Big Dave C

Breakfast today was huge, the benefit of staying in a more expensive hotel. Eggs & bacon! So later hitting the road. A sunny morning with the roads quiet & flat. Many old guys on bikes passed with the aid of a tail wind. Via Cullera on minor road Gandia was reached after 27 miles. Time for coffee. The wrong road was taken with the result being a ride through the town centre. After this they hit the N332 to Oliva, plenty of prostitutes on the road sides some “pant less”. The coast road took in Denia & the Els Poblets for lunch. Now hot. Decided to ride on to Javea for the night stop via cold drinks in a petrol station. Arrived at 4.15pm. Booked into the Mirimar hotel on the seafront. Bikes stored in the ... read more

Started the days riding at 8.20am on a cloudy & overcast day. First 15 miles slightly downhill so set a new PB doing 15 miles in the 1st hour. The coffee stop was not so easy being a Sunday morning. Had to wait 26 miles until Cabanes which had a warehouse size buffet restaurant & even though they were setting up for day they still provided refreshments. As before in the trip the road turned into a motorway but this time the more sensible approach prevailed & an alternative route was found via a small country road. Then a chance meeting with a cyclist put the boys onto a decent cycle path that tacked the motorway. A little later they road with 2 Spanish cyclist until a cross roads that took the boys on for 18 ... read more

Up early on the road at 7.40am with a change of weather, now overcast & windy. 1st part of the day through level/boring farmland. Not sure what that had been spreading but happy to put that behind. After a while dropped to a different level to reach the river Ebro. The river was dammed nearby so a wide expanse & from there climbed up the other side to reach the original target of Alcaniz at 11.00am. Bearing in mind the next day is 60 miles with climbs decided to put in some more miles today. Helpful girl in the tourist office booked accommodation in Monroyo about 22 miles further on. Had lunch in Alcaniz & then set off at 1.20pm to do the additional miles. In Alcaniz locked the bikes to a street sign. Looked back ... read more

The two were out on the road by 8.25 am and left the town onto the main road which led to a minor road which led to a long unwelcome climb however they were back down to the main road after about 16 miles. They then stopped for a drink at a chocolate shop where they had a cold chocolate drink. Although a cup of tea would have been preferred. The chap at the tourist information said that there was a mountain pass between Jaca and Huesca however this didn’t go down well after the Pyrenees. They then left the chocolate shop and began to climb for about 7 miles. The views were very good and required a photo stop. They then had lunch at a shady picnic site and began the descent which included a ... read more

Rest Day. The two went down for breakfast on their rest day to find that their bikes weren’t where they left them, however they had been tucked away somewhere by the owner. So panic over! They then went to the tourist information and went round to various tourist points around the town where, using a special watch you can hear information about the town. They then sat outside the cathedral to have a cup of tea, just as a beaten up Renault 5 drove straight into the railings opposite. Also the cafe they had sat in appeared to be owned by a distant relation of Al Murray. They then returned to the Tourist information to see if there was an internet cafe, however after finding the library as recommended they were informed the library was closed ... read more