it. 

Was this unlucky or lucky, as we then had the best part of a ten mile sprint with a tailwind at 25 mph despite our tired limbs, instead of a monster climb. We then decided it was a good mistake and probably saved us an hour in the saddle. It pays not listen sometimes……..

Having had an early start, as the campsite was shutting, we got going at 8.40, straight up a climb into the early morning mist.  

 It was jolly cold and we were glad we had our waterproofs which we then put on and used as windproofs to keep us warmer. 

The descent through the mist was slow, as not only was it cold and we could not see where we were going, but the road was very rough.  This picture shows the cloud base from where we had just emerged. 

 Having dropped back down, we then had to go back up the biggest climb of the day,  which was an 1800ft climb to the top of  Puerto de las Crucetillas at 1450m   In addition, Nigel had parked the camper at the top so we had a full coffee stop with chocolate croissants too! 
 The descent was bumpier and slower than the last one and as before, we had to stop to give our hands a rest, as keeping the pressure on was taking its toll.  Our excuse was to take photos of the scenery. 

   
Joining a bigger and resurfaced road we climbed steadily,  passing a Dutchman, Mons who I chatted to for a bit – he was cycling from Barcelona to Córdoba. 

The descent from this summit was one of the best four mile drops that we have ever had, as the super smooth road swept down at a steady rate with some superb twists and turns. Bombing down at over 35 mph Nick was in seventh heaven. 

It was incredible to think that we were really in southern Spain with green trees and mountains, what gave it away were the olive groves everywhere. Some on very steep sided hills. It made us wonder how they could be harvested, except by hand   

 After Nick’s inspired misroute, our belated lunch stop was only going to leave just over 20 miles to the campsite, much to everyone’s relief.

   
The clouds were gathering and we were concerned that this last segment was going to get very wet.  Apart from a few drops of rain in the last three miles we made it to the camper dry, but it did rain this evening. 

     For the next 15 miles we then followed a huge river dam, mostly at some height, although we did drop down to the dam where Chris obeyed the lights as every good Englishman does.  As you can see Nick had already moved on. 

  We had some fun running alongside this, with a couple of French campers that we initially let out in front of us, then overtook them twice as they stopped to take photos and finally went passed them again near the end of the lake where the four occupants had got out of their vehicles and cheered us across an imaginary line.  

 A final short run along the river to the campsite and fantastic showers thanks to Nigel showing the owner how to fix a new shower head on and we were ready for an early night and the next big climb tomorrow.  

Mount of Olives

29 September 2015

La Guardia de Jaen, Spain

86 miles 8186ft

No we have not suddenly become religious, but today did feature a lot of climbing and we have never seen so many olive groves. In fact we are wild camping tonight in the middle of an olive grove just outside of Jaen.  

 
Getting up this morning was more of a struggle as sunrise was after 8, but we still managed to get away just before 9. 

Initially the road climbed up alongside a river before it then really started going up and over the Puerto de las Palomas (Pass of the Doves) at 1290m. 

It was a cool and misty start to the day and we saw many deer crossing the road in front of us and heard lots of stags bellowing in the woods as the rutting season is underway.  

 At this stage I shouted “look at those geese” when I meant to say goats, tiredness and effort taking its toll- we all had trouble staying on our bikes as we were laughing so much. This guy had a big bell !  

The climb though long, was not too steep  

 and rewarded us with a great view at the top, looking back over the valley we had just climbed 

 Monica and Nigel had waited at the top for us as we shared our achievement.    
   A more technical descent with plenty of hairpins followed, but gave us a much different view on the other side of the mountain. One that we were to become familiar with for the rest of the day.  Olive groves. 
 Our coffee stop was just passed Cazorla (so ticking off our second Spanish footballer)  Below is the castle at Iruela next to Cazorla. 

 Leaving this stop, the next segment was a rolling road running almost exclusively through the olive groves we had seen from way up above. Unfortunately they seemed to be more up than down!  

 Lunch stop just short of Jodar was welcomed and left just over 30 miles for the final segment. At this stage Nick who had been struggling with keeping his cleats in decided to make some running repairs on the road. He was the most surprised when he actually fixed it.  

 Thinking that we had left the big hills behind, we were seriously mistaken, as we immediately had a long climb into the Sierra Magina where we continually seemed to be going up and only had short drops until the last big descent. This photo was taken after another big climb to Jimena 

 During this segment we were overtaken by several cars running in a classic car rally, including MGs, Porsches, Austin Healeys and a couple of Bentleys amongst others, including this Datsun. It was great to listen to these classics go past as they sound so much better than today’s machinery. 

 As one car went passed, it lost its rally plate which I then wore for the rest of day! 
 Leaving La Mancha Real, we looked at the scenery and thought we must be going downhill,  as there was only one hill, but no, our road went straight up that solitary mountain for the hardest climb of the day to Pegalajar, at a gradient that was between 9-11%. As ever, the great view made it worth it – just. 

 Tonight we were wild camping again  and Nigel found a spot in the middle of an Olive grove, where as usual we enjoyed a hearty meal, washed  down by some cheap beer, the cheap wine at €1 a litre  box,  would have stripped paint, so the highly trained athletes amongst us gave it a miss, especially as today had the most climbing of the whole tour to date. 

 
I hope that you have been enjoying the blog. Following much demand after his reading of the blog this morning an audiobook version is now available by phoning Nick and he will be happy to offer his interpretation for those that cannot read!

 Andalusian Hills

30 September 2015

Santaella, Spain

87 miles 6781ft

Although there were no really big hills today, it was very much a day of  up one hill and down the next. Most of the day we were surrounded by olive groves and it does make you wonder how much of the land is covered by olives and how much olive oil is made here. Only towards the end of the day as the hills got less vicious was there any variety with grapes and what appeared to be garlic and herbs.  Their scents filling the air. 

 After having left the olive grove before 9, we shot down the hill and started to go into Jaen at rush hour. We nearly had another misroute but I managed to stop Nick before he went into town. 
Leaving town, we then had our biggest climb of the day, which had the added bonus of being on the first cycle way since Zaragoza.  This cycle way took us off the road for a bit and up the pass and then down a green edge to the main road. 

 At the same time we came across a group of other cyclists who initially barged into us and when I said hello this lady looked at me for some time before saying good morning. Sadly they were not the friendliest of bunches, although we did keep bumping into them for the next few miles. We found one friendly one, but she was a supporter rather than rider. It turned out that they were Canadians cycling for bibles. Shame really that they were not a bit more Christian.    This view was back down into Jaen from the cycle path. 

  After this big climb the countryside became a bit less mountainous and just hilly. 

Here I managed to persuade Nick to pick some prickly pears, both Nick and myself tried one and I have to say they taste really superb, but we got some of the prickles in our fingers and lips which took a couple hours to work itself out of our skin!  

 At this stage we still had some way to go before coffee just after Martos,   where we can see Nick riding down the street,  luckily I missed the dogs which were in the process of mounting each other in the middle of the street ! 

 An excellent coffee stop of scrambled eggs, as well as chocolate croissant refuelled us for another tough stretch of ups and downs permanently surrounded by olive groves.  
 We started to go through more typical Andalusian whitewashed towns this was Baena where we stopped and just like the old Spanish men we have seen everyday,  sat on a bench and had a chat about colonoscopies!

We were very pleased to see the camper at the lunch stop, as we were all getting tired, after two days of hard climbing.  

 
After lunch the landscape began  to change with some vineyards, as well as olives, to vary the scenery a bit.  

  Montalban was typical in that it was on the top of a hill and required a really hard climb to get into the town so we rewarded ourselves with an ice cream.   

 Coming down out of the town we passed this unusual sight and with Nick using his native tongue were surprised to find out that these were grapes being sundried to make raisins.  Apparently it takes about one week to dry the grapes  and is the end of the season. 

Our final segment was the flattest of the day so enabled some good peloton riding.   

Finally and very exhaustedly we got to the campsite and for once we had a warm evening and open swimming pool and followed it by a meal outside completed by a glass of Pedro Ximemez. 

Another really tough day on tired limbs, but I now only have 180 miles to go, so am getting close, although know that these last two days are going to be as hilly as today, and with the sun expected to shine and temperature expected to approach 39C. I will need all the support and encouragement to make it.  

Almost There

2 October 2015

Ronda, Spain

89 miles 5980 ft

In the inimitable words of Andy Williams “We’re Almost There”. Just one more day to go after 41 days of cycling and almost 4000 miles covered since 18 August. Chris and Nick will have done around 800 miles since joining me in Zaragoza too.  

 Leaving just after sunrise, we headed south, passing through more empty fields of garlic which still smelled very strongly and then through a mix of other crops including vines and cotton (below) as well as the ever present olives. 

Unfortunately much of the route today was on slightly bigger roads that could not be avoided, although in general they were quiet, except for one ten mile stretch between Puente Genil and Estapa, but at least it did have a hard shoulder that we could ride on out of the way of the lorries that thundered passed. It was not a fun session and we were all relieved when that was over and turning the corner just after this, we found this gypsy encampment with the washing hanging up next to a sweet factory in Estapa.  

 Settling down to coffee we had several curious stares from passers by , but only one stopped to ask what we were doing and was happy with our response. Just as we were leaving the nice lady helper from the Canadian cycle tour pitched up, as they had lost their 72 year old cyclist- very careless and poorly organised. We offered to let her know if we came across him but failed to do so. 

  
Leaving the gypsy encampment we called into one of the five sweet factories in the town and  had a tasting of several of the local speciality almond pulvorones, but were not that keen, however Chris and I did rather like their chocolate Nougat-like sweet, so bought some  to take home. 

 As ever we saw many olive trees and harvesting was underway, some by hand picking furiously, others with a mix of machines and sticks bashing the trees to remove the olives which were collected on matting laid under the trees.  

 This church clock face in Campillo shows how much the Spaniards care about the correct time with the clock faces showing totally different wrong times.   

  As the temperature rose today, lunch was held under the watchful eye of the castle at Teba.  
 After lunch, we had the longest climb of the day that went on for 18 km rising 1800ft in the process.  There was this great message for motorcyclists to watch out and not go to crazy on the sweeping bends. Starting gradually, the gradient did get to 8% near the top. 

 From the top of this climb we then had a good drop down into Ronda. This had been the subject of much debate during the day, as both Nick and Chris have been before and had said that it is on the top of a hill. Ever the optimist Nick said that we may come down onto Ronda and for once, he thankfully was proved right.  

 Ronda is a very attractive town and really the first place that we have been to in Spain that is truly on the tourist route full of bars and English signs. 

 Tomorrow is the very last cycling day of the whole tour and with Chris and Nick catching flights on Saturday and the rest of us having to drive the camper 600 miles across Spain to get to Santander, we are keen to try to arrive a bit earlier, so will be looking to leave at sunrise      
 I will be very sad at reaching the end of such a great adventure but I will be pleased to get back home to see Caroline, Halcyon and Remy.  

Tarifa. The Final Countdown

2 October 2015

Tarifa, Spain

110 miles 8773 ft ( most climbing in a day on tour )

Total Tour Mileage 4012

Total Tour saddle time : 11 days 10 hours 40 mins

This is my second attempt at a blog tonight as with tiredness I managed to delete my almost completed one earlier.

   As you can see from the photo we did successfully make it to Tarifa, but earlier in the afternoon it seriously looked as though the whole trip was going to be scuppered with less than 30 miles to go.

The road that we needed to take to avoid Algeciras and the motorway was closed and in bits.

 We had a stark choice, jump in the camper for a couple of stops along the motorway or take a chance. At that moment a road contractors van appeared from behind the closed road signs and sending Nick to ask him the score – the verdict came back bikes ok, camper no. This close, we simply said we had to take the chance and see if we could do it, hoping that our six inner tubes would be enough ( luckily we needed none)

 So bidding goodbye to Nigel and Monica. See you in Tarifa, off we set. Well the whole 19km of the Puerto de Ojen was rough, very rough, apart from one flattened mud section in the middle.

 It took us around an hour and three quarters and we finished covered in white dust and Chris’s backside crying out for some smooth Tarmac.

Even then, just after Nick had done his John Paul 2 impression and kissed the Tarmac he had peaked too early, as it was only 500m worth before another 3km of rough road followed.  The important thing was though we had done it, leaving less than fifteen miles to go on proper roads.

Unlike some tours that finish with an easy 20laps of the Champs-Élysées, this day was always going to be a real challenge and not just a roll over the finish line.

So we started out early, ten minutes before sunrise, with an action packed finish like this far from our minds. Leaving the campsite in Ronda, we hit the main road, lights on and straight up rising over 1000ft in the first 6 miles , seeing the sun rise over these horses on the way. 
Turning off the main road we got our first super road of the day, a brand new bit of Tarmac running down a steep sided valley for around five miles, this then took us into a much larger valley where we followed a river up, Nick, as ever said nice gentle gradient here boys, only for us to be hit with some super steep 13% hills, one which the only large lorry we saw all day struggled to go up any faster than us.

Coffee stop was, as is Nigel’s usual habit, at the top of a hill just after this pretty town of Cortes de la Frontera, and we sat outside, already in the shade, and ended up having a nice chat with a couple from North Shields.

It was just after this stop that we saw our first skeletal cork oak trees that would become a familiar sight for much of the day. 
Nick now provided Chris and me with his comedy moment of the day. Seeing this wake ( great collective noun) of vultures we stopped to take a photo.  As you can see they were still over 100 metres away. Nick said “I will get them to move”. First he yelled- nothing, then he said “got it”, so rang his bike bell – of course nothing. Finally picking up a stone he said “this will scare them into the air”. Chris and I looked at one another and shook our heads, as Nick with all seriousness took a run up and threw the stone about 30 metres, the birds that were probably four times that distance away stayed put- we just laughed. 
After this jollity, there followed quite simply one of the best roads for cyclists on the planet. The A375, 42km of uninterrupted sinuous Tarmac to Alcala de Los Gazules, that wound its way along mountainsides and up and over ridges whilst mostly shaded by cork oaks. Quite simply fabulous, if you are ever this way do take it. All the following photos were taken along its route. 


At the lunch stop on this road, at the top of a hill of course, Nigel and I decided on a tea stop later too, as the day was going to be a bit longer and tougher than expected. Little did we know how long or how tough at that time. 
Alcala, as with most Andalucian villages was at the top of a vicious hill just to ensure we kept pedalling hard. 
After Alcala the road and terrain changed, as we ran on the old A road alongside a motorway. Although, as these photos show we went up and down, as the motorway went over viaducts and through tunnels and had a much easier time. Actually it was quite good fun having a whole road to ourselves, though bizarrely on occasion it did have some very old cycle lanes painted red from when it was in proper use. Most sections were fine although the road was falling apart in patches leading to huge cracks in the Tarmac.

This was the hottest segment of the whole tour, as the temperature reached 100f. 

I had to show you these two unusual sights – a rock with a hole and some Colchique, Autumn Crocus.

After our extra tea stop, came our road from hell, which of course put us way behind schedule and the boys thinking that they would not get to Nicks parents for the evening. They did not, so spent the night in a hotel in Tarifa before flying back on Saturday.

Having finally found the beloved Tarmac and conscious of the time, we were keen to get to Tarifa in daylight,  so with ten miles to go, from somewhere we found the afterburners and in peloton at 20 mph, got to Tarifa just as the sun sank below the waves, with Nigel and Monica, as ever waiting patiently for our arrival. 
Mission accomplished – it shows that someone ordinary can do something extraordinary, if you just put your mind to it.

Have I got another big trip in my mind? Honestly no, and not just because it’s not fair on the family. I’ve done it now, but of course there are still plenty of shorter trips to be done, but I do need to get in some serious brownie points first!

I must say an especial thank you to Nigel and Monica without whom this trip would not have been possible. Nigel in particular has been like a man possessed and aside from riding my bike, planning and discussing the route and eating his food everyday, I really have done very little.

I must also thank Chris and Nick who joined me for the extraordinary trip across Spain, providing company and laughs during some fantastic days cycling, my brother Peter for helping me across Denmark and of course, my wife, Caroline, for letting me pursue such a madcap idea in the first place. The final thank you is to those thousands of cars, vans and trucks that all missed me as they went passed.

Thank you too for reading, sponsoring and commenting on the blog. During those tough bad weather days that support was really felt.

Bye for now.

Reflections

Whilst I travel back to the UK on board the ferry it’s been a good time to reflect on the highs and lows of fulfilling a dream trip and knowing that what started as a conversation over two years ago has become a reality.

I can still recall the look of incredulity on the face of my bosses at work when I asked for a sabbatical in order to take on this trip. Let’s be honest most bank managers are simply not that adventurous. Just this one is …..

Highs & Lows and the Weather

Undoubtedly the highlights of the tour were the first and last ten days both helped by great weather.

 Equally the poor weather in Belgium and France made cycling unpleasant and at times difficult.

 The teamwork with Nigel & Monica operating out of the camper,  was a great success, whether just as a solo or when Nick & Chris joined us in Spain.

The ability to stop and wild camp too, when we had done enough, was essential. The wild camping experience was also special,  whether in the depths of Scandanavia or in an Olive grove in Spain.

 Scary Moments

Top scary moment was definitely getting stuck on a dual carriageway in Sweden, with cars passing at 80mph and then finding I had to cycle through a tunnel with no hard shoulder. It makes me shudder even now to think about it.

Second, was that thunderstorm in France whilst crossing open fields, it certainly made your heart beat faster and legs turn more quickly.

Best Country for Cycling

On the evidence of this trip I would say Spain. Great roads, mostly, and also, surprisingly, very accommodating drivers,  both car and truck. We always saw other Lycra clad cyclists and the impression I get is that it is a respected pastime in Spain.

 Holland, Germany and Denmark are good too for more casual and safe cycling, as they have a fantastic network of cycle routes. However as with most things Germanic, you are expected to stay on your path and not get in the way of traffic.

All Scandanavian countries had great cycle paths in just about every town and bikes were seen everyday transport, so all types of person used their bikes to get from A to B safely – something that should be adopted everywhere to reduce short car journies.

 Worst country would have to be Belgium, which is sort of surprising for a cycling nation. However the state of the roads and paths, together with the built up nature made it less enjoyable than anywhere else. A bit unfair as I did not go into the more attractive Ardennes, merited nonetheless.

 Politest Nation

Again a surprise and may have been due to the switch from the Germanic countries, but it was very evident that as soon as I hit the French speaking part of Belgium and then France everyone started to say hello or nod whereas previously I always initiated the greeting and only got a response fifty percent of the time. So one up to our French neighbours here.

I also would have to give a plus to the Dutch they seem to be a nation of fun loving people who want to enjoy life rather than just do.

Best cycling segments

Difficult to choose. Top five.

1. Morning segment on gravel in the middle of nowhere in Sweden
2. Last segment on gravel in torrential rain on way to Ramsele 
3. The start at Nordkapp 
4. The end of day one in Spain with the guys, going up a gorge and through a rock tunnel 
5. The 42km of the A375 on the last day to Alcala de Los Gazules.

Hardest day(s)

1. Crossing the French plains in the face of a fierce headwind, just horrible, and then following that with two super long days of over 115 miles
2. The Belgian paves in the rain
3. The unmade road on the last segment. It was really meant to test my mettle.

Proudest Achievements 

1. Completing the challenge after one of the hardest days of the whole tour. Whilst many people will have done this before, we are only talking about hundreds and few will have taken such adventurous routes.
2. Finishing the 131 mile day in Sweden still with a smile on my face having enjoyed it!
3. Climbing the Col de la Pierre St Martin nonstop and sprinting over the top to admire the fantastic views.  

 Signs

There were some great road signs, but the winner had to be this one in Sweden

 This one in Spain. I must have seen thousands as there appeared to be one every 100 yards or so.   It effectively means private hunting grounds.

Nature & Agriculture

One of the things I love about cycling is that it takes you out of doors and gives you the ability to see a lot of the world around you close to.

Despite it being early autumn I saw thousands of beautiful roadside flowers and butterflies, giving colour to the journey.

The bird life was great and diverse too from Vultures  and Eagles, through Storks, Cranes and Egrets to huge flocks of Sparrows chattering in the hedgerows.

The wild mammal that I saw the most of was deer,  at least four different species during the trip from Reindeer in the Artic, the magnificent Red Deer Stag in France to Fallow Deer in Spain.

Agriculture and landscape was of course much different going from trees,  trees and more trees in the north through plains of maize and other cereal crops on the flat and vines on the hills, finally to more olives trees than you can count in Andalusia.

Foraging and Scrumping

During the trip we picked and ate the following herbs and fruits collected at the roadside

• Wild plums
• Apples
• Grapes
• Sweet corn
• Quince
• Blackberries
• Pomegranates
• Figs
• Prickly Pears
• Walnuts
• Almonds
• Rosemary
• Thyme

Equipment

Would it have been better if I had done this any differently

Bike

– many people I met were surprised that I was tackling the trip on a Giant Defy sportive type road bike with disc brakes. Despite the very varied terrain and at times supposedly completely unsuitable for the bike, it coped well with every  one

  I had five punctures , three pinch flats on Swedish road stone in 250 yards and two thorns on the rest of the whole trip. Even a mountain bike would have had trouble on that road stone and the advantage of the road bike is that it is so much quicker on the majority of other surfaces. So I feel that this was correct, the spare bike, wheels, chains and cables,  all remained in their boxes,  though I did need to change my tyres as they were worn out after 3000 miles.

Support

The camper and tents were spot on for this type of trip giving full flexibility on overnight stops whether at campsites or in the wild. Although it did help to have Nigel and Monica who knew what they were doing.

In addition the ability to stop for a refuel after 30miles for a cup of tea or coffee with toast or cake in any weather was unbeatable.

 On the wet days too,  I was able to change out of cold wet gear into dry clothes at the end of a session, so not staying cold and damp.

Daily Distance

Some days were too long and if I had had the opportunity would probably want to have done the trip slightly more leisurely to take in more of the local culture. However I did not have that luxury. but would recommend 80/85 mile days if you had the time.

For me it was important that I had built rest days into the schedule that we were able to use to amend the route after poor weather or several tough days to allow the body to recover.

Food

I was told it is difficult to eat enough, but our format was spot on and I did not have to resort to energy bars often, ( as a treat when reaching milestones I consumed around 20 packs of Jelly Babies though ). We had around two hour stints and then break for toast ( or French stick) and jam ( with a local pastry if available) and coffee in the morning, a sandwich at lunchtime and then on longer days a shorter tea stop before beer (& salty snacks in Spain) and dinner in the evening. Occasionally adding treats like frankfurters or scrambled eggs during daytime stops.

This was quite sufficient and not too  much and although I have not weighed myself yet, think I am around the same as when i left.

Body

I had a sore backside after three weeks,  which got used to its treatment afterwards, as long as it was properly creamed. Even the classic shoulder ache went after a week and I did not suffer from that either.

I am pleased to say the pre event training was enough and my legs propelled me up every single hill, although walking and especially walking uphill is now very laboured!

Navigation

A properly planned route is essential, although the pre route Garmins were really hopeless and it stopped them working properly, so we resorted to the emergency photocopied printed maps and the I programmed Garmin together with Google maps on the phone. Nigel and I always ran through the route in the morning so we knew where to meet up en route.

It is important to add that I had 3G almost everywhere. Incredible.

I took over 1000 photos on the good old iPhone and still have storage left.

Santa

Had to get a mention as to meet the real guy was such a privilege. A true gent too.

 The End

This was a very special trip that I will not repeat and I am glad that I have been able to share parts of it with so many people.

More adventures will follow but not as long and as intense as this………..