Sant Joan de les Abadesses to Girona

May 22, 2024

I finally saw a hoopoe! But that comes later.

Today’s ride was another through pleasant but not get-out-your-camera scenery, for the most part. We started climbing right away and I was literally dripping by the time I reached the summit.

Al had been there for a few minutes by the time I arrived. It was less than 7 km so hopefully not more than a few minutes.

There followed almost 15 km of descent, prompting both of us to stop and add more layers: gilets, jackets, and even toques. There were several cyclists coming up; one even adding his arm warmers while still climbing. None of them appeared to have any additional layers with them and we wondered how cold they would get going down.

At the bottom was Olot. I had stayed 2 nights in Olot in 2016 and Al had only passed through, but the centre looked more clean and modern than we remembered. Before we got to that part, we rode through some more gritty streets that fit with my memories.

On the long straight climb southeast out of Olot, it looked like there was a bike path on the side. It wasn’t paved, though, so we stayed on the road with the trucks and buses (and other cyclists).

When I rode from Girona to Olotin 2016, I really enjoyed my short stop in the mediaeval village of Santa Pau. Today, though, it seemed to have been replaced by a modern (well, relatively modern) town. I caught a flash of a bell tower through the trees, but on a loop through the modern town, I saw no signage for what I wanted. We returned to the highway and continued, stopping at a large pullout for a nature break. Looking up the hill, there it was!

Zoomed through the trees. Easily visible if you’re coming up the hill from the southeast

Having passed by Santa Pau, we stopped near Mieres for a snack break. Not a village that encouraged visitors, there was no obvious entry to the old centre on top of a small hill nor any signage. Luckily there was a green space near the highway with a convenient bench.

Flower of the day: rosellas (the Catalan word for poppies). We saw several fields of poppies today; this was just off GI-524 towards Porqueres

Our route took us around, not through, Banyoles and then along a series of frontage roads. This was where, in Cornellà del Terri, I saw my first hoopoe. It flew across me and landed in the grassy boulevard, then took off again before I could get my camera out. But it was definitely a hoopoe! I’ve been hoping to see one ever since I saw one in one of Scott Anderson’s photos years ago. It made my day!

(If you’re wondering why I was excited to see a specific bird, see here.)

Shortly after that, we started our 6 km stint on C-66 entering Girona. Maybe it’s possible to get from Banyoles to Girona without any big-highway riding, but we couldn’t see a good way without adding distance and climbing, not what we wanted on a day of iffy weather.

We found our apartment in Girona without too much drama, arriving dry despite the headwind and forecast of possible showers. Instead of hand-washing our cycling kit, we put everything into the washing machine (!) and enjoyed a beverage and chips on the terrace. Later, we made the 10-minute walk to the tourist/bike shop centre of Girona. Girona is unusual in this, there being several high-end bike shops in among the fancy shops and restaurants, rather than out in the spacious suburbs.