Bicycling the North Mediterranean: Spain to Turkey
Spain
-- Miguel de Cervantes
March 05
Pucol - 48Km
On the train we decided to start cycling at Valencia instead of Cartegena. We haven't read of much to see in Cartegena and even leaving on the earliest possible train we wouldn't get there until 8pm. Also, starting in Valencia will save us 5 days, making it easier to do some side trips later on.
Cycling out of Valencia proved rather challenging because of the traffic and confusing roads with no good map, but we eventually found our way to the highway heading north toward ancient Sugunto. When we left Valencia we thought we could get all the way to Sugunto but night caught up with us in Pucol, about 7 Km from Sugunto, so we started looking for a camp site. This beach resort community appears almost completely closed up in early March, including the campgrounds. We checked several campgrounds, each sending us to another, but all were closed for the season. So, we pitched out tents in an empty field next to a rough soccer field, surrounded by apartment buildings, and lit by street lights. No one disturbed us in the night but we made sure to get up early and leave quickly.
March 6
Benicasim-140 Km
Today we cycled 92.29Km (a paladrone)! Meandering roads and our occasionally desperate attempts to get off the busy N340 combined with an inaccurant road map we found at the tourist office in Sagunto turned a short day into a long day. The N340 isn't so bad; it has good shoulders but the incessant truck traffic and noise and debilitating exhaust tend to roughen the cycling experience. We did find a few nice country roads. We followed the N340 to Moncofar where we found a rural road heading north, which the tourist map showed continuing on to Burriana. Unfortunately, the tourist map seems to have been produced by the impressionistic school of map-making, so we wasted a lot of time searching for a road that doesn't exist. Eventually, we found our way through some back roads, not on the map, to Burriana and headed for Almassora. At Almassora we headed toward the coast, not yet knowing the full extent of the tourist map inaccuracy, only to end up wandering around deserted resort cities trying to find our way to Benicassim. Finally, at El Grao de Castello we found a nice bike path that took us all the way to Benicassim, about 10 Km. The campground Alzar is open all year round, even the restaurant. Alzar appears to have a large number of British and German retired folks with their RV's, enjoying the relative warmth. That night we enjoyed a truly huge pasta dinner, just the ticket for a couple hungry cyclists.
March 7
Benicassim - rest day
I moved the seat on RoadBoy forward about two inches so the handle bar would clear under the seat better. When I shortened the stem I hadn't anticipated that it would also raise the handle bar a little making it barely miss the bottom the seat, not leaving enough room for my hands to stay on the handle bars as I turned a corner. I also lengthened the chain and boom to keep my stroke the same, oiled the chain, and cleaned the rims.
Joshua is having trouble with his ankle from an injury just before leaving home. We're hoping a rest day will get him back in the saddle but may take the train to our next stop instead of cycling.
It also seems that Joshua has cooked his arm! It seems a little hard to believe but his right are has swollen up to almost twice the size of his left. On the train to Valencia Joshua fell asleep with his arm on the heater and we believe he slow cooked his arm. I have to admit to wondering about my new partner; after all, it's not particularly auspicious way to start a trip with someone who cooks his arm on the first day. But what can you do, I warned him about cooking any other parts of his body and renamed him Sal el brazo de la Mancha (Salami arm of la Mancha).
March 08
Peniscola - 181Km
We set the alarm and got up at 6am to see about a train to Benicarlo. Sal’s foot is still causing problems and the salami arm could use some rest too. It turns out that the first train going north passes through Benicassim in the late evening at 6:15pm. The tourist office said we could get more trains at Castello so we cycled the 12 Km or so only to find out that the only train stopping at Castillo and Benicarlo and allowing bicycles and runs today is the same train we could have caught in Benicassim. Oh well, we found a festival in Castillo, which we're enjoying and I was able to find a replacement for my lost hat and my not so functional headlamp.
Arriving at Benicarlo about 6:50pm, by the time we got underway we needed my new headlamp and our flashers. Fortunately, we ran into a Spanish cyclist who told us about a bike path into Peniscola where we could find camping. The bike path was very nice, lighted most of the way. Best of all, we had a wonderful view of the fortress of Peniscola lit up at night and the small town at it's foot. The coast between Benicarlo and Peniscola is heavily developed with condo's and restaurants, while the tourist trade has pretty much taken over the pretty little town of Peniscola and it's sandy beach. Souvenir shops and restaurants line the streets, jostled by the occasional market. The fortress itself is quite impressive, it looks very formidable, jutting out into the sea and surrounded by strong tall walls.
March 09
Near El Perello - 258Km
Joshua woke me up at 6:30am this morning after my best nights sleep so far. We managed to stay up until about 10:30pm, I woke once at about 4:30am but soon fell back to sleep. I think we have adjusted to the new time zone. We started the morning by leaving 
our gear at the campground and riding into Peniscola to look at the fortress. The thick walls on an exposed promontory brought to mind a harsher time, when swarms of pirates terrorized the coast.
We rode all the rest of the day on the busy N340. It has a nice wide shoulder but heavy fast traffic. We pedaled at a nice relaxing pace, about 17Km per hour average. About 5 pm we decided to wild camp, so found a secluded spot in an olive grove near the little town of El Perello. The day was clear almost all day, in the afternoon a cool north wind picked up which slowed our progress a little. Our campsite had wild tarragon, it is Tarragonia after all, but we failed to get some for drying and later use.
March 10
Vilanova - 377
A dog woke us up about 6:30am this morning, making me worry about someone finding us in the olive grove. Nevertheless, we packed and got out about 7:30am with no encounters with dog or human. The area around here has few facilities in the off season so we're reduced to looking for food in gas stations. The first few gas stations didn't have much food to choose from so we keep riding. We're thinking of writing a guidebook focusing on how to eat well out of gas station mini-marts. Unfortunately, were still on the N340, which mostly avoids the small towns. Eventually we passed close to Le'Hoispitalet de l'Infant so we got off the highway and found a nice little Patisserie. Back on the N340, we cycled on towards Tarragona. Threading our way through Tarragona we found the N340 on the other
side and continued north. About San Salvadore, just after the N340 turns inland, we switched to the C31. The map doesn't show a C31, we were looking for a C246. Instead, we found two highways, the Autovia C32 and the fast and furious C31. This highway seems to follow the old C246 but with freeway type sections. Mostly the C31 has a good shoulder, but the traffic comes heavy and fast.
In a way, we'll miss the N340. We kept trying to get off it for smaller roads to escape the traffic, but kept being forced back to the N340. So, it seems that for several days the N340 was our destiny, Sal called it "Destiny 340".
We couldn't find a campground in San Salvadore so kept pedaling north. Eventually, we reached Vilanova and found an open campground, having traveled 119 Km all together for the day. The day was warm in the sun, sunny all day in fact. We cycled along rolling hills with the Mediterranean on the right, dry scrub hills to the left.
Sal’s arm has mostly returned to normal.
Hmm, where are we? Sal demonstrates his route finding skills.
March 11
Barcelona - 442Km
Up about 6:45 this morning, we were a little slow getting off so we didn't hit the highway until about 8:30am. We kept on the C31 although a couple of times it tries to dump you off onto the autovia C32. Each time, a short distance on the C32 provided an off-ramp and a return to the C31 (non-autovia). We took the turn off for El Prat, near the airport, where we bought a map of Barcelona. We thought we could work our way through the west area but was blocked by a guard and so had to take a longer circular route around the cemetery hill. In a way it was nice because we got to see more of Barcelona than we would otherwise have seen. The Placa de Espagna was especially nice. Eventually, we found our way to La Rambla and found a reasonable hotel over-looking La Rambla. Let's hope it's not too noisy.
The Bari Gotic area we're in has it's share of derelict kids and seedy streets, but the La Rambla itself is quite nice and lively. The city life is vibrant and exciting. We arrived about 2pm, got the hotel and I left to find a bicycle shop. I damaged RoadBoy's rear derailleur at the airport in Madrid when he fell into a water grate between the highways. I can still shift but not smoothly and I'm missing some gears. So, I'm having RoadBoy's derailleur replaced here.
March 12
Barcelona - rest day
Up at 7:30am today, we got off to the post office to mail Joshua's package. Last night we found the perfect box for him to use for mailing his excess equipment home. We both have some extra equipment, but Joshua has quite a bit of extra stuff, mostly clothes. We've also decided to mail home his stove and pots. We haven't used them even once and well have my small stove back up if we ever decide to cook something. So far, were enjoying eating at cheap restaurants and picking up sandwiches and such at local markets.
March 13
Blanes - 518Km, AVS = 15.1Km/hr, Cycle time = 4hrs, 51 min, Travel time = 8hrs, 58 min
We left Barcelona about 8:30am today, working our way through the crowded city streets heading north, next to the port, looking for the N11 out of town. It was slow going, we didn't get out of Barcelona until about 10:30, not that we would really notice. The entire coast north of Barcelona is filled with urban sprawl and beach development. Plus, the N11 is busy with fast traffic and many trucks. North of Barcelona, the N11 carries lots of traffic at high speed and for many kilometers the N11 not only has no shoulder but even has a concrete wall less than a meter off the road. We'll have no place to bail out if we need to. Topping it off, we fought a strong north wind all day. All in all, we had a pretty bad day of cycling. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring us a quieter road.
Finally, in desperation to get off this cursed road we decided to take our chances using a hole in the fence to cross a railroad track on a curve to get to the old highway, now a pedestrian and bike path, along the coast. We cooked up a scheme to listen to the track as a way to make sure no train was coming around the corner. Well, I suppose it worked because we lived to tell the tale, but I'm not too confident that our system worked all that well. Moments after crossing the track a train roared around the corner.
About 5pm we gave up trying to make our original goal for the day and instead sought a campground in Blanes. It's a pretty tacky place but the people are very nice and we have some comfortable grass to sleep on. Perhaps the most special feature of the campground is it's apparently co-ed bathrooms. Blanes itself is a rather drab town, sprawling along the coast. I've been wondering all day what employment people find here. Most of the apartments appear to be occupied year round which means too many people for the seasonal tourist trade. Yet, I don't see any obvious industry around.
March 14
La Escala - 626Km, Avg Speed = 17.1Km/hr, Cycle time = 6hrs, 16 min, Travel time = 10hrs, 15 min
A long day, we had maybe our best day of cycling so far. We left Blanes about 8am for Lloret to find some pastry. From Lloret we followed the C253 along the coast, it was pretty strenuous up and down riding but the scenery was spectacular and the traffic light. We finally cycled into Tossa del Mar about 10:30am. We had no trouble finding our way to the old town. The old town is inside a wonderfully preserved 13th century walls on a rocky promontory, with a bay nestled on the north side. We pushed out bikes up the old road, through a simple gate, and on to the top where we had some wonderful views of the seashore north and south.
The beach and the water made the most inviting shore we've seen so although it was too cold for swimming we did enjoy a lunch on the beach. The water is quite blue and the beach large and expansive, hemmed in both north and south by rocky cliffs. It's the most appealing of the coastal development communities I've seen so far. Finishing lunch, we left and continued our route along the coast. As before, we enjoyed the wonderful scenery and the quiet road. It reminded us both of cycling on the Pacific Coast. We passed several small canyons each with a lovely beach at the mouth. In all cases it appears that a single resort owns the entire beach so we weren't about to find any free camping along the coast.
At San Feliu we entered a milder coastline, flatter with more development. We kept along the coast until Saint Antoni de C where we switched to the GI660 going over the mountains to La Bisbal. This was a steep but pretty road and almost no traffic. From the top of the pass we had about 10Km down to La Bisbal. La Bisbal seems to be a college town because we saw many college age kids walking around. The only sign we could find seemed to imply a school of tourism, but we're not sure.
We reached La Bisbal about 5pm and we both thought we had almost not chance to get to L'Escala and a campground. But, the wind was blowing hard out of the south and the highway C252 was mostly flat so we averaged about 30Km per hour. We ended up getting to L'Escala about 6pm, 30Km in an hour. It took us about 30 minutes to find an open campground. All in all, we had a good day of cycling, so we're tired but satisfied.
March 15
La Jonquera - 683Km
The ruins of Empurium didn't open until 10am so we slept in till 7am, no kidding. Then puttered around camp until almost 10. The Empuria site has very extensive ruins, much more than I expected. You could see the old city walls, homes, and the Agora. The audio guide was good and well worth the 3.80 Euro it cost for the machine. The site has a good museum with extensive descriptions in English. The site also contains the old Roman city that developed next to the Greek city. The Roman city was even larger than the Greek city with more substantial walls. Eventually the two grew together but when the Greek part declined it was used as a cemetery. I spent some time dreaming about what it was like when Hannibal sacked the Greek city on his way to destiny across the Alps.
Finally leaving the ruins about 1pm, we were starved but couldn't find any markets, it being siesta time by the time we started looking. So, for lunch we had to settle for junk food at the gas station mini-mart. With some junk food power and a good wind at our back we headed for Figueras, which we made in about an hour, and then on to La Jonquera.
Along the way, RoadBoy had a new first. We were pedaling along the highway, a kind of autovia with on and off ramps. At one of the off ramps I was trying to continue on the road without being hit by an oncoming bus. As I slowed the bus slowed, as I slowed even more, waiting for the bus to take the off ramp, the bus slowed even more, finally coming to a halt. While the bus blocked my way back to the highway, a load of high school girls waved and snapped photos of RoadBoy and me. So, it seems that the power of the recumbent can even stop a whole busload of people.
It was about this time that Senor Bob was born. I'm using the flag from a BOB trailer on my bike for visibility. With all the attention garnered by RoadBoy it occurred to us that in years to come we might hear stories of Senor Bob, the crazy cyclists, with his space glasses and riding his weird machine.
So, now it seems that we have four on our trip: Professor Joerding, Black Belt Urness, Senor Bob, and Sal. Each with his own personality, we should have plenty of excitement for the rest of the journey. Our enlarged group provides the perfect solution to the historic debate about the optimal group size. Some say one is the best number, some say two is the best number after the number one. Three, is that a crowd or a conspiracy, making
it more difficult to reach a decision and adding two more tires that can attract flats? We're not sure, but we at no time had more than two bikes and yet enjoyed the conversational repartee and group camaraderie of four personalities. I highly recommend multiple personalities for your next trip.
The climb to La Jonquera is very mild along the busy N11 highway. The border to France is only 3Km away so we don't expect any difficult climbing there either.
At La Jonquera we checked our camping book and it indicated that the campground would be open, but after climbing an impossibly steep hill for about 2 Km we found it out of business. So, we're wild camping. We did find a wonderful spot on top of a small hill looking out onto the Pyrenees. It's a nice way to finish our travels in Spain, great weather and a spectacular view of the snow capped Pyrenees, but it's hard to believe that we've already finished with one country on our trip.