June 2, 2022
Beach Day
Day after day, we wake to clear blue skies and perfect temperatures. The light on the buildings lining the Onyar and the reflections on the ripples is ever changing but always a beautiful sight.
We have asked a lot of our bodies over the last three weeks so today we decided on a flatter ride with lunch at the beach.
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The massifs that surround Girona, which are not massive by our BC standards, drain the little rainfall that it receives into the fertile valleys in between (720 mm annually vs. 960 mm in Victoria). What's left makes its way to rivers flowing north and south. It's along these valley floors that you will find the 'rail to trail' cycle path called the Ruta del Carrilet, among others. The Ruta del Carrilet goes all the way from Girona to the coast at Sant Fileu de Guixol, our lunch destination today.
As lovely as a flat cycle path is for some people, it is my least favourite. There's a history to this bias and as I pondered this, I likened it the lyrics of Gotye's song, Somebody That I Used to Know. Over the years, I have tried and been let down by more bike paths than you can shake a stick at. We have ridden 'paths' than are littered with broken glass or tree branches, that cross driveways one after another, with speed bumps every block, that end abrubtly with no way out except to backtrack to the entry point, that have stop signs every 50m, with surfaces that switch from paved to pot holed to sandy to rocky to concrete and back to gravel in the space of a km, or have such severe bumps from the tree roots to give you a headache. Bike paths and me are just not meant to be together.
The bike network in this area is so well known and used by people on bikes (not by roadies) that mapping a route with a map app will almost always default to this pathway. And it takes inside knowledge or a bit of extra digging to discover that it's the cycle network you have selected. So, I was none too thrilled to have expectations of smooth sailing clash with my bike trail bias. Alas, it was case of a cup half full or half empty today. Another Cycleblazer, Scott Anderson wrote a brilliant journal entry on this very subject just a couple of days ago and his perspectives were drifting through my mind. As was our coversation yesterday about how we are able to roll with whatever comes our way when we travel by bike. This was a test to see if I really meant what I said.
As you look at these photos, you will see that my bias had little to feed its 'cup half empty' approach today. To be honest, it took quite a bit of cycling to reach these sections and after vascillating on whether or not we could be friends I decided that yes, it would not go on the Naughty List.
The big reward for the trail riding was Sant Fileu. To come around the corner and peek through the umbrella pines to see the azure water is a moment of wonder at the beauty of nature. And that something so beautiful exists, and people are experiencing this on a daily basis when I am eating my porridge or hauling compost to the garden. Make no mistake, we live in an equally beautiful place, it's just different (and decidedly not warm and sunny like Girona).
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 1 | Link |
You always tease me with these gorgeous places of no entry ⛔️!
2 years ago
We often ride without stopping for lunch mostly because we are in out of the way places and don't want to take the time to sit for lunch (we are more likely to picnic). But there was no way we would pass up this opportunity! We both had salads, perfect for a warm day.
We looked for some suitable roadways for the return, but didn't come up with any so back on the Route del Carrilet it was. The light headwind and green treed sections helped to keep the body temps in check. It was really quite comfortable, although we were riding at midday and the thermometer was hovering around 32 degrees.
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Cinder trails suck away the energy of each pedal stroke so when we reached Cassa de la Selva, we hung a left and headed for the small winding roads through the farmlands that we had ridden yesterday. Ahhh... freedom of the road! Now I could resume my normal rhythm. The farmers were out working, cows were being milked and the pavement was smooth as a baby's bottom.
On arrival in Girona, we rode directly to Expresso Mafia under the cool stone arches and ordered an iced latte and a capuccino, plus lemon cake for me and chocolate croissant for David.
For dinner, we had roast chicken with patates and salad at a restaurant on the Ramblas. A liter of cold fruity sangria helped replenish the fluids.
Elevation gain: 14,303 metres.
Today's ride: 87 km (54 miles)
Total: 939 km (583 miles)
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2 years ago
2 years ago