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November 15 Tuesday Bicycle touring Spain from Hendaye Spain to Vittoria Spain Toro! Toro! Woke up in a fog this morning. Literally. We were in a cloud. I couldn't even see the apartment building directly across the street from us. After careful scrutiny I did see an old man moving in a garden plot below us. We loaded up our bicycles and got past the two mansions without the dogs going nuts and barking madly. They must be off duty until 8. Sharon went to the washroom at a fire hall. She reports it is a beautiful facility. I'm not sure if she means the fire department or the washroom. Maybe we should be staying with firemen? We cycled N21 for 4 km before hitting a 'No bicycles' sign along with no pedestrians or tractors, and my current favourite, a horse and buggy. The alternate route we and our little touring bicycles were shunted onto had little traffic and was surprisingly scenic -- especially when compared to the National route. It is difficult to navigate through some towns. The main road just sort of disappears into a maze of turns and streets about the width of an ox cart. I took a picture of the Pyrenees Mountains, or at least the part of it that we had to cycle over. There is a palm-like tree in one corner of the picture. Otherwise, the shot looks just like the Rockies around Jasper and Banff. We cycled up lots of switchbacks. Work crews were out and cheered us on. "Vino?" one called out and stuck his thumb to his mouth while tilting his head back as I slowly cycled past and made my way toward the next hairpin. I laughed -- my cycling legs are rubbery enough already. Once the fog cleared, the sky was blue and the sun felt great. Lots of pollution from vehicles and factories. Clothes drying from windows and balconies. It looks like a lot of people live in apartments. A brown pall hung behind us over the mountains. It made for a pastel orange and red sunset though. We got lost while cycle around trying to find small unmarked roads. After winding around in a complete circle, we hit N1 and decided it would be best to just cycle on it. It has a wide shoulder, but there are a ton of trucks. We are camped in a farmer's field. A starry sky shares a full moon. An old guy, using nothing but Spanish, tried to give us directions at a traffic circle in Vittoria. He got quite upset when we couldn't understand him. He kept pointing one way and saying Madrid. Finally, I just started saying "Si" and "gracious" to get rid of him. We were still lost. Lots of people walk and ride bikes during "siesta" time. The stores close at 2 PM for a couple of hours. The bread is good, especially if eaten in the morning when it is still warm. It is about a buck for a two-foot long crusty loaf. Sharon bungees it to the back of her bike rack. Lots of people stare at us as we ride past. School kids laugh. Some, adults mainly, clap or cheer and wave as we ride past on our fully loaded touring bicycles. We are trying to make major mileage in order to meet Susan and Vicky on the 20th in Lisbon. A guy out for a day ride -- when we were stopped at the filming -- figured we had about a 1000 km to go. At least, he said. Tomorrow, we expect to be cycling on the plain. Now that we're over the Pyrenees, we'll see how it goes. We started calling this section of our bicycle tour, RASP, for Race Across Spain. But it's also for how our breathing feels at the end of the day with all the pollution in our throats. Touring by bicycle can put you in for some nasty air. The mountains along the side of N1 look great. They rise straight out of the plain without foothills. Tonight had just the right amount of clouds and pollution to make a spectacular sunset on three sides of us as we rode. Bicycle touring in Spain is very different from bicycle touring in France. We have seen more industry here in two days than we did in two weeks in France. We have even seen Renault car factories here. Wouldn't want to make pollution in your own country when you can do it elsewhere. Maybe the pollution controls are more strict in France so they farm it out to the Spanish? The Spanish are busily taking apart mountains to make gravel for more roads. There is an incredible amount of building going on. And the number of freight trucks passing us and our little touring bicycles is frightening. The only good thing about the rigs is that they give us a nice little push from their gust of air as they pass. Food is not as cheap here as I had hoped. Most things are about the same price as Canada. |
