{"id":1129,"date":"2022-07-09T12:39:23","date_gmt":"2022-07-09T12:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=1129"},"modified":"2022-07-10T05:15:28","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T05:15:28","slug":"66-girona-to-collioure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=1129","title":{"rendered":"66. Girona to Collioure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

8 July 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The final day!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday was my third wi-wi day of the trip. A \u201cWill I, won\u2019t I\u201d day! Coincidentally on the very same day that Boris finally answered his own Borexit question!  Not very humbly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is what my wi-wi day refers to! Uncomfortable stomach\u2026.meaning a fart might be risky! So\u2026just sit on it! (\u2026on all those three days in fact\u2026.a fart would have been just fine!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So today\u2026somewhat ironically\u2026was a \u201ccertainly not\u201d day. My first real \u201chealth\u201d 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\u2026.and that is it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final day! So tinged with a bit of sadness really\u2026for I am not sure I am ready for this to end\u2026its been such a blast!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a fairly slow start\u2026.too many Girona beers maybe? But were soon out of the city\u2026on 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 \u2026with over-cautious drivers just sitting on your tail for too long! And while on Spain\u2026.certainly the best roads in Southern Europe. But still Croatia takes the prize if you balance road quality and (lack of) volume of traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

30kms until we stopped for breakfast\u2026.at the sweet small town of Verges\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026.at which point we discovered that we had sailed 6kms past our turn-off (that is the tail on the map!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A nice stretch of off-road took us into Figueras\u2026but the wind was picking up\u2026and for the first time since Split that buffeting was becoming a real issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026and a bizarre stetch of cycle path , leading to a classic end (\u2026\u201dmore than my jobsworth\u201d line painter\u2026!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As we started the climb towards the French border\u2026the 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\u2026and exhausting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Espolla\u2026the last village in Spain\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026.the border looming on the final climb\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

and then we arrived in France\u2026with the hilltop border still \u201cclosed\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am fairly sure that the boulder barrier was put in place at the height of the covid crisis\u2026but not sure why it has not been removed, given all other land borders are freely open. So\u2026to our final descent\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then down through the vineyards\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026..to Banyuls\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026..through Port Vendres\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

and on to the finish line\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026.at Bar St Elme, with Liz awaiting us,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 Welcome (early!) beers\u2026& a swim\u2026.and we had finished!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been epic! So much variety. So much fun\u2026with my three wonderful co-riders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am already thinking about the next one! North is an option, Spain is an option\u2026but I am thinking Istanbul\u2026.starting maybe in Trieste\u2026with a different route through the Balkans. Maybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\u2026to the stats\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total distance cycled just over 4,800km\u2026..with 50,800 metres of climbing\u2026over 53 biking days, so averaging 92kms and 960m a day (well over 3,000 feet every day!!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin shared 1,980km and 16,700 metres of climbing over 22 days, so averaging 90Km and 760m  day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Shennae takes the overall prize\u2026riding 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\u2026it was not deliberate\u2026!). Certainly ambitions increased as the journey proceeded, and Shennae was victim to that\u2026but she was well up for it encouraging us on that biggest climbing day by far at 2,500 metres!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The three day discrepancy were the three days I rode alone as Martin returned to the Uk.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting (to me!) to note that the original \u201cplan\u201d was to a cycle a total of 3,680km with 39,000m of climbing\u2026.partly Google\u2026partly our decision to take wee detours through Bosnia and North Macedonia\u2026and partly a more thorough tour of the Peloponnese peninsular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And one other stat: loads of touring motorcyclists, but we have come across less than half a dozen touring cyclists\u2026on the WHOLE trip!! So surprising\u2026or might just have something to do with the selected route which \u201cnormal\u201d bikers really cannot countenance. And of the former\u2026lots of singles, lots of women riding pillion\u2026but not a single bike with a bloke riding pillion behind a woman. In fact\u2026I am not sure I have EVER seen such a combo! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you to the three from the bottom of my heart. I absolutely loved it\u2026.! Next year maybe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to those of you who have suffered through the blog\u2026I hope you have enjoyed it a bit at least. Love the comments\u2026.and – promise! – I only edited the one!!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next year\u2026\u2026..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 July 2022 The final day!! Yesterday was my third wi-wi day of the trip. A \u201cWill I, won\u2019t I\u201d day! Coincidentally on the very same day that Boris finally…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary"],"yoast_head":"\n66. 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