Today, on the International Day of Peace, we’d have arrived at the end of our journey and dipped our wheels in the Atlantic Ocean in Tarifa, Spain. To conclude our pandemic version, Patty, Lynn, Kurt, and I cycled 71 miles (for my birthday years today) from Easton to Bethany Beach and dipped our wheels in … More To the Atlantic!
On the next to last night of the trip through Europe, we’d have arrived in Algeciras, across a bay from the Rock of Gibraltar. That’s where John Lennon and Yoko Onu got married in 1969. You can see the Rock in the background of one of their wedding photos. They dedicated their marriage to peace and … More The Rock of …
Lynn, Kurt, and I would have cycled from Lucena to Olvera today in Spain. Jenn and Boomer were going to travel all the way to Spain to join us for the last few days to the finish! In Olvera, we’d have met up with my British relative, Judy, and her husband, Jeff, who have a … More Jenn and Judy and Jeff
Between Montoro and Lucena, we’d have ridden on the Olive Oil Train Trail. Clearly all the olives from the trees we saw yesterday aren’t just for local consumption! I’d heard directly from cyclist Paul Gentle, (the British fellow who was cycling from Spain to Norway when the pandemic hit), that the Olive Oil Train Trail, … More Art for One’s Heart
About this time in a long bike tour, conflicting emotions bubble up for me. On one hand, I am a bit weary and looking forward to knowing that the voyage ended well. On the other hand, I’m sad that the adventure is coming to a conclusion. Even in the faux ride, I’m feeling that. Soon, … More Andalucia and Olives
We humans are really good at getting around things, sometimes to our own detriment. Bridges, tunnels, switchbacks, and other infrastructure help us overcome geographic obstacles. Spaceships get us to the moon. It’s too hot? We make air conditioners. It’s too cold? Burn some coal or wood. Today in Spain, from Guadalupe to Almaden, we’d have … More Getting Around Things
Today’s ride in Spain from Arenas de San Pedro to Guadalupe would have been quite ambitious at 91.4 miles with 5835 feet of climbing. Temperatures in the 90s would have added another level of challenge. Record heat and drought in September 2019 exposed an ancient Spanish “Stonehenge” in the Valdecanas Reservoir we’d have crossed. We’d … More Solar Searching
Today we were to cycle through a gap in the Sistema Central, a string of mountain ranges that splits the Iberian Peninsula into two parts. At 81.6 miles with 7261 feet of climbing, this would have been a very challenging day. I took a gap in my actual cycling to “ride” this route on my … More Gaps
On the way to El Escorial, home of a gigantic monastery on the outskirts of Madrid, we’d have cycled past two reservoirs, the Atazar and the Santanilla. For a substitute ride, I had to think what the equivalent would be at the beach. Water towers! I located six of them on maps on a 50-mile … More Gira de l’Agua
Early today we’d have cycled past the Moorish Fortress of Gormaz. On a topographic map, you can see that the fortress sits strategically atop a hill that pops out of a plain and overlooks a large bend in the Duero River. Though it is probably a huge oversimplification, back in the day, Arabs dominated south … More Forts
