We are in Madrid, resting our tired legs after 6 tough days riding from Barcelona.  Since I last wrote, we finished our ride along the Mediterranean Coast and headed inland across Spain.  The coast after Montpelier included some spectacular riding.  I particularly liked a beautiful village, Collioure, where a local informed me Picasso liked to stay and paint.

The riding through France and coastal Spain included some very complicated navigation to keep us off major roads.  The rewards were scenic rides on backroads through vineyards, olive groves, and great views.

The penalty was a propensity for getting lost when the instructions were nebulous or our attention inadequate, so we spent a fair amount of time figuring out how to get to the end of the day.  So much for thinking we had mastered the art of TDA navigation (our touring company).

 

We were happy to arrive in Barcelona, a very beautiful city.  We spent two days there seeing the sights and enjoying the food.  It is such an interesting and art-filled city.  Luckily, we were able to learn a great deal from a local guide who introduced us to the history and famous artists of Barcelona, especially Miro and Picasso.  She showed us where they grew up

 

and told us great stories about their home lives and parents.  The Picasso museum is truly amazing.  He was a very accomplished realist painter by age 14. The museum tracks his evolution from realism through almost all of the painting styles of the time and finally the cubist painting that most of us think of as Picasso.  It was fascinating.  We also visited ancient ruins within the city that are now incorporated into modern buildings.  You can see how structures evolved as they were modified and added to overtime by looking at the size of the stones or bricks.  The large stones date back to the Roman outpost that was initially built here.  The medium size stones are from the medieval period.  And finally the regular bricks are more modern.

We treated ourselves to a quiet beautiful hotel in Barcelona, the Casa Camper. There was a rooftop terrace where we could sit and enjoy the view while snacking, reading and imbibing the beverage of our choice.  Ahh….

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to many of our fellow riders who headed home after reaching Barcelona.  Although we miss them, the group size is now much smaller and it has lead to the group being more cohesive and the daily preparations less frenetic.

I started to fret in Barcelona about the section of riding to come:  6 long days across Spain to Madrid.  The weather was predicted to be unusually hot and we were told to expect significant climbing, hence the title of this blog.  And it all came true…plus the addition big headwinds

& some rough roads.  I still sweat just thinking about it.  The temperatures ranged from 47 to 103 degrees Fahrenheit on my Garmin thermometer (98 in the shade).  That said, I loved this section of riding.  It was actually nice to leave the frequently populous coastal areas (especially in high tourist season) and head off for remote, rugged landscapes: rocky mountain peaks, parched valleys, tenacious olive & almond groves, red soil, ancient villages, castles, churches, and fortresses.

 

 

 

 

It was terribly difficult to stay hydrated.  The heat, sun and dry air sucked the moisture from us as we rode.  Fortunately for us, our fellow rider Wayne, an Aussie who is a very strong rider and accustomed to riding in heat, saved us more than once.  One day as we were struggling near the top a climb, he noticed a bit of habitation off the road and thought there might be a bar.  Sure enough, he found cold cokes and water.  Like a true hero, he stuffed them in his pack and raced back to the main road to find us.  He chased us up the hill where we stopped in a tunnel (Shade!!) and handed over the cold drinks.  OMG, I cannot tell you how good they tasted or how revived we were after drinking them.

On another occasion, Wayne found the only source of cold drinks in an otherwise totally buttoned-down village–they believe in siestas here, generally from about 1 to 5pm and everything shuts down.  He went riding through the apparent ghost town but heard voice emanating from a building across from the church.  The local watering hole, the Asociacion de Amigos!  Lucky for us, Wayne saw us about to ride by the town and showed us the location of this veritable miracle

It is time for me to sign off.  I know it is a lengthy discourse, but so much has happened over the past two weeks.  I have some more photos to share and hope to obtain some from fellow riders, so I plan to send off another post of pictures soon.

 

We only have 8 more riding days to go.  Portugal here we come.