The Atlantic to the Mediterranean

 

We met our friends Ken and Suzy in San Sebastián, a vibrant city in Spain on the Atlantic coast, to begin the second part of our trip - crossing the Pyrenees and ending on the Costa Brava in Spain on the Mediterranean. Fortunately Dennis recovered from COVID just in time to start biking the famous climbs (called “Cols” in French) that we see during the Tour de France. He’d convinced his mountain bike training partner and teammate Ken that these trips are the best way to see the world while doing something you love.  And you burn enough calories so that you can eat a lot of great food! 

While in San Sebastián, we also met up with dear friends, Ruth and Graham, from our time living in Barcelona. They’re the type of friends that you can go years without seeing and start up right where you left off.  It was wonderful exploring the city with them!

Soon after starting we came upon an unexpected water crossing. Fortunately an enterprising guy was running a side gig ferrying people across in his little boat. 

Another assist from an escalator. Google often takes you on strange routes, so improvisation is a key part of these trips. 

Sometimes when you’re off road, the trail just ends.  It’s part of the adventure, and we always end up at our destination. Eventually. 

Our route started in the lush lowlands of Spain, which quickly became France.  Our route will take us from Spain to France to Andorra to France to Spain. And we’ll be speaking, or trying to speak, Spanish, Basque, French, and Catalan. 

More than one person has asked me what I was thinking signing up to climb the Pyrenees with two state champion mountain bikers. It’s actually worked out well - they’re very gracious and never make me lead, and I have a lightweight bike with thin tires while they’re riding mountain bikes. Hopefully they’re enjoying the slower pace and lack of competition that typically defines their friendship. But I think this picture speaks volumes - look at the smiles on their faces and the look of intense concentration on mine!  

They still found ways to indulge their competitive natures 

And now for the serious climbing…

This was the Col I was most excited about. It’s one of the most iconic climbs and is featured regularly in the Tour de France. When I train for these rides, I always have one particular climb in my head. If I can train appropriately for that ride, the rest will fall into place.  This was that one, and it was fantastic from the beginning to the very top. 

The Tour is actually doing a lot of these same Cols this year, the week after we ride them. Because of that, the roads are well maintained, smooth and flawless. Cities work hard to earn a place in the Tour, since it’s such an economic boom in addition to providing local bragging rights. Roads are repaved and cleaned just prior to the race, so our timing was perfect. 

We took a day off from riding to go see the world mountain bike championships in Andorra. These riders were amazing!!  We watched the Mens Under 23 group, and the Women’s and the Men’s open. They raced for about 90 minutes in the heat wave that’s been plaguing Europe - race temp was 96 degrees. For once I was glad to be a spectator and not a participant.  

It’s been very hot for the past 2 weeks, even high up in the mountains.  Fortunately there are a lot of these public spigots that we can use to refill our water bottles and cool our bodies. It’s icy cold water straight from the mountain runoff, and it feels absolutely sublime. Except for the sunscreen that drips into your eyes. 

Typically we’ll have a coffee, bubbly water and a pastry at the top of each climb. But one day we couldn’t find any cafes or even stores that were open.  It was a particularly long ride, about 7 hours, and it was also very hot. We couldn’t even find a public spigot to refill our water bottles. We finally figured out that it was Bastille Day, and NOTHING is open while they celebrate this national French holiday. Starving and dehydrated, we had to deviate from our route to go in search of sustenance. 

We finally found a man sitting in his garden and asked if we could fill our water from his garden spigot. He seemed bemused at the question but readily agreed. He also showed very little interest, so I’m guessing this wasn’t the first time parched bikers had visited him. Sadly no food was on offer. 

We finally found an open restaurant - McDonald’s! I’ve never been so happy to see the Golden Arches. I had the BEST chocolate milkshake I’ve ever had in my life!!!  I will always remember it…and I’ll never make fun of people who eat there ever again. 

Dennis always finds amazing, unique places for us to stay. They’re usually family run rural farmhouses that have been converted to Inns. For some reason, all of them on this trip have been up a short but steep 1,000’ climb, which is especially arduous after climbing mountains all day. And we usually have to do it on a full stomach because there’s no food there til dinner. It’s definitely cut into my lunchtime wine drinking.

 

It’s always worth the climb and the celebratory beer!

Or (and) wine

Our final Col. I’m sad to be leaving these beautiful mountains and the lovely people that live and visit here. We’ve seen nothing but kindness and graciousness from all people with whom we’ve come in contact. I especially love the French tradition of greeting all tables as they arrive at a restaurant, then bidding you farewell as they leave. It makes every meal seem like a family affair, and happens at all hotel breakfast rooms as well as sophisticated dinner restaurants. 

Summer sleigh ride down the mountain as we descend to the foothills - over 4,000’ of descent in 5 miles

Ken and I racing down the switchbacks 

Dennis and Ken enjoying some mountain bike trails in the foothills of the Pyrenees. 

I guess earthquake insurance is out of the question

I’ll miss these views. The stonework in France and Spain is just incredible, from centuries old farmhouses to cobbled streets to layered town walls to ancient yet functioning aqueducts and bridges. This was the view from our dinner table in Besalu, Spain. 

Life is always a balancing act. This trip was the perfect balance of sustained physical activity among breathtaking scenery, followed by wonderful, slow afternoons and evening meals. We didn’t do much traditional sightseeing, but the sights we saw were amazing. I’m very thankful that we survived this trip relatively unscathed and in good form, but it becomes more obvious with each passing year that the window of opportunity is slowly closing. I hope we can continue doing these trips for a long while yet, balancing our dreams with our capabilities.  

Next year, Montenegro and Croatia!

Thank you for following our trip. And as always, huge thanks to the trip planner, the navigator, the photographer, and my best friend 😊