Grumpy Old Men On Bikes

As I sit on the ferry trying to wrap myself around the 10 item mega-breakfast there is time to reflect on my first ever visit to Spain. That's right, despite being reasonably well travelled I have never been to Spain before. On the negative side, it isn't exactly pretty. At least, not on the coast which is lined with 60's and 70's concrete apartment blocks and hotels. I'm guessing that architects didn't exist back then or, if they did, they must have all been busy designing cement factories. Inland comes a layer of cookie-cutter villas. These are mostly much newer and ok on the eye but there are countless thousands and all identical. When you eventually break through the villas you reach the cement factory belt. I assume the big cost of concrete apartment blocks must have been diesel for the cement lorries because they have certainly tried to keep delivery distances short! Finally you reach open countryside which is very lovely when it is hilly but covered in g...

‎Yup, finally here - a 2276 mile road trip of 10 days. Good things about Gibraltar? Diesel  ‎is 92p/litre. Bad things! Pretty much everything else!   Give it back to Spain if you ask me. ‎Having entered with no border problems I now seem to be in a stationary queue for the return crossing. A bit of a pain because the SatNav is telling me that Calais is 1380 miles away and I could really do with getting cracking. Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the EE network.

Today was a real mix - but first we had to escape our hotel.‎ At 8am there was no sign of anyone and a vigorous pounding on the reception bell did nothing to change this. Our first thought was to just scarper but then we remembered that they were holding our passports. Bugger. After systematically ransacking the reception desks we found the passports and, being gentlemen, left 45 2uros in their place. We then drove down to Malaga which was much prettier than anticipated with the resorts being separated by rugged and pretty coastline. We then drove through Malag itself which was, at least, no worse than I feared, before heading inland to Ronda........fan-bloody tastic. Chuffing hilly but truely stunning. We are now staying in a friend of my co-pilot's villa in the Spanish hills. A different world doesn't begin to describe the experience. Put it this way - he lives here because if he ever returns to blighty he owes HM Revenue 3 million quid! Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone ...

‎There is something you need to know if you have any plans to drive in Spain. It seems that, probably as some sort of economic stimulus programme, Spain has started trying to cover every square inch of road with roundabouts and speed bumps. Once they had finished with every street and every junction ‎ in towns they started building on all the back roads, trunk roads, service roads and even car parks. It isn't unusual to find a roundabout on a road where there are only two exits - in other words a previously straight road.  Similarly, speed bumps (though speed mountains would be a more accurate description) can be found on straight roads, miles from any school or village.   ‎An extra cunning trick is to leave them tarmac coloured and display no warning signs. The extra wear and tear on brakes, clutches and shock absorbers must have created a million new jobs in auto centres!   In several places roads to nowhere have been built, compete with roundabouts and speed bumps. I t...

‎A cracking tune - John Ottway and Wild Willy Barratt.  As I recall the B side was the catc hy 'Beware of The Flowers (cos I'm sure they're sure gonna get you yeah)'. ‎As of this week Bike Adventures is in the very capable hands of new owners. Although I am committed to doing some trip development and tour leading for at least 2 years I am in the luxurious position of being essentially 'Really Free'.   I will be researching pipes and slippers but I also have a few idea for trips to keep senility at bay. The first of these is a second crack at the New Zealand 'end to end' but there will be others.  ‎I  may have to re-title this blog to 'Gloriously Happy Old Men on Bikes'.   Meanwhile I have got the car mended and have another 3 days of research down to Gibraltar then a Loooooong drive home. At least the brakes should work. Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the EE network.

‎Bugger. Early in the trip we got a tyre pressure warning light and discovered that a back wheel had a puncture. We coped for a couple of ‎days with regular visits to petrol stations then tried an aerosol sealant.  To my considerable amazement it worked!!! Frustratingly the warning light remained on but after day of just swearing at it I decided to RTFM‎ (read the f@+?@+g manual). It turns out there is a way of resetting the light and by pressing all the right buttons......tarrah, no more light.......for about 5 seconds before it was replaced with the brake pad warning light.   Bugger. We are now in Murcia having all 4 sets of pads replaced - the backs are done but we are waiting for fronts to be delivered.....from Venezuela judging by the wait! Apart from this things are going well - finding a good cycling route down the Med coast isn't easy but we are pretty happy with the first half and, fortunately, have got a bit ahead of plan so we can spare some time for a dago to eat h...

This song has been kept up my sleeve for a long time! We did the last bit if reccie from Montserrat to Barcelona this morning then started to reccie trip 2 which runs down the med coast to Gib. We are now in Tarronga, about 70 miles south. I don't like to be smug....OK - actually LOVE to be smug.... but here, in late November, I am sitting on my balcony at 7pm in shorts and a T-shirt. Viva Espana! Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the EE network.

‎I'm travelling from Bordeaux to Barcelona. Since I am researching a cycling route this means going the pretty route, through dingly dell.  So I have been driving up hill and down dale in some of the prettiest country imaginable. Today I crossed the Pyrenees and the wheels nearly came off.........the road. The road over Port de Bales was covered in snow for the last couple of miles of climb and it all got pretty exciting! The photos were taken at the  point where I changed my underpants and drank a calming cognac! I am now staying in the monastery at Montserrat - a stunning location but a bit Catholic for my taste! Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the EE network.

On my Sunday ride yesterday I passed an elderly man on a heavy sit-up and beg bike.  Nothing unusual about that, except that it had taken me a full quarter of an hour to reel him in because he was cutting along at 17mph.  It was with considerable relief that, as I finally caught him, I realised that he was riding an electric bike. Over the last year or so I have noticed a dramatic increase in the popularity of so-called 'e-bikes' and an explosion in the number of shops specialising in the sale or rental of the things.  I have mixed feelings about them.  On the one hand, for those who are infirm or have a disability and who can continue to cycle when they would otherwise have to retire, I think they are an absolute boon.  On the other hand, they seem to open the door for people with absolutely right to the name to call themselves 'cyclists'. This is clearly an area where the government could usefully legislate and I offer the following rough template for said leg...

‎Has anybody else noticed that winter has forgotten to come? Here it is, November 10th and I am cycling in shorts and thinking I have worn too MANY layers on my top half. If this is the impact of global warming then bring it on!   Of course, at any minute is could all go fruit shaped with arctic conditions, so complacency is not an option. I'll give it one more week but then it is time to follow the birds and head south. Next year we plan to run two new routes, the first from Bordeaux to Barcelona and the second from Barcelona to Gibraltar. These routes need to be researched.....:-(..... so i'm off to sunny Spain for a couple of weeks.   This is a driving trip but i'll take a bike and will probably get to ride a bit most days. I've never been to Spain before and Gibraltar is also a first so it might be an interesting trip. Overall it is all rather spiffy, though the drive home from Gibralter might be a bit of an ordeal.‎  Should anything interesting happen (I will decid...