My Top Three for the First Three Weeks of Spain

This is Erich reporting live from Benicassim on the Costa Alzahar. We
have been in Spain for 3 weeks now. My family and I have been riding down
the eastern coast of Spain for the past 2 weeks. The remainder of the time
has been spent either staying in the same place for multiple days or
renting apartments.
Some of my favorite sights were in the city of Valencia. Besides the
cathedral and the old city gates, we encountered a park in which inside
the fence there was a huge 100 foot tall, plastic model of Gulliver. It
was incredible. Twisting trails led all over the outside and slides down
the giant's hair, the inside of his shoe and even down his belt. Later
the same day my mom and I went to an incredible aquarium called The
Oceanographic. The first thing we did when we got inside was head to the
arena where a stunning dolphin show took place almost as soon as we sat
down. We also saw Sea Horses(my favorite), Japanese Spider Crabs, Walruses
(my mom's favorite) and Sawsharks.
The next day we went and watched some real Spanish folk dancing in the
Placa del Virgen. The dancers wore big phroofy costumes and fake hair
traditional to the Valencia region, and there were some small children
just learning the dances who were very cute. They danced to castanettes
and overly loud music played through speakers.
Over all we have found that biking in Spain is horible. There are
still lots of interesting sights and things to do, but I think that if
you are going to come to Spain on bike be prepared to rent a car or take
trains and buses alot of the time.
Now, back to you....

Best of France

Here are. Our favorite memories from our month in France...

Erich
1.) The Eiffel Tower
2.) The Arch De Triumph
3.) Riding the TGV to Paris
4.) Wicket tossing (a game we made up) on the beach at Gruissan
5.) Carcasonne

Best Day of Riding: Castlenaudry to Carcassonne
Favorite Food: Mom's homemade crepes with jam
Favorite Campground: Obernai

Stacey
1.) Watching Erich at the Eiffel Tower
2.) Shopping at the Paris streetmarket for scarves, hats, vegies,
flowers, olives, tapenade, etc, etc
3.) Drinking vin nouveau at the Alsace wine festival
4.) Wandering the canals and narrow streets of Strasbourg.
5.) Seeing the Pont du Gard on a warm fall day.

Best Day of Riding: Ribeauville to Turckheim
Favorite Food: Cassoulet
Favorite Campground: Obernai

Thomas
1.) Carcassonne
2.) Riding the Canal du Midi
3.) Climbing to Haute Konigsburg
4.) Riding Through the Vineyards of the Alsace
5.) Bicycling Paris on Sunday Morning

Best Day of Riding: Toulouse to Castlenaudry
Favorite Food: Cassoulet
Favorite Campground: Ribeauville

Cycling (or not) the Costa Alzahar and Costa Blanca

After cycling down the northern part of the province of Valencia, we took
a few days to explore city of Valencia. We rented a great apartment
(www.friendlyrentals.com), which for us is a good way to go as we can
cook and spread out a bit. Highlights of Valencia included the America's
Cup yacht harbor, the cathedral (who knew the Holy Grail was in Valencia?),
the park in the dry riverbed of the diverted Turia River, and just
wandering the narrow streets of the historic El Carmen area. We shopped
for food at the central market with its art deco building and all the
stalls of produce, cheeses, meats, fish, breads, and other goods. It was
also amazing to us, as tired American cyclists, to see the numbers of
people out and about, eating, drinking and socializing well after midnight.

We were able to cycle out of Valencia, headed south. There is supposedly
a cycle path from near the center of the city to Salou, 16 km south on
the beach. We got lost in road construction, but were directed to the
path by an older gentleman who gave us directions from his car at a
stoplight, much to the consternation of the cars waiting behind him. Once
we were on the path, it took us a little beyond Salou and close to
Albufeira National Park, which is a big lake that provides a major
migration stop for many birds. There were few birds this time of year,
though.
Once off the cycling path, there was one bit of pushing along a dirt path
and under a gate. We then were on a flat two lane road which was signed
with warnings for drivers to be alert for cyclists. There was a narrow
shoulder but drivers were courteous. The area was quite pretty, with pine
trees, grasslands, and of course off along the beach the usual concrete
megolithic apartment buildings.
As seems to be the case all too often, the tourist guide to the
campgrounds was not correct, and the map wasn't quite right either. So
the campground we were planning to stop at was closed. It was only four
o'clock, but since it gets dark at six o'clock, we made a quick decision
to pedal hard to the next town that might have a hotel. However we saw a
campground that was supposed to be closed, but was open, although we were
the only ones camping there. The manager, a Peruvian, came out and raked
away leaves so there was a spot for us. It was a chilly night and a
chilly morning, so we packed up quickly and headed back down the two lane
road.

We spent the day cycling on two lane roads past orange trees, and
sometimes the smell was almost overwhelmingly sweet. There were
occasionally sections of designated bike path, but mostly the road was
good cycling. We reached the port of Gandia and cycled along the fairly
dead water front area and managed to find the open campground, which was
full of German, Dutch, and British retirees in their motor homes and
caravans. Gandia was nothing special, but there were a few good day rides
up into the mountains.

From Gandia we were planning to go to Denia, another of the old fishing
villages that have been overrun by tourism. We again cycled mostly quiet
two lane road, with the beach developments off to our left and our road
passing through agricultural land, mostly orange trees but some date palms.
After 34 km we arrived in Oliva, and decided to camp at one of the six
open campgrounds right on the beach. Some were pretty expensive, but we
found one with "bungalows" that were old insulated truck containers with
some wood facing, windows cut in, and pink painted dry wall on the inside.
Lovely, really!?!? They also had little verandas with fridge, sink, and
table/chairs, so we were there, what luxury, to have table and chairs,
fridge, and beds.
Campground culture in these retiree winter resting grounds is
fascinating. A sociological study of campground culture is definitely in
order. Some campgrounds cater to particular nationalities, e.g. Dutch.
This one was primarily British and German with a few French folks as
well. They get up at 8 AM, eat breakfast, "hoover" and otherwise clean
their caravans including raking any chance leaves that drifted onto their
parcel. Shopping or other errands is followed at noon by more eating,
followed by napping or walks. Then comes social time, with petanque or
other games, accompanied by beer or other drinks. Dinner, then more
socalizing. The conversations were often in three or four languages. The
pitches were decorated with flashing lights, Santas, pine boughs, and
other Christmas decorations. The people in the caravans around us quickly
adopted Erich, who became the official petanque score keeper as well as
main entertainer of Rex the ball-catching dog. So we stayed there for
four days, building sand castles, taking day rides, eating meals on our
little veranda, and participating in campground culture.
Alas, even good things end. So we headed out of the campground to the
cheers of the campers (felt like we were in the Tour de France but
without the publicity caravan and with an extra 50 pounds on our bikes.)
We continued south along the coast toward Denia, where the road became
hideously busy. After asking directions we headed around some headlands
again on mostly quiet roads, for a total of 42 km to Javea, or Xabia in
Valenciano. Another campground, but this one was much noisier, with
sounds of discos, barking dogs, and motor scooters throughout the night.
But Uilke and Jennie, our Dutch friends from Benicassim and Gandia, were
there. There were a number of excellent walks and rides detailed in a
tourist booklet, including a terrific ride to the cove of Granadella. The
beach was beautiful; the area had experienced a great deal of rain about
a month previously, and the hills were full of Spanish lavendar,
rosemary, and other herbs all in bloom. Beautiful!!

The weather was getting slightly colder, making for some long nights in
the tent. Also, riding south meant once again heading onto the N332, a
very busy highway. Uilke, our Dutch friend, offered to take the bikes to
our next destination, about an hour's drive, so we could avoid the
highway on the busy holiday weekend. We gratefully accepted the offer,
and soon were in Altea, a very pretty seaport. The campground was again
mostly crushed rock pitches and quite full of Dutch and British retirees,
who again adopted Erich. This campground was right across from the rocky
beach and next to a cheap Chinese restaurant. Tom will detail our
exhausting but beautiful day ride up to Guadalest. The other day we went
to the apalling resort of Benidorm, with its layers of high rise
apartments and hotels, fish and chip shops, and legions of overweight
British tourists lolling on the beaches. Beached whales came to mind.
Glad to have seen it once, but its definitely a place to be avoided for
any lengthy stays.
From Benidorm one again has to ride the highway, so we took the very
modern tram down to Alicante.
So...part of this section had some very nice cycling. For those who may
try to cycle this section, taking the train to skirt the N highway seems
like a good option, and there seem to be many very good day rides along
the coast and up into the mountains.

On and Off the Bikes on The Costa Brava and Costa Daurada

Spain is definitely not a cycling-friendly country, at least for cycle
tourists. Cycling here has proven to be as difficult as described in
other trip blogs. So we've ridden some and then hopped on trains where
the riding was too difficult. The good news is that taking the bikes on
regional trains has been easy and free, except we were scolded once about
the length of the tandem. Also, for the most part drivers of both cars
and trucks have been quite courteous and allowed plenty of space for us.
The not-so-good part has been the difficulty of finding reasonable routes.

Although we had planned to cycle the French coast of Rousillon, a storm
in the Mediterranean was making the normally windy coast a real test of
our ability to balance heavily loaded bikes in gusts of up to 75 kph. The
French train agents claimed to know nothing about putting cycles on
Spanish trains, so we took a French train just across the border to
Portbou in Spain, went through a passport check, bought the next tickets,
and loaded the bikes on the train to Girona.
Girona was warm, at least for the first few days, and we stayed in a very
cycle-friendly lodging, the Hotel Historic, in the old center of town.
Seems that Team Discovery used to train in the area around Girona. We
enjoyed the beautiful city with narrow winding streets and the outside
cafes. After two days, we rode a Via Verde, aka "rails-to-trails" in the
U.S., down to San Feliu de Guixol, a small resort and fishing village.
The route was well-marked and graded through farmland and nice coastal
forest.

We had intended to ride south along the Costa Brava. Alas, there was the
wind and cold again, coupled with lack of reasonable cycling routes, as
we would have ended up on the National Highway system. So, the bikes went
on a bus back to Girona and then on a train to Tarragona.
We spent two days in Tarragona viewing the old Roman sights, and then
took a day ride to the Roman aqueduct and north to a beach. Again,
drivers were polite but there are no provisions for cycling, so the roads
and particularly the roundabouts can be hair-raising.

From Tarragona we rode south through an intensely industrial area,
camping one night in an over-priced campground near an adventure park,
noisy with trucks, and very cold. Then headed south again, making our way
through concrete jungles of high rise apartments that are essentially
ghost towns this time of year. Sometimes we could find small streets to
ride. However we also ended up riding N340. (Spain has A roads, or
Autopistas, which are mostly toll roads. So much of the traffic,
including commercial trucks, take the smaller N, or National, roads. They
have wide shoulders, but it was noisy, you're breathing a lot of exhaust,
and even though the traffic moved over for us, it was bit scary.)

We ended up that night short of our planned stop, but found a nice
campground right on the beach in Hospitalet les Enfants. The next day's
ride would have taken us back on the N340, past a nuclear power plant and
other large chemical plants. So, back on the train to Benicassim, another
tourist town on the beach with multiple highrise apartment buildings, and
most of the shops closed for the season. There were several campgrounds
open with many Dutch, German, and British caravanners, so there were some
grocery stores etc open. The caravanners were friendly, and Erich was
able to play bocce ball and otherwise hobnob with someone besides his
parents. We also took a nice day ride, described in a separate posting.

From Benicassim south there is a good cycle path as far as Castellon. We
then picked our way along the coast on side roads and through parking
lots of more concrete jungle, again falling short of our planned
destination. It was Thanksgiving Day, so we found a small hotel right on
the beach in Moncofa, had paella for dinner (no, it didn't come with
cranberry sauce and stuffing, but the owner gave us some tangerines from
his garden.)

There did not look to be a reasonable route for biking into Valencia, so
we found the train station in Moncofa which was over the highway, through
an orange grove, in a deserted building along the tracks, and the train
actually stopped for us. On to Valencia and beyond.

So that's our first two weeks in Spain, on and off our bicycles.

Full Nickel Goes Mountain Climbing

Much to my surprise, and pleasure I might add, Stacey decided we needed
to ride up into the mountains the other day. The day was another warm,
sunny Spanish winter day.

We rode from the beach in Benicassim on the Costa Alzahar of Spain to the
El Desierto de las Palmas natural park, an area of historical
significance in Catalonia because of the religious and geographic
importance of the area. The major attraction is a late 17th century
Carmelite monastery in the mountains.

The climb was 11km long with 1350ft of elevation gain and a very
different sort of climb than the ones I did with Kevin back in October.
This one started with a long grade passing a beautiful old hacienda, had
six or seven short switchbacks in the middle followed by another long
grade along a ridge top and just below the summit ridge. Very few trees,
mostly scrub similar to the chaparal in Southern California, some nice
rock outcroppings and even a few names painted on the road. Remove the
paint on the road and one could almost be convinced they were riding in
the hills above Santa Barbara, California.

Unfortunately the new monastery was closed for the midday siesta and the
old, 14th century, abbey, just a few walls still standing, was gated off.
Some of the old chaples from a pilgramage route to the abbey were still
present,as were the terraces and water works. Fortunately from above the
old abbey we had a sweeping panaroma and a nice picnic lunch in the sun.
From our vantage point we could see almost all of the climb and all the
way to the seemingly ever present highrises gaurding the coast.

Perhaps the best part of th ride was being away from the overdeveloped
coast and into an area that may be more typical of Spain away from the
coast. As warm as it was sitting there in the sun at the top we still had
to put on clothes for the descent back to the beach. What took us an hour
to go up we descended in less than 20 minutes.

This was Erich's and my first long climb on our Rodriguez Nickel and I
can confidently state that the Nickel rides equally well as a single and
a tandem.