You Can't Always Get What You Want

By -

Traditionally, at this time of year, Neil and I like to head 'down under' where it is summer and the sun shines long and hard.  Last year we were in lockdown and went nowhere, and this year the constantly changing situation and associated travel restrictions mean we are reluctant to risk ending up stranded 10,000 miles from home.

 We briefly toyed with returning to Florida but that is also risky and the riding there is pretty crap.  I was running out of ideas but then, in November, I got invited on a jolly in southern Spain courtesy of the Murcia Tourist Board.  It was late November but the weather was decent with blue skies and highs of about 20 degrees and our guide said that very similar weather could be expected in February.  As soon as I got home I dug out the maps and got cracking.

 I have cobbled together a 2 week, 875 mile route with very little purpose other than to get some miles in the legs and rays on the back.  We fly to Valencia and head down to Malaga then finish with a 5 day loop via Seville.

 I am training for life in Spain by not eating my evening meal until midnight and speaking with a pronounced lisp.  I should probably also do some cycling but the weather is too poor* for any of that nonsense.  I am riding the indoor trainer fairly regularly and, so long as we don’t cycle for more than 1 hour a day, I should be fine.  My cunning plan for keeping up with Plum is to take virtually no luggage and rely on him taking everything, up to and including the kitchen sink, as normal.  I have whittled mine down to 17lbs (including the bags ) and so long as I don’t need to brush my teeth or change my underwear I have everything I need.

 We will arrive in Valencia at around 4pm tomorrow and should be installed in our hotel by 6……leaving just 6 hours until the restaurant opens .

 *’poor’ is a meteorological term covering any day that is: cold (or chilly), windy (or breezy), wet (or damp).  It also applies to any day when the weather is OK but I just can’t be arsed to get out on the bike.  These conditions have prevailed on all but about 6 days in the last 3 months!

Comments

  1. KiwiPhil10 February 2022 at 18:52

    .....”you get what you need”....I believe the song goes��...anyway, great to see you guys back at it again....good luck with everything!
    BTW...what’s so bad about the prospect of being stranded in NZ...I’ve been stranded here for 14 years now...ain’t so bad!��

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rage Hard

By -
Image
Leading a tour down the US West Coast isn't the worst way to spend 4 weeks and it has many compensations.  The weather is lovely, the scenery is off the scale and you get to drink magnificent craft beers and eat well.  Putting out the odd fire and springing pillocks from jail is all part of the sport. BUT, and it is a big but (you get a lot of big butts in Merica), the daily hotel check-in is absolutely the worst thing.  Regardless of how carefully you have checked the reservations there is a clenching of the buttocks as you approach reception.  Today the first contact was good....they had all 15 rooms and cats were allowed.....but they weren't ready.  No problem, I was 30 minutes early.  30 minutes later.....still no rooms.  Cyclists were arriving; hot, tired grumpy cyclists.  The receptionist had run out of fucks to give several years ago.  I asked to see the manager.  Out walked a thing that was once the manger but was now a barrel of lard with a head.  We exchan
Read more

Now That's What I Call Music Volme 4

By -
Image
Won't Stop Running/Golden Brown The 24-hour dysentery that has been working through the group has now reached me.  Bugger. Invisible  When making any on-line transaction in Merica is necessary to provide a telephone number and a valid zip code.  If paying by credit card this must match the zip code the card is registered to.  There is absolutely no provision for anyone without a US phone number and a card registered to a US address.  It's like non-Mericans don't exist or, maybe, just aren't worth bothering about. Some hotels and supermarkets have devices to scan photo-id. You've guessed it....these only recognise US driving licences.  For hotels you have to piss off and find your passport and in stores you have to wait while the manager is called to authorise the purchase.   We should retaliate and only serve Mericans in the UK if they can correctly pronounce Leicester Square. Wonderful Copenhagen Today we have ridden
Read more

Drinking in L.A

By -
Image
We are starting to entertain the very remote possibility that we will make it to the Mexican border! It continues to be an uphill struggle with mechanical and logistical challenges but we battle on. On Tuesday night our hotel was several miles from restaurants so we cleared a few seats in the van and sent out the simplest of instructions......form yourselves into a group of 6 and another of 7, decide whether you want to go to the harbour or downtown and pick a time.  What could possibly go wrong?  We had groups of 4, groups where most wanted the harbour but others wanted downtown, both groups wanting the same time...........I finally got off duty at 9pm, another 14 hour day! Yesterday we rode down through Malibu, Santa Monica and Venice Beach, the latter portion on a superb bike path through the beach.  Despite some heavy traffic in Malibu everyone enjoyed the day and we all arrived in Redondo Beach in high spirits.  Despite an already very high bar in terms of hotel in
Read more