66. Girona to Collioure

8 July 2022

The final day!!

Yesterday was my third wi-wi day of the trip. A “Will I, won’t I” day! Coincidentally on the very same day that Boris finally answered his own Borexit question!  Not very humbly. 

Fart. 

That is what my wi-wi day refers to! Uncomfortable stomach….meaning a fart might be risky! So…just sit on it! (…on all those three days in fact….a fart would have been just fine!)

So today…somewhat ironically…was a “certainly not” day. My first real “health” issue of any kind for the whole trip!! No evidence of Covid, no abscess recurrence, no injuries (apart from constantly bloodied shins/calves from sharpened pedals), a few wasp/bee stings, beetle/bumble bee bruises, four mosquito bites….and that is it!

The final day! So tinged with a bit of sadness really…for I am not sure I am ready for this to end…its been such a blast!

We had a fairly slow start….too many Girona beers maybe? But were soon out of the city…on fairly straight, fairly quiet roads. The Spanish certainly take the prize for the most courteous drivers, happy to sit behind you until they can pass safely! Sometimes however that can become discomfiting …with over-cautious drivers just sitting on your tail for too long! And while on Spain….certainly the best roads in Southern Europe. But still Croatia takes the prize if you balance road quality and (lack of) volume of traffic.

30kms until we stopped for breakfast….at the sweet small town of Verges…

….at which point we discovered that we had sailed 6kms past our turn-off (that is the tail on the map!).

A nice stretch of off-road took us into Figueras…but the wind was picking up…and for the first time since Split that buffeting was becoming a real issue.

…and a bizarre stetch of cycle path , leading to a classic end (…”more than my jobsworth” line painter…!)

As we started the climb towards the French border…the wind picked up – directly in our faces – and it became a battery-draining slog. To such an extent that I had to drop down into battery management mode to make sure we could get home. All a bit stressful…and exhausting!

Espolla…the last village in Spain…

….the border looming on the final climb…

and then we arrived in France…with the hilltop border still “closed”.

I am fairly sure that the boulder barrier was put in place at the height of the covid crisis…but not sure why it has not been removed, given all other land borders are freely open. So…to our final descent…

And then down through the vineyards…

…..to Banyuls….

…..through Port Vendres….

and on to the finish line…

….at Bar St Elme, with Liz awaiting us,

 Welcome (early!) beers…& a swim….and we had finished!!

It has been epic! So much variety. So much fun…with my three wonderful co-riders. 

I am already thinking about the next one! North is an option, Spain is an option…but I am thinking Istanbul….starting maybe in Trieste…with a different route through the Balkans. Maybe.

So…to the stats…..

Total distance cycled just over 4,800km…..with 50,800 metres of climbing…over 53 biking days, so averaging 92kms and 960m a day (well over 3,000 feet every day!!)

Martin shared 1,980km and 16,700 metres of climbing over 22 days, so averaging 90Km and 760m  day.

Despite being one battery down for five days, Iain rode 1,243km 14,900m over 14 day, so averaging 89kms and 1,066m a day. And shared the longest distance in a day at 133km.

But Shennae takes the overall prize…riding 1,405km and climbing 15,480m over 14 days, so averaging 100.4kms and 1,105m a day. ( That little detour today tipped her over the 100km/day average! And no…it was not deliberate…!). Certainly ambitions increased as the journey proceeded, and Shennae was victim to that…but she was well up for it encouraging us on that biggest climbing day by far at 2,500 metres!)

(The three day discrepancy were the three days I rode alone as Martin returned to the Uk.)

It is interesting (to me!) to note that the original “plan” was to a cycle a total of 3,680km with 39,000m of climbing….partly Google…partly our decision to take wee detours through Bosnia and North Macedonia…and partly a more thorough tour of the Peloponnese peninsular.

And one other stat: loads of touring motorcyclists, but we have come across less than half a dozen touring cyclists…on the WHOLE trip!! So surprising…or might just have something to do with the selected route which “normal” bikers really cannot countenance. And of the former…lots of singles, lots of women riding pillion…but not a single bike with a bloke riding pillion behind a woman. In fact…I am not sure I have EVER seen such a combo! 

Thank you to the three from the bottom of my heart. I absolutely loved it….! Next year maybe?

And to those of you who have suffered through the blog…I hope you have enjoyed it a bit at least. Love the comments….and – promise! – I only edited the one!!!

Until next year……..