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Garry McGivern’s Spanish bike ride Thursday 28th-April-2011 Chatou to Rouen. 85 miles. It was a cold and wet start to the day. But after an hour or two, the rain stopped, although you could still feel it in the air.

Every time I cycle out of Paris, I get lost and go a different way. Okay, I know that I’d cycled the bulk of it yesterday, but Chatou is still considered a suburb of Paris. So last night, I spent a bit of time working out my route for today. And as I cycled on this morning, I began to recognise different places, a sure sign that I was heading in the right direction. I even recognised a bench in a bus shelter. I remembered sheltering there from the rain last year.

Do Concentrate

As I cycled on, not paying any attention, I suddenly realised I was heading in the completely wrong direction! Don’t ask me how it happened. I was just in my, own little world! It took me a while before I could work out where I was. But once I had, I found my way to the main D14 to Rouen. So at least I was now going the right way. I thought I’d stay on the D14 for a few miles, then drop down to the Seine and find the route I usually take. The D14 isn’t exactly a pleasant road to cycle on. It’s a single carriageway full of lorries that thunder past with inches to spare.

It started to rain again, so I decided to stay on the main road. That way, I wouldn’t have to worry about looking at road signs and checking to ensure I was going the right way. I could just keep my head down and peddle. I didn’t even stop for a break! All I wanted to do was get to Rouen so I could stop.

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Garry McGivern’s Spanish bike ride Saturday 16th-April-2011 Cambrils to Premia de Mar. 98 miles. It rained in the night, but I didn’t think it was for long. Or rather, I don’t think it did, as I soon fell asleep.

It’s been a pleasant ride today. The scenery has gone from orange groves to vineyards. Even going over some Col at 487 metres was okay. Although that may have been because I took the wrong road and ended up a bit further inland than I intended, which was fine. It made a nice change.

Everything was going well right up to the point of Barcelona. Every road seemed to turn into a motorway. It was all becoming a nightmare, one I’d had before, back in 2009. Then I had just arrived on the ferry from Ibiza and had the same problem trying to find a way out. In the end, I cycled down the motorway. But that was at two o’clock in the morning. It was mid-afternoon today, and I certainly wasn’t going to go on the motorway now!

Eventually, I found a way in. I even recognised some of the buildings from 2009. Now I was in Barcelona I thought I’d find a nice hotel, stay for two nights and do the tourist thing. Not a chance, every hotel I tried was either full or ridiculously expensive. In the end, I gave up and decided that I wouldn’t be very good at playing the tourist anyway! And finding my way out of Barcelona was surprisingly easy.

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Garry McGivern’s Spanish bike ride Friday 15th-April-2011 Benicasim to Cambrils. 98 miles. There was a bit of a chill in the air this morning. And it was really cold on the downhills.

I met a couple of Australian cyclists today. They weren’t a happy couple. Actually, they weren’t even a couple as such. He was on a charity cycle ride around Spain. And she just came along for the adventure. Gary was a lycra-clad cyclist who just wanted to pump out the miles, a real keeno. And I’m sure he shaved his legs! He would quite often just cycle off and leave her to plod along at her own pace, which I didn’t think was that slow. But then I’m not exactly fast myself! Tamara was a personal trainer (whatever that means and entails?). She was also into bodybuilding. Best not upset her then!

We kept passing each other all day, and I would cycle with each one individually and sometimes when they were together. That’s how I knew they weren’t happy bunnies. I got both their views. He wanted to push on to Barcelona the last time I saw them. That’s a whole day’s ride for me. Tamara didn’t look so keen on the idea!

What Is The Matter With These Campsites

I had a bit of trouble finding a campsite tonight. The first campsite I came across was a minimum stay of two nights. The second wouldn’t let me leave before eight o’clock tomorrow. And the third was like a building site! The one I eventually found is huge. It’s like a Haven campsite back home, but the showers were lovely, and it’s nice to be camping on grass rather than gravel!

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