Olot to Platja d'Aro

This was it!  This was the last day of riding!  This was the trip of a lifetime for me. 

Today we went 119 km, with 1,415 meters of cumulative climbing.  We went from Olot, Spain, to Patja d'Aro, Spain.  This is cool!   I did it!

The total trip totally was officially 817 km long, and it involved literally 14,877 meters of climbing.  I had such a great time.  When I signed up for this, 11 or 12 months ago now, I had great anxiety/uncertainty regarding what would be involved.  I wanted to challenge myself though, so this seemed like a good idea.  It turned out to be great.  It was a very difficult ride for me, but I am so glad that I did it.  I was with riders far more accomplished and experienced than I am, but it all worked out just fine nonetheless.

The weather today could not have been better.  It was a perfect day for a long bike ride.

We had an easy ride earlier today, but then quite a climb to San Grau.  That was near the end of our ride then.  That was a 10.9 km climb, with elevations up to 9.3%.  That took us to the top of a huge cliff, at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.  (I had to stop and say "Arrrr!  I love the smell of the salt air!!!"  There were no daughters around to annoy then, but I said it anyway!)   I had anticipated that we would have an easy downhill ride, after that, down to our hotel.   I was wrong.  We had a very interesting and difficult ride, up and down, as well as winding left and right, finally getting us down to the sea level.

I am so glad that I did this.  It was great!

Gosol to Olot

Today provided again a truly great ride.  I see that photos are uploading very slowly here, presumably due to the tenuous wifi connection, so I will just enter in one today.  This is a photo that I took not long after leaving Gosol this morning.  I am impressed that the region now is more green.  Certainly the impressive Pyrenees mountains are still well visible all around, but the foliage is now actually reminiscent of northern Wisconsin!

We rode 98 km today, with moderate climbing.  Yesterday and today went very well for me, with even more climbing yesterday, so these have been two confidence building days for me.  Today's ride, once again, involved weather so good that I feel almost guilty enjoying it.  There was no rain, comfortable temperatures (except a bit cold in the morning, during the descents possibly), and no significant wind.  Pretty neat!

Tomorrow is the last day of riding.  It is the longest day, in terms of distance to cover, but there is really only one major climb.  We will cover 120 km tomorrow.  The big climb tomorrow comes actually in the latter half of the day.  Descending off of that climb then, we end up later literally at the Mediterranean!

In that regard, this trip is quite like the CrossRoads trip that I did in 2010.  The CrossRoads trip was far longer certainly, but it was also an ocean to ocean adventure.  That earlier trip, and this current one, both start and end at sea level.  Both trips have been truly remarkable experiences for me.

Sort, Spain to Gosol, Spain

The internet is faster now, presumably with less people using it.  I have been able to upload four photos.  The first is one just leaving Sort, earlier this morning.  The second is a photo taken of the region of Andorra, that photo taken just from the south of that region.  The last two demonstrate Catalonian villages, in the region just approaching Gosol.

Sort, Spain to Gosol, Spain

Today was, once again, an outstanding day.  The ride was long and difficult, as had been expected, but this was clearly the most scenic day of all so far.  The weather, once again, was spectacular.

The ride today was 103 km long, with a total of 2, 571 meters of climbing.  There were three climbs.  Those were Collada del Canto, Coll de la Trava, and finally Coll de Josa.  The first one started literally right at our hotel in Sort (no time for warm up there), and the last one ended at our hotel in the tiny town of Gosol.

This is now the Catalonia region.  This seems quite different from the more western Pyrenees.  There are more conifers, for one thing.  The mountains are just spectacular.  The Catalonian towns surely look different from the Basque towns.

Today we started out on Collada del Canto.  That's a category 1 climb.  It is 19.3 km long, and the total elevation gain is right at 1,100 meters.  The top is at 1,720 meters above sea level.  When I started out on the climb, I felt nervous, but also strong.  I decided to challenge myself.  It was impulsive, as well as stupid and pointless, but I decided to try to do the whole climb non-stop.  I was actually successful, even surprising myself that I never had to stop for a break on my way up.  I felt so wasted at the top of the climb however, that this self-challenge ranks rather high on my lifelong list of stupid ideas.  Oh well!

This trip never goes through Andorra, but we went close by today.  On our second climb, the one up Coll de la Trava, we found a lookout spot near the top that was probably just 9 to 10 km from Andorra.  I am having trouble uploading photos on this blog, due to the slow internet connection here.  If I can later upload some photos this evening however, maybe when the internet is faster, I will make the second photo be the one looking to the north, from Coll de la Trava, toward the region of Andorra.

Having an absolutely great time.  Pretty tired, and pretty overwhelmed, but having a great time.

Bagneres de Luchon, France to Sort, Spain

Bagneres de Luchon, France to Sort, Spain

Today was yet another unbelievably great ride!  I honestly don't know how the Trek Travel guides can be so successful with the weather.  We had bright sunshine all day, no rain at all, and only a mild headwind.  The headwind was really only during the last 10 km of today's ride anyway, so it really was no big deal.  Very comfortable temperatures all day long.

We went 109 km today, and we accomplished 2,086 meters of total elevation gain.  Not bad!

Yesterday had been a wonderful rest day for me at Bagneres de Luchon.  I mainly just walked around and explored the town.  I was intrigued by the huge cemetery on one side of the town, so I went over there.  I had expected to see graves from the very distant past.  It may be that I was in the wrong section for that however, as I saw no graves before the early 1800s.  Actually, what I saw was not graves, but very impressive mausoleums. 

I did stop in the town yesterday and I had lunch at a cafe right out on the street.  I had two Kronenbourgs.  That's two draft Kronenbourgs.  Sitting there in the sunshine, having draft Kronenbourg (my all-time second-favorite beer), I felt that I was probably only one to two centimeters removed from heaven!

Walking around the town yesterday, I could not help but notice that the entire little town was absolutely nestled in (ie.., surrounded by) absolutely huge mountains.  I deduced that there would be no way out of town without an impressive climb.

This morning I learned that my deductive skills are marginally still accurate.  Indeed, we were literally only 1.3 km from our hotel this morning when we found ourselves on Col de Portillon.  That was a brutal category 2 climb, even more brutal because we were not even then warmed up.  This is an 11 km long climb, with grades up to 13%.  (The average grade is only 6.1%, but this is a relentless climb that simply never lets up at all.)

At the top of Col de Portillon we entered into Spain.  I was so disappointed to find absolutely no "Welcome to Spain" sign.  I had been expecting and hoping for a photo opportunity with that, but there was none to be had.  Oh well! 

We had a coolish (OK, it was cold actually) descent from there, and then we began the very long climb of Port de la Bonaigua.  That is a category 1 climb, 23 km long literally, with grades from generally 5 to 9%.  As difficult as it was, I just couldn't get over how beautiful it was.  Lots of photos taken today.  That was at 2,072 meters above sea level.  As I understand, that will be our highest level attained on this trip in Spain.

Regarding photos, I am having trouble uploading them with this internet connection.  I will try to put in 3 or 4 below, if I can.  The second one is taken probably a half of the way up Port de la Bonaigua, just above the little town of Arties.  If you look in the distance on that photo, you will see a glacier!

Cool!

(Was that a double entendre?)

I am nervous about tomorrow.  There will be three awful climbs tomorrow, one immediately as we leave Sort.  The third climb tomorrow, then when we are all tired, will be including elevations of 14%!

Bagneres de Luchon