46km / 2 hours 35 min / 101m gain

(For my reference: Komoot estimated 3 hours 11 min and 100m gain)

It was an easy ride today; I got an early start, so it was much cooler. The route was as fantastic as yesterday. I did have one spot where the path disappeared, but I found a detour a few blocks away.

I stayed in Tordesillas, Spain, last night! I wandered around a bit, ran into a few history signs, and realized that the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed here. I remember learning about this in high school, where Spain and Portugal divided the rest of the world between them.

70km / 3 hours 45 min / 408m gain

(For my reference: Komoot estimated 4 hours 33 min and 330m gain)

Lindsey and Calico drove me to the start of my route this morning. It was weird to have an audience, as I usually start my rides solo!

We got a late start with breakfast and checkout, so I didn’t get going until 1130am. It was a beautiful sunny day, although a bit hot (UV of 7).

The route was 90% gravel and FANTASTIC!

The perfect trail for adventure. There were tons of fast, smooth gravel, random sand pits, double track with overgrown bushes blocking the way, large chunky routes where I had to go very slow, and everything in between. A lot of very careful lines so that I didn’t fishtail out of control as parts of the path went from gravel to sand.

Spain is such a beautiful country… I wish we could live here!!! I have to come back to more of Spain for gravel routes, as the roads are amazing (just look at the pictures below).

I went past plenty of wine today, fields of different veggies and wheat, and lots of scrubland. I didn’t see any snakes today, but I did see 3 huge fish in the river that were probably 2.5 to 3 feet long.

My route today ended near Valladolid.

I am staying above a bar in a small town (only 25 euros a night).

For my end-of-ride lunch at said bar, I had Havana Club 7 (thanks to Laura for introducing me to my favorite rum!), a coke, morcilla (I love blood sausage), tortilla, and some bread (picture below). Life is good!

Before I left, I had to fix a few things on my bike…

• My rear hub was broken, so I replaced that before I left (huge thank you to the local store for that work). The new hub feels so much better and there is a very long story there. Hopefully the spokes are all good, he checked the tension on Friday and fixed a few.
• My rear tire was worn out, so I replaced it. I also swapped the front tire just to have some extra grip, given the high amount of gravel I am doing. I will swap the front tire back when I get home until it wears out.

How did I train for the ride?

Because I decided to do this last minute, I didn’t get as much training time as I would like. Even worse, I got sick twice in this period (which didn’t help).

• Week 1 – 9 hours and 40 minutes of riding.
• Week 2 – 5 hours and 8 minutes.
• Week 3 – 2 hours and 27 minutes. Only one ride in Bordeaux over Spring Break as things got crazy.
• Week 4 – Then zero rides… I got a cold the last week in Bordeaux.
• Week 5 – 6 hours 39 minutes.
• Week 6 – 9 hours 21 minutes (2x 3+ hour rides)
• Week 7 – 10 hours 48 minutes (3x 3+ hour rides)
• Week 8 – 5 hours 36 minutes. I got sick after a 4.5-hour ride on Monday. I think Calico gave me his chest infection, but luckily, we are both well now.
• Week 9 – Around 6 hours of training. I kept it light as I was exhausted. I started my bike tour on Sunday.

What did I pack? 

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I realized that if I want to do a bike tour, I need to do it now, so I will take a trip across Spain in mid-May (we are moving this summer, plus we are visiting family in the USA).

I will start in Salamanca and bike across Spain, through Zaragoza, up around the corner of the Pyrenees to a small town called Ille sur Têt (in France). The weather should be cooler, which will help, given Spain’s intense summer heat.

What are the stats?

• ~1,050km
• ~8,500 meters up and 9,310 down.
• The route I’ve mapped should be 70% gravel and 30% pavement. Hopefully, the gravel is a little more defined than in France, as I found myself hiking through random forests with no path a few times in France (not to mention the field routes that didn’t always work out). But that is also part of the adventure!
• I will do it over ~17 days of riding. I will try something new this year where every 5th day is a rest day and see if that balances me out. I get so excited that I overdo it in the first 7 to 10 days.

Training?

Because of the late start and dates I was confined within, I didn’t get as much training as I would like. It would have been better if I had not gotten a cold over our Bordeaux spring break. It won’t be as bad as my Portugal Camino tour in 2021. And I’ve got two more weeks to train, so hopefully, I can get to a good spot.

Why Ille sur Têt?

There is a fantastic French bike company that is based there. I will do a bike fitting with them for a custom frame for a new bike (gravel)! Then I will take the train with my bike to Bordeaux, finish signing on our new house, park my bike there, and fly back to Porto to organize the move. Huzzah!