Cycling in Spain

17th May

Before we left home, a fellow cyclist told me of her experiences of cycling in Spain. She said that all she saw were cars with many bumps and scratches, which, she felt, did not bode well for cyclists.

So far, this has not proved to be the case. Most drivers are courteous and patient. This is particularly true on the narrow, twisting roads in the gorge route that I have ridden twice. Only three motorcyclist from the UK failed to treat me properly as the zoomed past too fast for the conditions. Otherwise, every one waited until the road was clear before overtaking. No one honked their horns; no one bellowed 'advice' as they do at home, most kept a reasonable distance away so I was not left with the feeling of having paint deposited on my legs!

I started today's ride early to avoid the wind that builds up in the afternoon and that worked well. However, I also missed the sunshine, as the ride out along the gorge was quite cool. It simple meant that I could go at a reasonable speed. It was about 18.5 miles to my destination, which I managed to achieve in exactly 1 hour. OK, yes it was downhill but no tail wind!

As an extra to all of this, there is the small matter of how, as a driver, I assess the roads against the question of whether I can cycle them. That is a matter of whether or not I think the hills/climbs are possible and reasonable. Now, as I have said the gorge route seemed flat on driving up to Potes. I think my perception was that it would be an easy and even picturesque route. My first experience of cycling part of it suggested that I had misread this and it was not flat. Having got to the bottom I was fully aware that the return trip would be more of a challenge Obviously, much of it would be uphill but having managed at least some of it before I did not think this would be too hard.

In fact whilst I was certainly having to cycle in a lower gear it was not until I had done more than half of the distance that I needed to shift to the smaller of the cogs, and then only for a short section or two. Some sections, which looked quite steep on the way down, did not prove to be as challenging as I expected.

All of the above was put into some form of perspective when we left and drove out of the gorge. The perception of steepness was even more intense as I sat somewhat higher in the van and the hard walls seemed to press in on our sides. What I am unsure about is why I should think the road flat in one direction but steep in the other, and why on a bike it seems manageable (some of the time anyway), but looks much more difficult from a vehicle.

At the end of the ride, my average speed was 16 miles per hour. At home I usually manage somewhere in the region of 13.5 to 14 mph. Thus this is the best I have ever recorded so I was quite pleased with myself.