Interlude
This trip was always planned to have breaks, and the first one was in Mallorca, followed by a longer break on the Costa Brava.
As I prepare for the second leg from just north of Barcelona to Florence, the last week has been a mix of cycling, sunshine and rest.
Zwift Community Live
Coincidentally my ride across Europe linked up perfectly with the opportunity to join Zwift’s annual ambassador and industry get together in Mallorca. I arrived with a reasonably large dose of social anxiety about seeing old colleagues for the first time since leaving and wondering if anything will be different. I’m relieved that, of course, nothing is and it’s a joy seeing so many friends who I’ve spent far too much time on Zoom, and nowhere near enough time face to face with.
My role at the event was a ride leader, taking groups to ride around Mallorca’s inland roads. The riding is easy which allows me to recover from the past two weeks and riding a bike without 20 extra kilos of additional weight feels like flying. It also reminds me how fun it is riding in bigger groups, something I haven’t done for a while, and something I never quite cracked living in London. The opportunity to visit friends and family to ride outside of the City was always much more enticing than the repeatable grind of cycling in and out of London, having to go for at least a four hour ride to feel like the majority of the distance was done in the countryside rather than busy roads. It takes me back to the good old days of SURC.
Zwift Community Live is an impeccably run event, and brings out the best in the group, everyone making new friends and sharing the sport they love.
Day Eleven
Barcelona to Sant Hilari Sacalm
110km 2,206m
After catching the ferry back from Alcudia to Barcelona, I have two days to reach Tossa de Mar before Brogane arrives. With some surplus energy following four days of hotel buffet, I decide to take the hilly route towards Girona, and test out the first 2,000m+ day of the trip. It nearly all comes in one climb, 24km at 5% and takes two hours, but it’s manageable. Nearing the top, a Eurasian Hobby circles above me with its distinctive red legs. It’s nice to be back riding solo again after enjoying the social aspect of group riding, noticing things around me in a bit more detail. On the brief descent into the town I’m heading for, it is cold. Properly cold. I am not in the desert any more.
It also doesn’t feel like I’m in Spain anymore. Catalonia has a distinctive feel to it, removed from the rest of the ride so far.
After a quick check in at a very standard hotel, my receptionist’s recommendation delivers. An excellent tapas and wine bar for some oxtail stew and a couple of glasses of cava.
It feels good to be moving forward.
Day Twelve
Sant Hilari Sacalm to Tossa de Mar
64km 420m
Along the trip so far I’ve had a number of earworms* and after a quick breakfast I’m walking to get my bike from the hotel’s garage, down a quiet, narrow Spanish street. From one of the many open shutters, I immediately recognise the start of what I know will be today’s and quite possibly tomorrow’s song. Saturday Night by Whigfield. Instantly taking me back to being eleven years old, and at school and birthday party discos, boys on one side of the room, girls on the other, a few of the braver boys trying to dance while the girls point and laugh. As I set off for a long 20km downhill, I can’t fight it, and I don’t bother trying. It’s all I can hum and sing.
I ride straight to Tossa de Mar, and I arrive into the town cycling past a sign that says ‘Camping Tossa’ which feels a bit on the nose. Shortly afterwards I see an Egyptian Vulture walking towards me, and it’s time to spend five days with Brogane by the sea.
Notes
Earworms - While an affliction for the wider population, for cyclists riding by themselves, a bad earworm can ruin a ride and therefore the day. Fortunately so far they’ve been varied. The first one that covered departing Seville, Come Out Ye Black And Tans by the Wolfe Tones, followed by The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden around the desert (after seeing a sign for highway 666), and on the way to Mallorca The Fate of Ophelia by Taylor Swift after it came on in a tapas bar, as for what’s next, let’s wait and see.
🐓
Enjoy the break!!!