A day of three halves today.
Firstly…a 40km run into the heart of Barcelona…with most of it a repeat of yesterday’s last leg. Railway line and all.
But as we got close to the city centre….lovely wide avenues with bike lanes travelling down their middle. It really is a super-bike-friendly city!
Coffee stop at the 40km mark…..right beside Sagrada Familia.
Work continues apace…with ‘completion’ due in 2026…to celebrate the centenary of Gaudi’s death….144 years after the first stone was laid!!
The view was great…but the coffee very ho hum served by particularly grumpy waiters, charging three times the going rate!! Welcome to the the tourism hot spot of Barcelona!!
The next 30kms or so was a blast…as we raced straight through the city centre…on fantastic bike lanes. It was a Sunday too….so very little traffic to upset the flow!
The third stage followed the coast.
The railway had headed inland….so it was a lovely ride along the beach….before climbing into the hills and a fantastic – if too short – section of cliffside-hugging corniche….which then dropped down into the heart of Sitges…our overnight stop! And after a very cloudy day…the sun came out!!
Confidence in the bikes is growing!! The anxiety-filled first two days…have now given way to faith in our steeds!!
Sitges is a lovely wee stop…..renowned as one of Europes’s gay capitals not that we noticed…with great beachfront, and impressive old town!
After a brief wander around the town…..we met up with Joe….a friend of Iain’s, who had made the trip from Barcelona: Commercial pilot, snowboarder and all-round adventurer! (They met on a chairlift in Andorra!)…so lots of yarns about flying 747s into Central African Republic and so many places besides!! His message for the nervous flyer: Airbus have just as many issues as Boeing…but they just get less publicity!! And he has no worries about flying with either!! Fascinating guy!
Fun evening…..but I retired to leave the guys heading off to watch El Classico soccer: Barcelona vs Real Madrid!! (Old fart however had to stay awake to let them into our apartment!).
Hilarious end of the day when toothpaste-less Iain asked Corey for some. Corey threw a tube at him…noises off of brushing teeth….followed by a squawk of horror as Iain discovered that the tube was not toothpaste at all. I am not very sure how well “Soov” works on teeth..but it is just fantastic for saddle sores!!!
Nice . . . toothpaste is rubbish for saddle sores, so a good one to get the hang of early.