Back to the mainland - Heading South to Calpe

 Some great hill climbs, and some amazing downhills!

 Actually caught some great body surfing waves here.  I came back the next day 3 more times and it was dead flat, never saw the waves again.  Makes that sunset surf all that much more special!

Check out that mountain jutting out of the ocean?!?!  Amazing no?  What is that?

Ibiza 2

More!

Ibiza

 Wow, am I ever behind on this Blog!  I'm so sorry, but it was incredibly hot in Spain and by the time we rolled into a campsite, we were dead tired.

So here are some photos from Ibiza!  Beautiful tropical island off the coast of Valencia!  We spent 3 days here and it was magical, if you ever get the chance to visit what the Spanish call Eivissa, don't hesitate and do it!!

Waking up after a night go renegade camping. Mi amigo Scott on the right!

Must make ferry in time

Big push to make it to Valencia. Scott has a friend on Ibiza who is going to host us, so excited to see this crazy island 6 hours off the coast. Heard so many good things!!

Castellon

I don't remember anything about Castello. We arrived, we swam, we set up camp, we slept, we ride on. 

Campsites are starting to blend together. We are getting excited for Ibiza and we're starting to make the push to make the ferry. 

This is where we ate

This is what we looked at as we ate. 

Here is what I'm listening to right now!  Great song to get going in the morning!

http://youtu.be/fiGE8DdHWBg

Benicarlo - 56km is a rest day

Short day of riding, I don't specifically remember why but it may have something to with champus and dehydration. Basically a rest day!!

The campsites really vary in Spain, sometimes they have a pool like the one above. Sometimes they have a restaurant and a market as well. Others have nothing and you sleep on rocks. 

Price is pretty consistent from 10E to 13E. One thing we have noticed as we travel further south, Once you get past Cambrils there is no longer TP in the bathrooms, or hand soap. So now we travel with both. Also less grass as we head south it's getting hitter and dryer. Lots of cacti as well!!

Beautiful playas in Spain, that's for sure!!

There's a crazy castle up there in the distance. I would have zoomed in more but the light turned green ;)

On the road again...

 With Scott on the mend, we rode to Cambrils. This was a gorgeous ride. No more climbing and along the ocean the whole day. The riding is so hot in Spain. Some days reach 40 degrees with humidity, we've had a few people question why we're riding in August. I love it, it feels great, and the ocean is that much more refreshing at the end of the day!

Campsite, first one with grass, yippee!

Corny palm tree foto

Leo soaking up the sun at lunch time. His job is to watch the bikes while we stop for food, so far he's kept all the robbers away. 

Just a little hiccup

So we had just a little bump in the road in Sitges. See below:

That's Scott with his blown ankle in my laptop bag. It's actually a dry bag which came in very handy for his rolled ankle. I filled it with ice and water and we treated his injury. I thought I was pretty smart, but of course this italian guy had to show me up. 

Lucky for Scott the minute he woke up that morning an Italian doctor happened to be camping next to us. He gave Scott some crazy treatment, almost a homeopathic massage. It looked to me like he was flushing out the swelling. Scott swears that the doctor got him back on the road earlier with his magic hands. I have a video of the treatment that I'll post later because my phone won't let me post a video with the Blogger App. Blogspot fail. 

It was pretty hard to watch, Scott was in a lot of pain and he went sheet white. He was sweating hard when the Doctor was working him, but in the end I'd say it was all worth it because Scott's ankle healed fast. 

Anyway, we ended up in Sitges for three days so that Scott could heal up. Which was fine by me as we got to play some

beach volleyball, do some hiking, and enjoy the local festival. 

Fotos

Day 1

Only 40km, but the toughest day in terms of hill climbing. Wow, we saw some exciting viewpoints. Crazy steep climbs, with some downhills that will make your heart race. Let me clarify that, it was fu$^#*€ thrilling. That was the most amazing day of riding and I managed to capture the last descent on video. So look for that on the "Come ride with me" page. Parental discretion is advised, ie you may or may not want to watch the video mom. Big thanks to Ken Johnson for the mirror, it was a priceless addition to my helmet. 

First rest stop, the heat is overwhelming, have to seek shade midday. 

Beautiful water

Viewpoint from Sitges

Team Miyata - all three if us are on 80s touring bikes made by Miyata. 

My first Paella, wow, seafood!!

A la santé!

Barcelona, Cataluña

My apologies for the lack of blog posts!  WIFI is not as common here. 

I made it to Barca to meet up with Ken and Scott and I'm pretty excited for our trip down the Spanish coast. I've never seen the Mediterranean and never been to Spain so it should be a good time!!  Some great cycling is ahead!

Here are mi amigos!

Voici la plage!

That first swim...ahhh 

Oh and it's a million times hotter down here, 35 with humidity. I've had a few people ask about why we are cycling in August with the intense heat??  Because its summer of course!