Cycling around the edge of Barcelona I was glad it was a Sunday and the traffic wasn't bad. I realised Sunday was a good day to go through busy areas, especially in Spain.
The third day was as good as it gets and I was elated. The sun came out but it wasn't hot. The road surfaces were mostly good, there were very few cars and the views were great. I dropped my bags at the hotel and cycled another 20kms to a lookout. On the way I was stopped by a roadblock but I couldn't understand why – the policemen tried to explain but my Spanish wasn't good enough. Eventually I heard a car rev and peel out further up the road and knew it was something car related. It was the VW rally team testing their car in preparation for a race. After about 20 minutes the road reopened but I had to stop again up the road and had a good chat to a couple of the team members.
Two days later I stopped in a bakery for a quick resupply. The baker's husband – a retired man – started a conversation so I sat and spoke to him for half an hour in Spanish. I told him what I was doing (which he excitedly relayed to any customers who came in) and he told me all about the town and the region of Spain.
I came to a warm part of Spain with temperatures in the mid 30s. I learnt to take a nice 2 hour break at lunch – usually at a restaurant in a small town that are popular for simple 3 course meals. It was hard to find dinner earlier than 9pm so I had to adjust to the local routine.
On the third particularly warm day I very nearly cut the day short, thinking it is too hot. I actually started down a road to closer hotel for about 100m then remembered that I still regret that type of decision from 4 years ago. And it paid off: the day ended with a lovely descent to a series of waterfalls. The temperature dropped very quickly as I approached it so if felt just like an oasis after 3 very hot days. I cycled alongside waterfalls and lakes for the last 10 kilometres of the day with plenty of breaks for photos.
The next day nearly started out very badly as I left my wallet and credit card on the hotel counter... luckily the receptionist ran it out to me before I cycled off. I enjoyed a good tailwind and covered good ground. It made for one of the most enjoyable days. I was thinking about trying a 200km day and feeling like I didn't want the cycling to end. However the heat returned and made a medium sized climb particularly hard that afternoon. It took me a full hour and it was the first time I ran out of water. I got very strange looks at the small convenience store where I bought several litres of various drinks and sat on the ground outside drinking them.
After a recovery day I had another tough ride with 15-20kms of rough trails. It took a lot of effort to stay upright and was stressful. It was a relief to reach the outskirts of Granada. Mentally I was a bit switched off and didn't see a tram line where I slipped and fell. I was able to bandage my knee and get back on my bike. It would be a full 2 months (and several trips to the doctor) before my knee recovered from a staph infection.
