Last stop: Girona

December 11, 2018

We began our last day on the road acharacteristically, by finding an early opening cafe near our hotel for our morning coffee and a few pastries. We’ve hardly done this at all on this tour - instead, we’ve either had whatever breakfast was available at our lodging or eaten breakfast in our room that we picked up at a store the night before.

Left to my own, I would probably do this more often. After all, when we’re in Portland it’s the normal way I begin my day, by waking up earlier than Rachael and going out alone to a coffee shop. It doesn’t work as well for Rachael, but I’m not sure exactly why it doesn’t feel right to go out on my own in the morning on the road. It’s an area we might experiment with a bit in our future travels.

In any case, it was a nice start to the day. We did it this time because there are no facilities in our room, and our host Carmen can’t offer breakfast until 9, after she drops her child off at school. Afterwards, we walked through town and along the waterfront for a bit while we let the morning coffee percolate through our systems before heading back to our room.

We found a very nice bakery for our breakfast, but I found the photograph above our table just a bit depressing.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a payment machine - it’s essentially a self serve cash register, with a piggy bank helpfully placed on top to gobble up any unwanted small change.

The sky over the sea had a golden glow when we first stepped out from breakfast.

Such a relief - we’ve run out of tour before we’ve run out of plane trees.

Just a reminder, in case you’re feeling lost.

A few minutes earlier this man was in an extended conversation with a friend while the poor dog tried to get his attention by nudging the ball closer and closer under his feet. Finally the friend departed. Game on!

When we returned to our room after breakfast, the owner Carmen was just stepping out on her way to a cycle class. Rachael liked her instantly.

Our day’s ride begins by following the Costa Brava coast south. We’ve more or less been following the coast since leaving Roses, but the stretch beginning here must be the best. It is truly spectacular, with the road hugging the coast as it traces the tortured contour of a string of headlands and inlets. You’re virtually always in sight of the sea, biking through brilliant green pine forest. It’s one of the best road stretches I know of. This is the third time we’ve cycled it, and the best because this late in the year the road is extremely quiet. We see more bikes than cars, and most of the time we’re alone on the road and it’s quiet enough that we can hear the waves crashing on the surf hundreds of feet below.

We’ve ridden some spectacular coastline on this tour, but these miles south of Guixols rank right up at the top.

We rode through miles of this, and hardly saw a car. Quite a few bikes though.

I’m really going to miss these Mediterranean seascapes.

Looking south along the Costa Brava. Tossa Del Mar is the next town south, beyond the far point.

Just above Salionc we leave the coast for the last time on this tour and climb inland across the coastal range. The next five miles are steadily uphill at a steady 5-6% grade. Not a bad climb, and one that works well with my maladjusted gears - I find one that I can just maintain without dropping all the way to the lowest gear and crawling to the summit - at least until we come to the surprise 14% kicker at the top. Like the ride along the coast, it’s a beautiful climb as we switchback our way up the ridge, the sea gradually receding behind us, the woods gradually transitioning from pine to oak. And it is still very quiet - I forget now for sure, but I don’t think we are passed by more than two or three cars on our way to the top.

Turning away from the coast, we begin the last significant climb of the tour.

Major disappointment here. I misread the sign, thinking the summit was just around the corner and this was warning of an upcoming descent. I peaked too soon.

It’s a fast but cold drop off the other side of the ridge into the broad basin that surrounds Girona. It’s late enough in the day that we’re both interested in a lunch break and are watching for a warm and sheltered spot in the sun to break out our bread and cheese. It must be at least five degrees colder on this side though, and damp - too cold really to sit outside.

When we bottom our at Llagostera, we turn to each other and suggest that we look for a cafe so we can thaw out. We find a good, simple one - more bar than cafe, really - and enjoy one of our favorite lunches of the tour in a heaping plate of scrambled eggs and potatoes. As we eat our lunch and wrap our cold hands around cups of tea, we discuss the colder weather and the coming end of the tour. It feels like we’re ending at just the right time.

The interior is damper than the coastal side of the range. A bit of fog remains in the valley, and it is quite chilly.

I got very excited by this skyline when we first dropped down from the summit, thinking it was our first sight of Girona. I even called Rachael up to the viewpoint so we could take a team selfie. For some reason she thought it was hilarious when we reached this town (Llagostera) a few minutes later, with Girona still fifteen miles away. What’s so funny about that?

From Llagostera we ride the Carillet, one of Spain’s better know via verdes, all the way to Girona. It’s a delightful ride passing through a variety of landscapes, stitching together small towns with rural paths surfaced with finely crushed granite that makes a surprisingly smooth ride. It’s a great way to approach the city.

We arrive in Girona at three-thirty and head immediately for Eat, Sleep, Bike - a shop Rachael located and contacted a few days back to let them know we’d like to have our bikes serviced during our stay here. We make arrangements to drop the bikes off tomorrow afternoon and leave them through the next day while we take the train into Barcelona.

We check in at our nearby hotel soon after. I’m always a bit apprehensive coming to the final hotel on tours like this, hoping that our luggage really has arrived and is waiting for us. It’s a big relief when the greeter checks us in, looks at the register, and announces that we have a pair of packages waiting for us. Hooray!

We’re staying at the Ultonia, one of Spain’s hotels branded as cycle friendly. They definitely meet the standard, with a fine large locked cycle room with hooks to hang perhaps 40 bikes. I don’t doubt that it gets crowded in here in the right season - I think it is used as the base for commercial tours - but today there is only one other pair of bikes to share the space with.

We’ll be here for six nights, before our flight from the Barcelona airport departs next Monday. We won’t be idle - we are going to Barcelona for a blitz tour, and we’ll be taking day rides from here - but I’m not sure what the plan is blogwise over the coming days. There will be some sort of entry and maybe a recap of the tour if I can think of anything brilliant and new to say about these incredible past three and a half months - but I won’t be posting daily. Time for a bit of a blog break.

The Ultonia is very bike friendly, with a bike storage room and an awards stand. We felt deserving of awards, so we honored ourselves. I thought I should have the top rank (that old age before beauty principle should apply here), but Rocky grabbed it while I was setting up the camera and wouldn’t be talked down from the summit.

They’re here! I love it when a plan works out. I’ll have to send another note of thanks to Matea back in Dubrovnik.

Look at all those Croatian postage stamps! Any philatelists out there that we should save these for?

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Ride stats today: 35 miles, 2,700’; for the tour: 3,367 miles, 186,900’

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 3,367 miles (5,419 km)

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Jen RahnLook forward to reading about Barcelona and the Girona day rides!
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5 years ago

David MathersCongratulations on a safe and successful trip! Make sure to check out La Fabrica for a fabulous cycle friendly breakfast or lunch cafe.
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5 years ago

Wendy BeaudoinWe have enjoyed following your adventures very much! We hope to use your blog as a guide if we do part of the same route next year. We have already cycled from Croatia to Venice, so we will probably start from Venice. Looking forward to reading about your travels in Taiwan.
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5 years ago

Sue PriceWhat an amazing extended tour! We really enjoyed reading about it and seeing the beautiful pics and video! More places to add to our growing bucket list!
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Sue PriceThanks for following along, Sue. It was a pretty wonderful, alright. We’re sorry to see it come to an end. We’ll have to meet up some day and swap stories of the road - BC is just around the corner!
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5 years ago

Sue PriceTo Scott AndersonIt is indeed, and The Grampies live just down the road! We should have a confab of all us West Coast Cycleblazers!
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonOur thinking too. We haven’t been up that way for many years, and are overdue. We’re thinking we’ll take a couple of weeks next summer to revisit Victoria, Vancouver and the islands and see who is in town before we head back to Europe.
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5 years ago

Bruce LellmanCongratulations! I know how hard it is to keep an online journal going daily and you were absolutely amazing. Great photos, videos and writing. You were so precise describing routes that your journal ends up being an excellent resource for those who might be planning on riding any portion. Well done!! Gold Stars!
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Bruce LellmanThank you, thank you. I’ll save the gold stars to mount on the wall at home, if we ever have a home again.
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5 years ago