On my way!
The 2017 tour is about to begin. Currently sat in Gatwick in the posh lounge with a glass of wine. I have quite a long wait as I allowed plenty of time to get here (major works at waterloo).
This morning, my bike was collected by AirPortr, a company who is set up to collect bags and then check them in. Makes the journey easier as all I need to do is travel light to the airport and board the plane. Its £35 well spent as it just takes a lot of hassle out of flying.
Leg one of the ride in the morning takes me to Dax where I have the next hotel booked. From there, hotels are booked on a day by day basis, so this makes the trip a little more interesting.
Day 1
Day one is a fairly flat ride through the forested areas of Aquitaine. The first hour was quite nostalgic in the sense that when I was a teenager I stayed with a family near to Merignac Airport. Hard to believe its 39 years since I stayed in Merignac. My route took me pass the place I stayed. House recently demolished and replaced by something new and trendy.
The map tells most of the story but the battery on my primary GPS failed just short of Dax. The total ride was 106 miles.
The French does cycle lanes well. This one is just south of St Jean d’Illac.
On previous tours of north Spain, I have noticed the signs for the Cameo de Santiago. Some of these pilgrimage routes start in other countries. Parts of the route today was on the French route. Many people chose to walk the route of hundreds of miles. Respect!
Running short of water is never good news. The route was quite rural with very little way of places to top up water. Lots of villages with no shops!. as I was passing through a village, I noted the grave yard. Always good for a tap for the flowers. So I watered my bottles from the tap just behind the gates.
And another secluded cycle lane
The Aquitaine region is not great for the view (plenty of views for day 2 when I hit the hills!). Good views of the forest from this platform. I passed about three of these.
And the day ends in a prebooked hotel (more about that in the next post!). Just down the road about 2 miles is a beer house and a van parked outside selling chips and meat. Just what I needed.
Day 2
The terrain takes on a completely new flavour today – those bumpy hills at the bottom of France. Strava map below, but check out the animated trip on Relive – https://www.relive.cc/view/1153275400
The hotel was basic with showers and the toilet down the hallway. It was hot and humid so not a great night sleep as there was no fan or aircon. At 33 Euros, I have stayed in much better places. This place I think was part of some church organisation which is on the Camio de Santiago route. So biblical austerity is the standard. Slightly better than a youth hostel, but not hostel prices. If I pass this way again, I will stop at another hotel!
Picture of the hotel with my bike in the front – as you can see, I am traveling light. I rely on hotels to provide towels toiletries and so on (Had to use my emergency shampoo bottle last night!)
The first view of the big hills ahead (bit misty but dry).
Last time I passed this way back in 2013, I did not realise where the border was. This time a slightly different route in and here is a relic from a bygone age!
The views are stunning in the Pyrenees region.
The major climb was towards the end of the ride, so the wrong end of the riding day when I was a little tired from lack of sleep. A few cramps did not help at all! Need to add salt to my food.
Day 3
Two very large hills today. The second one after Pamplona where it got very wet. Hotel tonight is good and I am able to dry things out.
The clouds however gave me a bit of a break from the heat as I was tackling some of the largest hills of the tour.
Here is the Relive link: https://www.relive.cc/view/1155052067
The architecture here in the Pyrenees have an alpine feel to it. Lots of clanging cow bells from the fields as well.
Sometimes in Spain, there are unnecessary hills. Why? Because tunnels have been drilled trough hills for the benefit of metal objects which have more power than I to get up a bleeding hill!
Nice view on the zigzag (Tunnel detour #2)
Tunnel #2 from my zigzag vantage point. 
90% to the top. Well placed café. Visited here last year. Same chap serving, great coffee. 1980’s décor. Old style CRT Television. No 3G, No wifi. Think the telephone might reach here in a decade or two! 
Hill #2 ahead. Its going to be hard. Arrow shows where I am going. More rain due 🙁
Nearly at the top. Great view of rocks.
At the top at last, really pouring down!
Just round the corner a sign declares that I am only just 800m above sea level. Really poring down now. About 20 miles to the hotel.
Day 4 – wet!
Two very large hills today. The second one after Pamplona where it got very wet. Hotel tonight is good and I am able to dry things out.
The clouds however gave me a bit of a break from the heat as I was tackling some of the largest hills of the tour.
Here is the Relive link: https://www.relive.cc/view/1155052067
The architecture here in the Pyrenees have an alpine feel to it. Lots of clanging cow bells from the fields as well.
Sometimes in Spain, there are unnecessary hills. Why? Because tunnels have been drilled trough hills for the benefit of metal objects which have more power than I to get up a bleeding hill!
Nice view on the zigzag (Tunnel detour #2)
Tunnel #2 from my zigzag vantage point.
90% to the top. Well placed café. Visited here last year. Same chap serving, great coffee. 1980’s décor. Old style CRT Television. No 3G, No wifi. Think the telephone might reach here in a decade or two!
Hill #2 ahead. Its going to be hard. Arrow shows where I am going. More rain due 🙁
Nearly at the top. Great view of rocks.
At the top at last, really pouring down!
Just round the corner a sign declares that I am only just 800m above sea level. Really poring down now. About 20 miles to the hotel.
Day 5
Improved weather today. I have lost some time over the past few days that I have just covered the final 40+ miles to Burgos to get my trip synced with my route plan. I am now 1 day behind, but I do have a 4 days spare to play with. If things get tight, its easy to reduce some distance by missing Lisbon.
I have ditched the Strava maps for this blog as Ride with GPS displays the route with the profile.
The official population of Spain is nearly 47 million. This population shares 195,364 square miles. The UK is 93,627 square miles will nearly 66 million. This probably explains why the Spanish never pulls things down. In the UK, we are so tight for space that we have to demolish some old buildings if we want to build new places.
In Spain, you will see plenty of relics from a bygone age. These chimneys built in 1922 are located just outside of Santa D0minica in the Rioja region. The chimney in the distance is crowned with a massive birds nest.
Another example of having loads of space is that this A road spent a short period as a duel carriageway until a new EU funded motorway was built to join major cities. The capacity now reduced to one lane. In other places the road would have been ripped up.
Lots of Pilgrims out on the road today. One village has gone to a special effort to mark the Camio de Santiago route in the road.
The sun finally came out!
A view of the flight deck. I moved my camera from my helmet to my handlebars as it is heavy with plenty of inertia. The first couple of days in France, the head-cam was drawing too much attention and some abuse was shouted out of the windows (normally young men in vans or boy racer cars!)
First puncture 🙁
Statue outside of the church at Burgos. Something to do with the Camio de Santiago. 
Managed to get settled on my hotel before the rain arrived. 
Day 6
Cycling is very much like sailing, weather can make it or ruin it. The forecast was for storms by 1900. I arrived in Valladolid just as a few spots landed on me. For about 2 hours I was concerned at some very heavy clouds in my pathway, but luckily my route turned left and I parted company with the approaching storm – a near miss!
So to the route of the day (Some of it covering the track I took in 2014.)
When
When you travel light, its important to wash cloths daily or you start to pong! Most recent washing dries out on the back of my rucksack. A tad chilly in the morning but things start to heat up by 1000. 
The ride out of Burgos consists of a very unwelcome hill. I prefer to warm up before the hills attack me. But bills = nice view, a big theme of the day. This view is of Burgos from Mile #2
Things heating up at Mile #30. The long views are amazing. Cycling a long route is hard work, especially today with a strong headwind. But with views like this, its no small wonder why I keep coming back after the 2013 tour (which was a intended as a one off!)
A few villages have these really small dwellings at the fringe of the village. Most of the dwelling is under ground which might mean that the living space might be larger than first impressions. 
Mid-afternoon, and storm avoidance starts. Something nasty brewing for later in the sky. Fuzzy picture, but I am not going back to take another (not on this tour anyway).
Day 7
Today’s route was fairly flat in more ways than one! The geography is flat for today’s ride. But 11 miles into the route, I had a flat tyre. Not normally an issue as I carry tubes. My pump decided not to play. So events have led to a ride of two parts with a 18 mile gap in the middle 🙁
Total distance was 63 miles (should have been 81!)
The route out of Valladolid is well set up for cyclist. This dedicated track is a great idea, but in a few years likely to deteriorate as the roots from the adjacent trees start to fatten to cause damage to the track surface. In many countries I have seen great tracks designed with great intentions, but ongoing funding is not assured which means that great tracks soon become unusable. 
Just over 10 miles into the ride and I suffer a puncture. As I get set up to fix the issue, I discover a crack in the side of my pump. So impossible to get pressure. Luckily this occurs in a village. But none of the shops have cycle pumps (why would they!). So as I start thinking of a 10 mile walk back to Valladolid, a coach turns up. For a fee of just over 2 Euros, I am transported to civilisation. The driver was great, but did explain that next time, my bike needs to be in a bag. He was happy that I had some rope to secure the bike in the storage compartment.
Planet X is the only cycle shop in Medina del Campo – I managed to look up this place during my ride on the bus. The owner was really friendly and sold me a new pump so I could get back on the road. He also gave me some free cycling nutrition goodies. Cycling folk are a special breed, especially when the person behind the counter is a cyclist and can see that you are on a serious trip. So my message to the shop owner is “Gracias!” Visit https://www.facebook.com/Planetmx/ if you pass this way!
Now on the move again with 18 miles missing from my train. I corrected my Strava profile as their super-smart system detected that I might be on some form of transport. There was a KOM logged so used my phone to remove the profile from leader boards until I was able to crop the offending section from my route.
From Medina, I still have a tail wind. Not much and after an hour it died. In 2014, I was fighting a very stiff headwind and it was not funny!
Spain is very good regarding renewable energy. This farm is quite small and can generate 1MW. 
Plenty of wind farms here as well. Not sure what power output you get from one of these, but on the plains of Spain, there are loads of solar and wind farms.
The end of a ride is rewarded by a couple of pints. UK please take note. This beer only costs around 2 Euros! Served in a frozen glass, it tasted amazing after a short ride of 60ish miles.
Day 8
This leg of the trip was amazing in 2014, so again with the good weather I was able to catch some amazing views at the top of two major descents to the valley.
The first long view of the day 🙂
This flat section goes on for about 5 miles. The fenced area keeps the bulls off the road. 
All villages seem to have a significant church. In places where there are just a handful of houses, a chapel can still be found. 
El Barco does not inspire when approaching from the East, so my advice is to press on through the initial industrial zone (about a mile). When you get to the main part of town, you will be delighted with a nice view and rustic castle thrown in for free. 
Mountain water – fresh and cool. Used the opportunity to give my bike a clean. (don’t worry folks, I kept the soap and grime away from that clean drinking water)
This place was higher than the Pyrenees section of my ride (look at the map above to discover where this is. 
About 10 mins from the peak, a great view.
20 miles from the destination you will find a place where you can go for a dip in the water (and take a small beer)
Welcome to Plasencia! Its a better part of town to where I stayed on the 2014 tour.
Day 9
Still heading West and got so close to the border that I received a text saying “welcome to Portugal” as my phone roamed onto a cross border network.
Slight mistake on the way out of Plasencia as I took a wrong turn. Sign posting is appalling at times
Looking back behind me, the view of the Valle Del Jirte is great. I hope to do a tour in the future where I can explore the area further.
About 10 miles to the west of Plasencia is a walled village. Had a quick look. Small version of St Malo.
Hot weather – Bulls have the right idea!
Dropping into the valley and discover a lake. I will join this again further downstream. 
Nice view of the village towards the lake end. 
The crossing point. 
And slightly upstream, a dam. Hydro power is a great battery for storing all of that renewable energy generated by solar plants and wind farms.
A blast from the past!
Final picture last 10 miles soul destroying. This road went on for ever at about the time I was running low on energy.
Day 10 – Day 10 and I have arrived in Portugal. The headwind has been quite strong so I am going to call it a day and head no further west to Lisbon. Bad weather earlier in the ride used up one of my reserve days so as this is a holiday I want to take some time out from the cycling to relax. So Lisbon can wait another day.
So in front of me is a return to Spain with one more night in Portugal. The hotel here is amazing. I am in a town called Frontier which does not seem to have a restaurant selling food! The lady at the hotel is making me an Omelette – great effort as I am the only guest here this eve.
The days starts off with nice views over flat terrain where fast progress is being made. Those hills are 20 miles away and Portugal is just 10 or so miles on the other side. After the hills, the wind picks up against me making it very hard work. 
Another scenic picture of the ride. 
A few miles from the border and here is a castle. Lots of these in Spain. They don’t like to demolish things here. 
At the border crossing, a relic of the pre-Schengen days. 
Day 11
As predicted, wind is blowing from the west, so the plan is firmed up to head for the southeast back to Extremadura. I will probably start off a ride next year in Lisbon so that I get a chance to see the place and spend more time exploring the Valle del Jerte in Spain later in the next trip.
The day starts off very grey with a few drops of drizzle as I set off. This hotel is in the middle of nowhere next to a town where the 8 restaurants I found does not serve food on a Sunday evening. The lady at the hotel whipped up an omelette for me which was appreciated. The breakfast next morning was very special. A great banquet of food if I needed it. Heading off on a ride meant that I had to ease back a bit!
Its easy to see how this place got a score of 9.9 out of 10! Frontiera will definitely be a place to stop on my next tour. 
I think that might be blue sky at the border. 
A very nice viaduct for cars on the Portuguese side of the border. 
Proper cycle track leads me towards the border. Its clear that the local council does not want cyclist wearing Mr Whippy hats scaring the horses!
Lovely evening view as I approach the place I will stay for the night.
Day 12 – Back to spain!
Today its time to head east, slightly disappointing that I will not get to Lisbon, but the weather this morning delivered the stronger west winds as predicted, so it would have been a slow challenge to get there, and then no time to see Lisbon.
The hotel at Fronteira was amazing. Sunday evening was a bit of a challenge as I visited around 8 restaurants and nobody was doing food. I was the only guest at the hotel and the lady who runs the place served up an omelette for me last night. This morning, the breakfast was amazing. It is no surprise why this place got so many great reviews.
Day 14
Today’s ride is fairly short at just over 40 miles. As usual, there is plenty to see along the route. As I approach Montemolin, the hills start to get steeper!
The hotel I have left behind was a former convent. Nice rooms, pool and a courtyard with Orange Trees. Food last night was very good. This is definitely another place I will visit on a future visit!
The days starts out with amazing views!
The Camio de Santiago once again crosses my path. 
Birds nests around here are very special. Have not seen any birds in them yet. This one I on the top of a disused power pole. I have seen them on live poles as well!
The famous black bull. Its a left over from the days when the Spanish country was adorned with ugly advertising boards everywhere people looked. Laws were passed to remove the boards but the bulls were allowed to stay following a massive demand from the public. All associated branding had to be removed.
The great thing about Spain (and other countries) is that the car does not own the street for 100% of the time. After 2000 each day, the barriers come out and a section of the high street is handed back to people where they can enjoy eating and drinking out. 
Day 15
This is a rest day, but I could not resists the opportunity for a quick morning 20 mile spin. The distance covered today is intended to plug the gap in distance when I had to take the bus to fix my bike!.
To date, I have cycled 890 miles, so will be breaking into four figures by the end of the week.
The route out of Montemolin has another great view. 
The next village is apparently big on ham!
The local castle! This is one of many in this region!
At the end of my ride, I dropped into the bar for a refreshing coca cola. This is a typical scene of most rural bars in Spain 🙂
And back at the hotel for a late afternoon beer.
Day 16
Today its a ride to Seville, this region is famous for its oranges, but the only orange thing I am seeing is Trump who is plastered all over the media. This is a holiday, so no more politics!
After two nights in Montemolin, I am on the move again, a new hotel. I will post a list of the best hotels I found (with links) in a few days time when I reach Gibraltar.
The final picture of Montemolin is of one of main streets as I head south to leave. The Castle in full view.
At about mile 30, there is this random religious place (deserted I think). I am sure there is a story behind this building. Unlike castles, this is not ancient, but likely to be 60 years +
Day 17
For those not familiar with the cycling term “Bonked”, it does not mean “copulating” – the term describes the point at which the cyclist has run out of energy (probably not eaten enough. This happened to me at Arcos where it took a while for food and Coca Cola to get me moving again!
Here is the map of the day.
Seville is an amazing city with great places to visit and eat, but for the cyclist, the routes in and out are full of long and difficult urban routes. 
Even at 20 miles into the route things look like this – and due to the road works, tee route south from Seville may not be possible along the N road as it becomes a motorway!
At mile 30, I noticed an interesting building to the east on the 2014 tour. Today I detoured for a closer look but was none the wiser. The architecture consisting of bells and crosses indicate perhaps a place of worship, but the high security walls is interesting. the purpose being to keep people out, or perhaps in?
Mile 35 and its back to nice quiet roads with the long views. 
Arcos is about 60 miles into the ride. It sits on top of a big hill and for the first time on this trip I found myself walking up the hill to the town. The load I am carrying on the bike is 8KG, so not massive. I have been up bigger hills but today I did not eat right (and perhaps a small meal last night contributed). Classic bonk. This was addressed by eating and drinking stuff containing plenty of sugar to get me to mile 75!
Not far from Paterna, is this solar plant. Unlike the Photovoltaic farms you see everywhere, this place uses parabolic mirrors to focus the sun on pipes. I assume that this creates steam to run generators.
This site is massive and I assume capable of massive production. Its also next to a dam, and I assume that at times, energy is stored by pumping water to the lake. 
Opposite the solar farm is irrigation. Tomatoes and cotton seems to be a major crop in this area. 
Day 16
So far on this tour, I have covered 1117 miles. This morning, I was not feeling 100% so decided that it would be a better idea to take the more direct route and give Ronda a miss.
The route out of Paterna has some stunning views (which will feature in the tour video). This pictured was captured as a local cycle club passed by.
At about mile 15, this is the last place for coffee or water for about 25 miles. You have to earn the coffee as the village is up the top of that very big hill!
The road towards Gibraltar is motorway, but there is an old N road running next to it. Its a rough ride with lots of undulating hills. Its important to pay attention to the cycling as one moment of lost focus could result in a nasty fall if the front wheel connects with one of the many crevasses!
Day 18
e final leg is not the best part of the tour as it takes in a very industrial and urban setting 🙁
The final distance covered on the tour was 1093 miles.
Between Los Barios and Gibraltar/La Linea is a nasty network of motorways which makes it challenging to find a way through. It is virtually impossible to avoid cycling on busy motorway for some parts of ride. 
Once across the motorway, the scenery is not what I have been used to over the past couple of weeks. 
Finally destination reached!
and after cycling over 1,000 miles its time for a dip in the sea followed by a nice glass of cool beer. 
The planning now starts for the 2018 tour.
