Bicycle Touring Spain

This week’s Travelsonabike2 bicycle touring on this day post comes from Spain on the 20th of June 2008. And it’s the first day of cycling as I embark on my first-ever long-distance bicycle tour.

There is a more embellished version of this post, along with all the posts from my first long-distance bicycle ride, in my “Bilbao to Bognor” tour book, available to buy from Amazon.

Friday 20th June. In Spain Santuritzi to Zarautz. 91 miles.

It was a much smoother night last night, and I got my first sighting of the Spanish coastline when I woke up and looked out of my porthole. It seemed very hilly.

After filling up with a full English breakfast onboard the Pride of Bilbao, it was time to disembark. Now, the hard work begins.

The temperature was a pleasant twenty-five degrees with a gentle breeze as I cycled off the ferry. Once off the ferry and out of the terminal, I didn’t get off to the best of starts. I got lost in Bilbao, and it took me two hours to find my way out. Then, I ended up cycling on a motorway for four miles. I’m not too sure if it was me not reading the signs properly or if they’re not very clear. But the road I was cycling on, which wasn’t a motorway, just turned into one.

Eventually, I found my way to the right road. And found myself in the thick of the hills I saw from the ferry. But despite getting lost and having plenty of hills to cycle up. It’s been a good day, and it felt good to be cycling again after three days at sea.

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