Today we head home. For most of us, it is two days' worth of travel. A few have the post-trip extension and a few more are spending more than a few days traveling around parts of Europe. For me, it is time to go home.
Most of us are traveling back to Barcelona today on the high-speed train. Once again, a bus is taking our luggage back to Barcelona after dropping us off at the train station.
The high-speed train is fun although it involves an additional step. Erwin brought his garmin on the train and turned it on and we topped out at 125mph. You would never know we were going that fast because it was still very smooth.
We spent the night in the same hotel as during the pre-trip (Hotel 1898). It was nice enough but it was the enormous breakfast buffet that we will remember.
Since we had seen most of the attractions in Barcelona during the pre-trip, we found it hard to get motivated to see the "lesser" attractions. The rain also made it less pressing. So after we finished getting settled, we went out looking for lunch. We spent the next seven hours alternately eating, walking to another restaurant, eating, walking, eating, and having a beer or two at each stop. It was a nice and relaxing way to spend the last day.
The travel day was uneventful. Our flight was in the early afternoon so our transfer left at mid-morning. Flying east to west is much easier and I was able to doze between multiple movies. There is more urgency to sleeping when flying the other direction which of course makes it harder to sleep.
We had a four-hour lay-over in JFK which sounds like a lot of time but between clearing customs, passport control, re-checking luggage, clearing TSA again, it ensured that we were not worried about getting through the long lines. We much prefer flying in and out of Detroit over JFK.
We have begun to talk about next year's trip.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Sunday, May 8, 2016
pre-trip
Spain 2016 is the third supported bike trip I have taken.
In 2013, Mike, Vince, Marty and I went to Italy, Sicily to be exact on a trip by Vermont Bike Tours, VBT (http://www.vbt.com/tours/sicily-biking-the-southern-coastal-villages/). Details of that trip are in another blog (https://jeffreycchin.wordpress.com/category/cycling-in-sicily/). We had some adventures and a great time.
Last year, Mike, Walter and I went to France to ride in the Alps with the Tour de France with Duvine (https://www.duvine.com/tour/tdf-alps-to-paris-bike-tour-2/). I can't seem to get wordpress to show those entries right now. It was a trip of a lifetime.
This year, Mike, Jaime and I will be taking another trip organized by VBT to the Costa Brava of Spain (http://www.vbt.com/tours/spain-costa-brava-cycling-dalis-landscapes/).
We like VBT bike tours: they give us everything we look for in a bike trip and they are a very good value. As much as I think I would like to arrange one of these trips myself, I would be hard-pressed to do it less expensively and with it would be a lot more stress. I have become a big fan of supported trips, especially VBT trips.
The ramp-up to this trip was relatively uneventful. Unlike training to ride in the Alps, we will not be in the Pyrenees so we did not feel that it was necessary to train for this trip other than to stay in shape over the winter and be ready to ride when the weather made it possible to enjoy riding outside. Some of us did some computraining classes, some of us lifted, some of us cross-trained, some of us did not much of anything. I figured if I was ready to ride outside in Syracuse, I would be ready for Spain.
But things never go smoothly. Mike likes to call it the 80% rule. If things go right 80% of the time, that's a success. On our trip to Italy, three of the four of us had lost luggage (that's 75%). With our trip to France, Mike was recovering from pneumonia (67%). This year, Mike had a double hernia. But a double doctors' diagnosis gave him the green light two days before our departure. Then it was my cold. Three days before the trip I felt like death (33%).
But we pulled it together and on Friday, 4/29 we were on our way.
In 2013, Mike, Vince, Marty and I went to Italy, Sicily to be exact on a trip by Vermont Bike Tours, VBT (http://www.vbt.com/tours/sicily-biking-the-southern-coastal-villages/). Details of that trip are in another blog (https://jeffreycchin.wordpress.com/category/cycling-in-sicily/). We had some adventures and a great time.
Last year, Mike, Walter and I went to France to ride in the Alps with the Tour de France with Duvine (https://www.duvine.com/tour/tdf-alps-to-paris-bike-tour-2/). I can't seem to get wordpress to show those entries right now. It was a trip of a lifetime.
This year, Mike, Jaime and I will be taking another trip organized by VBT to the Costa Brava of Spain (http://www.vbt.com/tours/spain-costa-brava-cycling-dalis-landscapes/).
We like VBT bike tours: they give us everything we look for in a bike trip and they are a very good value. As much as I think I would like to arrange one of these trips myself, I would be hard-pressed to do it less expensively and with it would be a lot more stress. I have become a big fan of supported trips, especially VBT trips.
The ramp-up to this trip was relatively uneventful. Unlike training to ride in the Alps, we will not be in the Pyrenees so we did not feel that it was necessary to train for this trip other than to stay in shape over the winter and be ready to ride when the weather made it possible to enjoy riding outside. Some of us did some computraining classes, some of us lifted, some of us cross-trained, some of us did not much of anything. I figured if I was ready to ride outside in Syracuse, I would be ready for Spain.
But things never go smoothly. Mike likes to call it the 80% rule. If things go right 80% of the time, that's a success. On our trip to Italy, three of the four of us had lost luggage (that's 75%). With our trip to France, Mike was recovering from pneumonia (67%). This year, Mike had a double hernia. But a double doctors' diagnosis gave him the green light two days before our departure. Then it was my cold. Three days before the trip I felt like death (33%).
But we pulled it together and on Friday, 4/29 we were on our way.
day 8: 8-may-2016
Fellow VBTers: if you have pictures of YOU, send them along. I'd love to add them below.
Today was the last day on bikes. The forecast was for rain and our rule is that we will ride if it's not raining at the start of a ride but it's just too hard to get on a bike if you're already wet. While the weather has been great all week, it has not been warm, typically right around 15C (60F) so we've been starting with jackets but short-sleeved jerseys, regular gloves and no leggings, arm warmers or shoe covers and that was typically fine for the first 10 minutes and then we'd shed the jackets. But starting wet at that temperature would not be fun. All the bravado about getting in a short ride even if it started raining (we could always get in the van) dissipated when I opened the door and it felt like 40 mist.
Our morning activity was a cruise to the next port to see the shoreline. It was spectacular and it made you wonder why ancient mariners thought this might be a good place to try to go ashore. There are probably lots of boat pieces along this coastline.
The water was pretty rough with swells that were probably around 10 feet. Many of us were starting to turn green.
When we finally got to shore, the tour guides were waiting for us in the rain with our bike lined up and ready to go. About a half dozen of the group opted to ride, including Mike. Two chose to return to L'Escala on the boat. The rest of us piled into a cab and returned to the hotel. I tried to sleep off the seasickness.
When Mike got back, we walked into L'Escala for a bite to eat. I found that eating helped settle my stomach and the fresh air helped to clear my headache. But in Europe, people can smoke in open-air environments and at almost every meal, there were people nearby smoking. It was only after returning to the hotel for a nap that my head stopped hurting.
We had our farewell dinner that evening. It was nicely done in a private room overlooking the beach. Everyone typically cleans up and I was glad I had something set aside so I didn't have to wear smelly warm ups. We went over logistics for the travel day and since we would not be able to see the Dali museum because most museums are closed on Monday, our tour guides bought everyone copies of a very nice book on this and two other museums. Many of us asked them to "autograph" the books. Jaime and I stayed up a while to chat with them.
Here's a picture of us. They almost make us look good.
After a week, we had fun getting to know our fellow travelers.
Kelly and Jose were strong young riders from Virginia. Sadly, they had to leave a day early because of a death in the family. We enjoyed having company going to the beach on the day 5 extension.
Leslie, Paul, and Gerard were from Ottawa and they lead a group called the Slow Riders. We are thinking about a road trip to Ottawa this summer when Paul says they close some of the roads for cyclists.
Marylou and Jerry were from Chelmsford, Mass. Mike and I have probably ridden on roads near where they live (Concord, Bedford, Sudbury).
Lynne and Larry were from Oregon and we bonded over the boat ride that Larry wisely decided not to do. I wish I was as smart as he was.
Maddie and Irwin were from downstate and here's a picture of the lovebirds courtesy of Nick.
We have a deal with them (and I am putting it into writing!). When they get new road bikes this summer, we will make a road trip to christen them.
We might also visit Nick who is in the area since everyone knows downstate is where it's at.
Betsy and Matt were from Vermont and delightful to ride with. I seemed to always run into Matt at the food line and he was smiling. No surprises there!
Ellie came from South Africa. She traveled about 11 hours go Barcelona so she was wisely going to spend more time in Europe besides just the VBT trip. She had arranged a private lesson in mosaics in Barcelona after our trip was over and she was headed to Rome to watch some pro tennis.
Edie came from Houston. She reminded of my dad who claimed he could talk to anyone. I am betting that Edie would be comfortable with that. As a real estate agent, that might be a useful skill.
And of course there were our tour guides Itzy and Andrea. They were consummate professionals: efficient, hard-working and attentive. It was obvious they liked doing the work they do. It doesn't hurt that they are awesome individuals. We enjoyed our moments with them when we had a chance to chat with them and get to know them better as people.
Today was the last day on bikes. The forecast was for rain and our rule is that we will ride if it's not raining at the start of a ride but it's just too hard to get on a bike if you're already wet. While the weather has been great all week, it has not been warm, typically right around 15C (60F) so we've been starting with jackets but short-sleeved jerseys, regular gloves and no leggings, arm warmers or shoe covers and that was typically fine for the first 10 minutes and then we'd shed the jackets. But starting wet at that temperature would not be fun. All the bravado about getting in a short ride even if it started raining (we could always get in the van) dissipated when I opened the door and it felt like 40 mist.
Our morning activity was a cruise to the next port to see the shoreline. It was spectacular and it made you wonder why ancient mariners thought this might be a good place to try to go ashore. There are probably lots of boat pieces along this coastline.
The water was pretty rough with swells that were probably around 10 feet. Many of us were starting to turn green.
When we finally got to shore, the tour guides were waiting for us in the rain with our bike lined up and ready to go. About a half dozen of the group opted to ride, including Mike. Two chose to return to L'Escala on the boat. The rest of us piled into a cab and returned to the hotel. I tried to sleep off the seasickness.
When Mike got back, we walked into L'Escala for a bite to eat. I found that eating helped settle my stomach and the fresh air helped to clear my headache. But in Europe, people can smoke in open-air environments and at almost every meal, there were people nearby smoking. It was only after returning to the hotel for a nap that my head stopped hurting.
We had our farewell dinner that evening. It was nicely done in a private room overlooking the beach. Everyone typically cleans up and I was glad I had something set aside so I didn't have to wear smelly warm ups. We went over logistics for the travel day and since we would not be able to see the Dali museum because most museums are closed on Monday, our tour guides bought everyone copies of a very nice book on this and two other museums. Many of us asked them to "autograph" the books. Jaime and I stayed up a while to chat with them.
Here's a picture of us. They almost make us look good.
After a week, we had fun getting to know our fellow travelers.
Kelly and Jose were strong young riders from Virginia. Sadly, they had to leave a day early because of a death in the family. We enjoyed having company going to the beach on the day 5 extension.
Leslie, Paul, and Gerard were from Ottawa and they lead a group called the Slow Riders. We are thinking about a road trip to Ottawa this summer when Paul says they close some of the roads for cyclists.
Marylou and Jerry were from Chelmsford, Mass. Mike and I have probably ridden on roads near where they live (Concord, Bedford, Sudbury).
Lynne and Larry were from Oregon and we bonded over the boat ride that Larry wisely decided not to do. I wish I was as smart as he was.
Maddie and Irwin were from downstate and here's a picture of the lovebirds courtesy of Nick.
We have a deal with them (and I am putting it into writing!). When they get new road bikes this summer, we will make a road trip to christen them.
We might also visit Nick who is in the area since everyone knows downstate is where it's at.
Betsy and Matt were from Vermont and delightful to ride with. I seemed to always run into Matt at the food line and he was smiling. No surprises there!
Ellie came from South Africa. She traveled about 11 hours go Barcelona so she was wisely going to spend more time in Europe besides just the VBT trip. She had arranged a private lesson in mosaics in Barcelona after our trip was over and she was headed to Rome to watch some pro tennis.
Edie came from Houston. She reminded of my dad who claimed he could talk to anyone. I am betting that Edie would be comfortable with that. As a real estate agent, that might be a useful skill.
And of course there were our tour guides Itzy and Andrea. They were consummate professionals: efficient, hard-working and attentive. It was obvious they liked doing the work they do. It doesn't hurt that they are awesome individuals. We enjoyed our moments with them when we had a chance to chat with them and get to know them better as people.
day 4: 4-may-2016
We left Girona today and we decided that we liked Girona much more than Barcelona.
Our first stop was Pubol, home of Castell Dali Gala. It is the castle that Dali gave as a gift to his wife Gala. It was a glimpse into the life of an artistic genius who claimed that the only difference between him and a madman was that he was not mad. We had a dapper young man give us the tour.
Here's a picture from the first room of the tour.
Looks like a door, doesn't it? It's a picture of a door, painted to 1:1 scale. There actually is a door to the right that looks the same.
Here's another picture of a radiator. Unfortunately, the flash gives it away. The second picture is a side-view of the painting and behind it is the actual radiator. You can't really see it from this angle but the picture is a pretty close replication of the actual radiator.
We rode through the countryside until we reached the village of La Bisbal d'Emporda which marked the beginning of a short climb to the hotel that is a restored castle.
Here's some of Jamie's pictures from the ride.
Here's a view from the balcony of Jaime and my room.
Life is tough.
Our first stop was Pubol, home of Castell Dali Gala. It is the castle that Dali gave as a gift to his wife Gala. It was a glimpse into the life of an artistic genius who claimed that the only difference between him and a madman was that he was not mad. We had a dapper young man give us the tour.
Here's a picture from the first room of the tour.
Looks like a door, doesn't it? It's a picture of a door, painted to 1:1 scale. There actually is a door to the right that looks the same.
Here's another picture of a radiator. Unfortunately, the flash gives it away. The second picture is a side-view of the painting and behind it is the actual radiator. You can't really see it from this angle but the picture is a pretty close replication of the actual radiator.
We rode through the countryside until we reached the village of La Bisbal d'Emporda which marked the beginning of a short climb to the hotel that is a restored castle.
Here's some of Jamie's pictures from the ride.
Here's a view from the balcony of Jaime and my room.
Life is tough.
day 5: 5-may-2016
Today is cinco de mayo. Ooops, wrong spanish-speaking culture. In fact, Jaime says that cinco de mayo is to mexicans like st. patrick's day is to the irish: it's an american-concocted holiday designed mostly to promote the native culture and drink beer.
After breakfast and the route review, Itzy lead us in a five-minute yoga/pilates warm up. I haven't stretched after this week's rides so it was a welcome opportunity to loosen up before getting on the bike.
More villages and more spectacular scenery. It was yellow jersey day.
Itzy and Andrea gave us the option to add an additional 10K to our ride today. Kelly and Jose, two young doctors from Virginia joined us. Kelly was super detail-oriented so she was our ride leader on the extension.
Jaime rode ahead to get this picture of us. Mike and I wisely let them pull.
After breakfast and the route review, Itzy lead us in a five-minute yoga/pilates warm up. I haven't stretched after this week's rides so it was a welcome opportunity to loosen up before getting on the bike.
More villages and more spectacular scenery. It was yellow jersey day.
Itzy and Andrea gave us the option to add an additional 10K to our ride today. Kelly and Jose, two young doctors from Virginia joined us. Kelly was super detail-oriented so she was our ride leader on the extension.
Jaime rode ahead to get this picture of us. Mike and I wisely let them pull.
Here we are at the Mediterranean.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
day 2: 2-may-2016
Today was a travel day and really our first day with VBT.
In the morning we took a chance on getting into Parc Guell, a project of Gaudi that is so famous (and popular) that the park service requires tickets with timed entries. We were unable to get tickets for an english-speaking tour the night before so we went without tickets and hoping to get lucky. We did not.
The park was supposed to be a gated community. As originally envisioned, it was a flop. But as a park, it is pretty spectacular.
But while we were unable to get into the Monument part of the park with the more famous pieces of Gaudi's work, we were able to walk around this area and peer down to see what we were missing. Meanwhile, we saw some magnificent structures that Gaudi had planned and the house in which he lived. The structures provided some spots with outstanding acoustics and during one of our moments in a garden, I heard some beautiful solo acoustic guitar. I didn't get a picture of the guy but I did buy his CD. His name is Miquel Tarrida and the album is called Aranjuez.
Here's a youtube video of him playing a tune from his CD in the same spot where I saw him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JJ2JYQC1aI
Here's the archway where he was playing
There were lots of structures like this. This is looking up at an elevated walkway.
We walked to the top of the park and here's a view of the city. There was a guy with a Barcelona FC warm up doing a training run to the top. He looked very much like a pro soccer player. They had just played the night before so this was probably a "recovery" run.
Here's the famous ergonomic bench.
We did spring for tickets to Gaudi's house where he lived during most of the construction of the park. Here's the outside.
And a little trellis-walkway.
They boys got tired.
In the morning we took a chance on getting into Parc Guell, a project of Gaudi that is so famous (and popular) that the park service requires tickets with timed entries. We were unable to get tickets for an english-speaking tour the night before so we went without tickets and hoping to get lucky. We did not.
The park was supposed to be a gated community. As originally envisioned, it was a flop. But as a park, it is pretty spectacular.
But while we were unable to get into the Monument part of the park with the more famous pieces of Gaudi's work, we were able to walk around this area and peer down to see what we were missing. Meanwhile, we saw some magnificent structures that Gaudi had planned and the house in which he lived. The structures provided some spots with outstanding acoustics and during one of our moments in a garden, I heard some beautiful solo acoustic guitar. I didn't get a picture of the guy but I did buy his CD. His name is Miquel Tarrida and the album is called Aranjuez.
Here's a youtube video of him playing a tune from his CD in the same spot where I saw him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JJ2JYQC1aI
Here's the archway where he was playing
There were lots of structures like this. This is looking up at an elevated walkway.
We walked to the top of the park and here's a view of the city. There was a guy with a Barcelona FC warm up doing a training run to the top. He looked very much like a pro soccer player. They had just played the night before so this was probably a "recovery" run.
Here's a look down at the Monument, the ticketed area that we couldn't get into.
Here's the famous ergonomic bench.
We did spring for tickets to Gaudi's house where he lived during most of the construction of the park. Here's the outside.
And a little trellis-walkway.
They boys got tired.
That afternoon we met the same VBT person who met us at the airport who helped us on our transfer to Girona. We got on a bus for the train station. Oddly, while we got off to get on the high-speed train, our luggage stayed on the bus. We figured that VBT wanted to give us the experience of the train even though it added a layer of complexity to the day. The train was fun: clean, fast and something sorely lacking in the US. Great for a nap!
We arrived in Girona to find our luggage already in our rooms. Jaime and I had the penthouse suite. We unpacked and went out for a stroll. We had a welcome reception and dinner that evening as is typical with VBT tours. At that time we had a chance to meet all of the other members of our group.
day 3: 3-may-2016
Today was our first riding day but first we spent an hour and a half on a guided walking tour of the city. Girona has an association of tour guides and VBT hired a woman named Margarita to take us on a walking tour. While we walked past many areas that we had walked by the day before it was really interesting to have commentary about what we were seeing.
When we got back to the hotel, we met one of our VBT tour guides, Itziar Uriate. "Itzi" is from the Basque region of Spain but she has been living in France. She escorted us to a bus that would take us to Girona. The streets are so narrow in these old parts of the city that a standard tour bus would not fit. So the poor guy had to double park a block away.
We arrived at a small town, Centenys, where we met the other tour guide, Andrea Chlebova, a Slovakian professional climber in her previous life. They gave us an orientation, fit our bikes and we took off on our short "warm up" ride (12 km, 7 miles). Two women from the village provided snacks and prepared sandwiches for us to take with us on our bikes.
On this trip our bikes were matte black Fuji Sportive LEs with Koval wheels. They looked really sharp. They were equipped with shimano 105 components and they were pretty responsive. They were probably new bikes from this season.
The ride took us along back roads, some dirt, and finished at a church by a lake. We met Andrea there who was driving the van, ate lunch, and took another quick loop around the lake.
On the way we saw these guys, probably triathletes, on trainers on a dock out in the middle of the lake.
Here's Mike and Jaime on one of these defensive walls.
Girona is a destination for a lot of pros and pro cycling teams for training. Apparently an American rider had a little place in Girona before he was banned from cycling. So there were a lot of bike shops and coffee shops that cater to cyclists. The first bike shop, Bike Breaks was centrally located in the old city and although it was small, it was the most full service bike shop we had ever seen. They sold the usual: bikes, bike accessories, clothing, performed bike repairs and rented bikes. They provided people who rented bikes with suggestions on bike routes. If you needed a shower after a ride, their washroom contained a shower stall for five euros. The most unique part of the bike shop's business was selling gear previously owned by pro riders. They get a lot of stuff and they could give it to the shop to sell on commission. It was one of the coolest bike shops ever.
https://www.gironacyclecentre.com
The second bike shop we stumbled on was Bike Cat. It was the alternative shop in Girona.
When we got back to the hotel, we met one of our VBT tour guides, Itziar Uriate. "Itzi" is from the Basque region of Spain but she has been living in France. She escorted us to a bus that would take us to Girona. The streets are so narrow in these old parts of the city that a standard tour bus would not fit. So the poor guy had to double park a block away.
We arrived at a small town, Centenys, where we met the other tour guide, Andrea Chlebova, a Slovakian professional climber in her previous life. They gave us an orientation, fit our bikes and we took off on our short "warm up" ride (12 km, 7 miles). Two women from the village provided snacks and prepared sandwiches for us to take with us on our bikes.
On this trip our bikes were matte black Fuji Sportive LEs with Koval wheels. They looked really sharp. They were equipped with shimano 105 components and they were pretty responsive. They were probably new bikes from this season.
The ride took us along back roads, some dirt, and finished at a church by a lake. We met Andrea there who was driving the van, ate lunch, and took another quick loop around the lake.
On the way we saw these guys, probably triathletes, on trainers on a dock out in the middle of the lake.
After the ride, we had a few hours on our own in Girona before dinner. We hit two bike shops, a book store, took a walk up to the defensive wall that protected the old city. You really get a sense of the fear that must have driven these people because of the enormous effort they put into making these walls. The view from the top of the wall was pretty spectacular.
Here's Mike and Jaime on one of these defensive walls.
Girona is a destination for a lot of pros and pro cycling teams for training. Apparently an American rider had a little place in Girona before he was banned from cycling. So there were a lot of bike shops and coffee shops that cater to cyclists. The first bike shop, Bike Breaks was centrally located in the old city and although it was small, it was the most full service bike shop we had ever seen. They sold the usual: bikes, bike accessories, clothing, performed bike repairs and rented bikes. They provided people who rented bikes with suggestions on bike routes. If you needed a shower after a ride, their washroom contained a shower stall for five euros. The most unique part of the bike shop's business was selling gear previously owned by pro riders. They get a lot of stuff and they could give it to the shop to sell on commission. It was one of the coolest bike shops ever.
https://www.gironacyclecentre.com
The second bike shop we stumbled on was Bike Cat. It was the alternative shop in Girona.
http://www.bikecat.com
We never saw Lance.
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