April 2015

1st April 2015. We got the month off to a good start with a fantastic ride up in to the hills. We followed the coastal road north out of Calpe, heading towards Cap Blanc. The ride wasn't too tough at first as the climbs were interspersed with level areas giving us time to acclimatise our legs and catch our breath. The views were breathtaking the higher we climbed. 
The view from the coast road out of Calpe
 Once we reached Cap Blanc we decided to head inland to Benissa. At this point the roads climbed more steeply and there didn't seem to be any level areas to catch my breath. We climbed steadily and I was soon in the lightest gear determined that I wasn't going to stop. We climbed for almost 30 minutes, the longest continuous climb I have ever done and I was relieved when we finally reached Benissa. I have never been a fan of hills and prefer really long rides on fairly level terrain whereas Glynn prefers shorter hillier rides. I was jubilant that I had done such a big climb without stopping and mentioned it a couple of times to Glynn. "I suppose that's all I'm going to hear about all day" he joked. "Absolutely" I replied with a big smug grin. Riding those heavy steel-framed bikes in Goa must have kept my fitness up better than I thought!! 
Quick stop to admire the views.
From Benissa we had fantastic views across to the Serra d'Oltá and down to Calpe and the Penyal d'Ifac ( the huge limestone rock that sits at the edge of Calpe) but I didn't want to lose momentum by stopping to take photos. In the distance we could see Altea and the Serra Gelada mountain range that sits between Albir and Benidorm. After cycling through the town we took the main road back to Calpe which was downhill all the way. We had done 90 minutes of climbing and it took about 9 minutes to descend. I had my brakes on all the way but still reached a speed of 44kph. When we got back we had only done 31kms but it felt like we'd done twice as much and my Garmin showed we had done a total of 450 metres of climbing. Feeling suitably tired we decided to chill for the rest of the day and I may have mentioned to Glynn once or twice more at how pleased I was at making the climb without stopping!! I was fairly confident that I might have done my first categorised climb and I was very surprised when I uploaded the data from my Garmin to discover that we had indeed done a category 5 climb but it only applied to the short section through Benissa that we had found easy!! 

When I am out riding is when I really appreciate the benefits of the laser eye surgery that I had done in Goa in January. I can wear my proper cycling glasses now so my eyes don't stream like they did with normal glasses and I can clearly see the display on my Garmin as well as the road ahead. Although I still have to have drops 3 times a day my sight is really good and only on rare occasions or low light do I need to use reading glasses for small print. 

3rd April 2015. 
Exploring the Old Town
We spent the afternoon exploring the Old Town. What a stunning area it was with lots of murals painted on the side of buildings and lovely narrow streets filled with pots of plants and miniature trees. Easter is a very important celebration in Spain. Many towns and cities celebrate Easter with processions through the streets at night. Floats called 'tronos' are carried through the street and each float has decorated figures representing part of the Easter story on it. 
One of the trono's
The floats and statues are often covered in gold, silver and lots of flowers and there can be forty or fifty people carrying each trono on their shoulders. 


As it was Good Friday we decided to stay in the Old Town to watch the evening procession scheduled to start at 8pm. The procession included youngsters as young as 2 or 3 years old right up to pensioners, all dressed in colourful costumes and there were bands which proceeded each float. It took more than an hour for the 

procession to pass in a blaze of colour and sound. As one band passed out of earshot the next one started so there was a continuous sound of music as the floats and people passed by. 


As the last float passed by we escaped the crowds and cycled home to enjoy a supper of cheese, wine and olives. A fabulous day!

7th April 2015. 1st game of Rummikub this trip. Glynn won 3-2. Enough said!!

8th April 2015. We have enjoyed some lovely weather the last few days. We had a great day with Clive and Mary where we watched the Burnley game at the local pub before heading back to their apartment for a wonderful creamy chicken dinner washed down with some very fine Rioja. We also did a lovely ride around Calpe, only 18kms but a very hilly ride with gave us stunning views across the bay. 
Getting wet having my photo taken
Today we decided to leave the bikes in the garage and go for a walk around Calpe Rock, the Penyal d'Ifac which was designated a natural park in 1987. The path from the Marina around the base of the rock was stunning as waves crashed over the enormous rocks that line the base of the main rock creating spectacular photo opportunities as the surf rose high in the air. The path ends halfway round so we went back and found the entrance to the natural park which would take us up on the rock itself. We followed the steep path until we entered a tunnel. 
The tunnel
We held on to the guide rope and climbed out the other end where there was a path of slippery rock with a sheer drop to the sea. After a short climb we decided it was too dangerous to go further and satisfied ourselves with a few photos of the stunning views before making a very careful descent back to the main path. When we got back to the Camperpark we had walked 10kms so we decided to have a leisurely lunch before we cycled into the town centre for some supplies and then returned for a quiet evening reading our Kindles.


Stunning view from the top of Calpe rock
 11th April 2015. The weather has become a bit mixed the last few days with periods of cloud and sun and some very strong gusts of wind. As a lot of the coastal roads had sheer drops down the cliff edges we decided to give cycling a miss and have enjoyed some lovely walks around the area. Yesterday afternoon Clive and Mary joined us for an afternoon of paella, Rioja and a game of cards and we had a great afternoon sitting in the sun and chatting. Today was Grand National day as well as a very important game for Burnley fans (Clive and Mary) as they played Arsenal. 
An afternoon of paella and Rioja
We spent the afternoon at Tres Palmeras bar in town so we could follow the action. We had no luck with our bets on the Grand National and Burnley also lucked out, much to Clive and Mary's disappointment but we managed to offset the disappointment by ordering very nice thin crust pizzas which we ate during half time. Every cloud.......

13th April 2015. After 2 weeks at Calpe we decided to move further south today to a camper park at Alfaz del Pi. The camper park is actually half way between Albir and Alfaz in the midst of orange and lemon groves with a mountain backdrop. Absolutely stunning!! 
Sunset at Camperpark Costa Blanca
If you stay for 30 days the cost is only €11 (£7.90) a night including unlimited electricity and free wifi. I think we are going to enjoy it here. As with Calpe it is a mountainous area so we are certainly going to be testing our fitness cycling in this area as whichever route we take there are gradients to test the fittest legs. After a quick stock up at Aldi we decided to get the bikes out and cycle to Albir. We had a great ride along the promenade. Albir flows smoothly into Altea almost without noticing and the whole area is very well maintained and appealing. I learnt a valuable lesson today. Do not fill your drink bottle with sparkling water and close the cap unless you want to jet wash the inside of your nose when you go to take a drink!! 
Albir beach
Thank god we were stationary when I took a drink otherwise I probably would have fell of my bike in shock. I didn't even think about the movement of the bike building up pressure in the bottle, it was probably a bit like taking a bottle of lemonade and shaking it before opening it!! Needless to say as I gripped the cap with my teeth to open it the water shot forth with great force and I did indeed feel like I'd jet washed the inside of my nose. As I stood there choking with a shocked look on my face Glynn nearly fell off his bike he was laughing so much. It took him about 5 minutes to recover enough to ask me if I was okay by which point I was ready to dump the rest of my water over his head. Although to be fair he wouldn't have got very wet as most of the water had gone up my nose!! Once we had both recovered we set off back to the camp and although we had only covered 17kms it was a very nice ride.

16th April 2015. 
Benidorm
We have spent the last 2 days cycling in and around Benidorm as it is only 7 kms from our camper stop. We managed to add another 53kms to our cycling total and we were pleasantly surprised by how well maintained Benidorm was. There was a great atmosphere and in spite of the hundreds of bars, cafes, restaurants and shops it actually had a really nice vibe. Now I don't know if I would have felt this way if we had visited in the peak tourist season as it was actually quite busy in April so god forbid what it must be like as the season progresses!! It was nice to visit but we were glad to be staying away from the hustle and bustle amongst the orange groves.
Waterfall at La Nucia
Today we decided to head inland to a village called Polop which was recommended to us because of its stunning views over the valley and out to sea. The trouble with stunning views is that it is usually guaranteed to involve a taxing climb to get there and that was no exception in this case. We cycled to Altea first and then followed the signs to Polop. The road started with a fairly gentle climb interspersed with the odd steep section but this soon swapped around so that we were climbing steep sections with the odd gentle section. 
The castle ruins at the top of Polop
 I was determined I would not get off and push my bike and to be fair some of the sections were so steep that it was probably easier to ride than it would have been to try and push my bike. As we reached La Nucia, which is the village before Polop, Glynn spotted a lovely rest area with a cafe and a small waterfall so he decided to pull in so I could take some photos. I have never been so pleased to see a waterfall and it was a great relief to have 5 minutes to recharge my legs. The views were stunning so I took a few photos and had a quick drink before we set off for the final climb. We could see Polop up ahead and it looked so high that I wasn't optimistic that my legs were capable of the ascent. I got into my lightest gear and just kept pedalling and I felt a real sense of achievement when we finally passed the sign announcing we were in Polop. 
Feeling shattered but the view was worth it.
Glynn looked a bit disappointed when I said that we needed to carry on climbing to the Castle ruins, the highest point in Polop, but it was worth it when we got there. The views were incredible with the Serra de Bernia mountain range to one side, the Puig Campana to the other and the resorts of Albir and Altea on the coast. The Puig Campana literally translates as Bell Hill and there are many legends about the notch that is clearly visible in the western peak. My favourite is that the notch was carved out by the Frenchman Roland, commander of Charlemagne's army when his lover Alda was fated to die with the last rays of the setting sun. Roland allegedly carved out the notch so that the sun would take longer to set and they would have a few more precious moments together. How romantic. The Puig Campana and the notch are clearly visible from our camper stop and it is the first thing we see when we get up everyday. 

We stopped for a well deserved caffeine fix at the cafe at the base of the castle ruins before heading back home. No surprise that the descent took less than a quarter of the time it took to ascend and we were back in no time. I was looking forward to uploading the data on my Garmin to see if any of the route qualified as a categorised climb as the data showed we had done over 400 metres of climbing. I was going to be mightily disappointed if we hadn't done at least a category 5!! What I didn't know at this point was that although my Garmin was recording our distance a file had become corrupted preventing me uploading the detailed data. If I wanted to know the details of the ride I was going to have to do it again!! Luckily at this point I was blissfully unaware of this fact. We had only done 38kms but it felt like a lot more as we chilled in our recliners enjoying the last rays of the sun with a well deserved cuppa!! 

18th April 2015. One of the joys of travelling in the Motorhome is all the people you meet and the often unplanned gatherings that take place. I was just about to cook dinner when our Belgian neighbour popped round to ask if we drank beer as he was keen to introduce us to the delights of Belgian beer. He spoke excellent English which is just as well as I was having enough trouble embracing French and Spanish without throwing Flemish into the equation. It transpired that he was a keen beer drinker and belonged to a tasting club back home. We were soon sat outside in the sun and he produced 4 different beers for us to try. We spent a very enjoyable 90 minutes swapping Motorhome and cycling stories whilst we enjoyed our beer tasting session. Glynn had been planning on cycling to Albir to watch the Manchester United game at one of the bars but he couldn't exactly excuse himself and leave. As it turned out he only missed the first 15 minutes although as they lost it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that he missed part of the game!! It was really nice that a total stranger took the time to introduce us to the delights of Belgian beer and share his hobby with us.

19th April 2015. 2nd game of Rummikub this trip. I lost 3-1 making it 6-3 to Glynn. Damn I taught him too well!!

23rd April 2014.
The view from Albir lighthouse
We have spent an enjoyable few days exploring the area and did a fantastic ride up to the lighthouse at Albir. There is a brilliant pathway for cyclists and walkers that leads up to the lighthouse and it reminded me a bit of a miniature Great Wall of China as the path weaved its way to the summit. We had a clear view across to Calpe Rock and Albir and Altea beaches and there are various viewing points along the path showing spectacular scenery. Definitely not a day to forget the camera. The area is frequented by dolphins but we weren't lucky enough to see any. 
Yesterday was market day at Altea and we came home with a very large 2kg punnet of strawberries for the ridiculously cheap price of €1.50!! We could have had 2 punnets for €2 but I was already wondering how we were going to get through 1 punnet. 
The view from the pathway to the lighthouse
All the produce seems oversized here with the biggest spring onions I have ever seen. The oranges are enormous and so tasty even the apples seem huge. Must be all that Spanish sun.
Today we decided to explore to the far end of Benidorm and did a very enjoyable 32kms on our bikes. In-between the two well known beaches of Levante and Poniente there is a small secluded cove called Cala Mal Pas which faces Benidorm Island, a marine reserve just off the coast which is also known as peacock island because of the resident peacocks. We carried on past the beaches until we came out at a lovely little bay called Cala de Finestrat. 
Benidorm
After walking round the bay we decided to carry on and cycle up a very steep road to see where it led. Don't ask me why we have these hair-brained ideas and halfway up I was definitely questioning our sanity. Once we'd got our breath back at the top we carried on and came back into Benidorm via the main road rather than the beach roads. When we got back I decided to connect my Garmin to the laptop and upload the data and that was when I discovered I had a corrupt file that was preventing me uploading the data from the last week's rides. Time to get on to Garmin customer support to see if they knew any magic tricks for fixing corrupt files.

25th April 2015. It was a year ago today that I finished work to start this great adventure. I can't believe how quickly the time goes and what an amazing year it has been. Do I have any doubts that we made the right decision? Hell no, we are having the time of our lives and have no doubts at all that this was the best decision we could have made. We still enjoy good health and we are getting to visit the most incredible places. I suppose if you think that for many people the highlight of their year is a 2 week holiday abroad then we have actually crammed in 26 years worth of experiences in the last 12 months. How can we be unhappy with that? 
Today we decided to ride to the far side of Benidorm again as there is a large shopping area there and I needed some new shorts. We were flying round a big roundabout when I suddenly heard a pop and felt a gush of air on my leg. I had only recently commented to Glynn that he didn't seem to be plagued by constant punctures like he was last year and then I go and get one.
Bike maintenance!!
A quick change of inner tube and we were soon on our way again. After exploring the shopping centre we headed back home and Glynn was laughing about my puncture as we rode along. A few minutes later he commented that his bike wasn't feeling right and when we pulled over we discovered he had a slow puncture. Now it was my turn to laugh. As we didn't have far to go he put a bit more air in the tube and decided to carry on.
When we got back to the camper stop I headed for a shower while Glynn started to change his inner tube. I heard a loud bang but thought no more of it but when I got back to the Motorhome I discovered that the new inner tube had been faulty and had blown just as Glynn had finished pumping it up. Apparently that was the loud bang I had heard and several other motorhomers had rushed over to see what had happened. Glynn spent all night complaining he was deaf in one ear because of the loud bang but I was unable to summon any sympathy and told him it was his just deserts for laughing at my puncture.

26th April 2015. 3rd game of Rummikub, I won 2-1 making it 7-5 to Glynn. Damn that was a tough match but the girl is creeping back!!

29th April 2015. After several emails back and forth with Garmin and 2 phone calls I finally admitted defeat and did a factory reset on my Garmin, losing all the data from the last week's rides other than the mileage totals that I had written down. It looks like I will have to keep working on Glynn to persuade him to do the ride to Polop again so I can get the detailed data on the ride!! 
After my disastrous visit to the French hairdresser (read September 2014 blog post!!) I was understandably nervous about visiting a Spanish hairdresser. I made some enquiries on our Motorhome forum and received several recommendations for an English speaking hairdressing salon in Benidorm. I had an appointment for today and the first thing I did was explain what had happened last year which resulted in me sporting a haircut like a spaniel when the French hairdresser had cut so much of my hair short that I was left with just a couple of long bits at the sides resembling spaniels ears. I told her that cutting 1cm off the length would result in my curly hair springing up by twice that amount so I only wanted the barest minimum off. She assured me she understood and proceeded to trim my hair. I left the hairdressers a short while later sporting spaniel look number 2!! Although she had left the sides long she had cut so much of the back off that I had the same two "spaniels ears" of hair. The back was actually so short that it wasn't even able to curl!! Oh well back to wearing a baseball cap for a couple of weeks and time to send Carole (my friend and regular hairdresser when in England) an email to try and persuade her and Peter to spend more time traveling in their Motorhome, preferably in the rough vicinity of where we are!! 
The next best thing to a baseball cap is a cycle helmet so after lunch I suggested we took a ride out on the main road back towards Calpe as we had passed a lovely church with gold spires the day we had driven to Alfaz del Pi and I wanted to get a photo of it. 
Altea Orthodox Russian church
As I didn't think it was very far we didn't bother to don padded cycling shorts but set off as we were in our shorts and t-shirts. We followed the main N332 highway but luckily most of it had a wide verge so we had a good space between us and the traffic. The terrain was very hilly as the road passed through the Serra de Bernia mountain range and I kept telling Glynn it couldn't be much further. When we eventually reached the outskirts of Calpe with no sign of the church Glynn suggested we head back as we were both feeling a bit saddle sore without our proper kit on and we only had a small amount of water left. We headed back and it was just as we got back to Altea that I spotted the church which had been hidden by a sharp bend when we were cycling the other way. I won't mention what Glynn actually said but suffice to say that he was pleased for me that I had found the church!! After taking some photos Glynn spotted a sign for Altea beach so we decided to leave the main road and head down to the beach. It was a really steep road requiring brakes all the way and when we got to the bottom it appeared to be a separate cove from the main area. 
Calpe rock as seen from Altea
We started to push our bikes along a gravel pathway by the beach until Glynn stopped and suggested we turned back. He realised we had stumbled across the local naturist beach when he spotted a man standing tall and proud wearing only the clothes he was born in!! I couldn't believe we were going to have to climb the really steep hill we had just sailed down, now it was my turn to tell Glynn how pleased I was that he had suggested the detour and with gritted teeth I started the ascent back to the church. When we got back I noted that our "quick trip" to take a photo of the church had resulted in a 31km ride and a category 5 climb so with the earlier trip to Benidorm we had cycled 46kms!! Time for a glass of Rioja I think. 

30th April 2015. 
Another view from the lighthouse
I persuaded Glynn to repeat the ride up to Albir lighthouse today and it was as stunning as the first time. It is worth the climb as the views are absolutely spectacular. We have had a fantastic month and after a slow start because of high winds we have cycled a total of 469 kms bringing our total to 535kms. I have never cycled so many hills in my life but it has been worth it for the reward of the spectacular scenery when we reach the summit.
When we are not out sightseeing or exploring we have been working through our music collection on ITunes as we had so much inherited music that we had acquired over the years some of which was not to our taste and my 80gb IPod was full. We have gradually worked from A to Z on artists and cleared everything we didn't like. Glynn insisted on keeping the Sex Pistols and The Clash whilst I opted for the Vangelis 1492 album and G4!! We have everything from the late 50's to current chart hits and it has been great fun listening to such a diverse mix of music. Next month's job will be to create playlists as it is a bit weird listening to Barry White and then Johnny Rotten suddenly blasts out of the speaker!! 
Our current plan is to stay where we are until mid May and then move further south to El Campello so that we can cycle in and around Alicante for a month. Already the temperature has increased dramatically so we have to time our rides to avoid cycling in the hottest part of the day. I have got back from a few rides with a face like a tomato, not my best look!! I can't imagine what it's going to feel like in another month!! 

The view from Calpe Rock
Paella anyone?

The view from our camper park