Important Update

The weather has been horrendous with rain high winds and floods along the way and I promise to upload a full story asap.  But the important thing is that I did it  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much and check back in a couple of weeks to hear the news of the highs and lows and all the pictures and videos    xxxxxx

New Route

 Due to the bad weather forecast I have changed the entire route from Day 3 onwards...

From Murcia I will now head for the coast and follow the entire coast road all the way, the temperatures are a bit better and there is a lot less climbing too. Taking more clothes and can shed them off as I go if I don't need them as it gets hotter down to Gibraltar.  

I had to cancel and rebook 4 new hostels/Airbnbs, so glad I had free cancellations on everything. 

It's now going to be a coastal drag and I am starting to get really excited again. Shame I wont get to see Granada & Ronda

First Day...

Day Two...

Day Three... (NEW)

Day Four... (NEW)

Day Five... (NEW)

Day Six... (NEW)

Last Day... (NEW)

Day Six was originally going to be a massive 9000 ft climbing day from Antequera via Ronda down to a village just south of Gaucin.  It would have been epic..  oh well. The last day now will be a shorter one at 62 miles and a bit of a hump to get over and back again to see the most southern tip and wave to Africa.

Thanks for reading, this is more of a scrapbook for me to show the grandkids but it is kind of cool that anyone can see my latest mid life crisis unravel on this blog.  

Rain cape is just about to be delivered from Decathlon, I paid a few quid more to get it delivered on a Sunday.  I have a feeling it will be worth every penny as the forecast is just one word for the first 3 days

Heavy Rain.

Another headache is the Manchester Airport delays, just had an email from Ryanair to say be there 3 hours minimum before as baggage handling delays are horrendous.

I am still looking forward to it, I am not going to be negative. I will look for the gaps in the rain if there are any to get the miles in. Worse things happen at sea. Gives me an idea......  ditch the bike and get a boat instead.

It is hard to believe that nearly 3 years ago I had to bail out due to extreme heat and now it is the opposite.   Delivery man just arrived.....

Mantente seco mi amigo

Bike Delivered and weather check

 Bike arrived in Castellon.  

Just need to get a new rain jacket now as the weather is looking    wet !!

Fundraising Website is up and running....

Click here............  https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/el-fondo

I have decided to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. Please give if you can..   thank you XX

EL FONDO 2022

So the plan is the same, I have had this nagging itch at the back of my mind since 29th June 2019 that I have to get back to Castellon and finish my bike ride to the southern most tip of Spain....

So here goes...

My bike (Henry) is at this moment in a van with DHL on its way between the DHL depot in Barcelona towards Castellon,  I know that route well, wonder if Henry remembers June 28th-29th 2019 and the crazy heat of that 2019 heatwave..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-2019 Heatwave

Thank you for following/reading...  I hope to entertain you with pics, videos, news etc....

p.s  Forecast is rain !!!!!! 

Timewarp to March 2022 !!!

Well well...  what a 2 years we have had.

This El Fondo ride was originally planned for summer 2019 but if you scroll back up to one of the last pictures of Day 3 you will notice the temperature on my Garmin on that third day reached a staggering 139 degrees Fahrenheit !!!  So after collapsing into the McDonalds in Castellon where I drowned myself in water and cooled down I decided it was not good to carry on. Wildfires were reported around Barcelona and inland the temperatures were even hotter than on the coast.

I got a bus back to Barcelona and stayed one night and then a train back to Girona my starting point and rested to grab the next flight home the next morning.

Absolutely gutted but so glad I did have the sense to bail out of that intense heat.  That winter in 2019 I re-planned the ride for early summer 2020. The plan was to get back to Castellon and start where I finished.

On the 23rd March 2020 Covid-19 changed everything.....

Almost 2 years to the day I sit here having just sent my bike to AB Cicles, a great bike shop in Castellon and in 10 days I will follow it there and make my way to that very same Castellon branch of McDonalds to top up my water bottles once again and restart the adventure....

photos and videos and blog to follow....

Welcome to El Fondo 2022 !!

If you want to donate please do so here...

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/el-fondo