It is Wednesday 8th May, 2019 and 7 weeks to the start of my El Fondo ride through Spain.
I have to admit I have not done as many training rides as I did for last years trip but I promise to up my efforts over the next few weeks. I have however, planned the route, organised my bike set up and packing list. I have also planned and booked all the accommodation and flights.
I will be sending the bike by courier to the same bike shop in Girona I left it with last year to ship home; Bike Breaks/Girona Cycle Centre. They will hopefully get it a week before I get there on 26th June so they can put it together and give it a good check over.
My flight gets in on Wednesday 26th June and I will pick up Henry (yes, that is the bikes name) and an airbnb in Girona will be my next stop to drop off the bike to go and explore the beautiful city of Girona. If you are a Game of Thrones fan you will no doubt have heard all about it with loads of areas of interest around the cathedral where quite a few scenes were filmed. It was Braavos, Old Town & Kings Landing.
The airbnb I chose is another nod to the cycling world in Girona as the hosts are Gemma and Phil who work in the industry as physiotherapists to a pro team.
I will airbnb for most of the trip which is a great way to travel and meet people.
The planned routes are:-
Day One.
An 85 mile ride over the mountain range of MassÃs de les Cadiretes (1500 feet) to the coast at Salionç and then south hugging the closest beach roads all the way to Barcelona.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29139465
Day Two.
Is a very flat 115 ish mile trip again hugging the coast all the way down the east coast of Spain to a town called Amposta.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29139569
Day Three.
Another very flat 115 mile day of coastal beach combing to the beautiful city of Valencia.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29139876
Day Four.
On this day I will say goodbye to the sea and head inland and climb up to around 3000 feet to the town of Albacete. Another 110 miler.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29139947
Day Five.
I am really looking forward to this one, I head south west for 115 miles into the
Natural Park Sierras de Cazorla, to Coto Rios, where I will stay in a hotel for the first time on the trip. The first 43 miles is slightly uphill to 3500 feet !!!
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29208046
Day Six.
There is always one day that causes you some stress to plan and this was it. A lot of the roads I initially planned had no tarmac and the google map view was of a dirt track and stunning countryside but I had to replan this a few times. It ended up as this 115 mile ride with around 8,000 feet of climbing which I hope will be as memorable as I anticipate. The highest point will be reached early on in the day after a 15 mile climb to 4,000 feet elevation (Mirador Las Palomas) The day will end in Granada.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29208064
Day Seven.
I turn right here and head west to Ronda. If I feel good I will take the mountainous route via El Chorro & El Burgo, if not I will go via Teba, still clocking up around 115-120 miles.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29208130
alternative hillier version...
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30028347
Day Eight (last day)
Today I head south to the bottom of Spain and then double back up the coast to my final stop in Gibraltar.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29208166
Some route info on other rides that helped me plan this are available here at eurovelo....
http://www.eurovelo8.com/
Also I want to see if I can get access to the Isla de Tarifa and is normally closed to the public but I might ask if I can join a viewing to get my feet on the lowest point on mainland Spain I possibly can.
