2 MID-LIFE CYCLISTS IN A MOTORHOME: June 2018

A humerous Fogueres

June 2018

View of Calpe Rock from Moreira

1st June. We started the month with a good ride. After following the coast road to Moreira we headed inland to Teulada where we stopped for coffee before carrying on through Benissa, Senija, Lliber, Jalon and then back to Calpe. It was a good tough ride of 56 kms with 600 metres of climbing. Needless to say we did little after lunch other than chill on the loungers enjoying the sun. As it was a Friday we headed over to Tres Palmeras late afternoon to meet up with Jan and Del to enjoy a quick drink or two and the famous meat raffle!!

4th June. As the last two days have been intermittent rain we have just chilled in the motorhome reading and I baked some scones. Today was back to glorious sunshine so we set off early and did a short ride to Benissa before relaxing all afternoon. In the evening we played crib and after losing to me for the last two nights Glynn was finally back on form and beat me 2-1.

Lovely side street in Lliber

6th June. Today we were due to do our first ride with Cycling U3A Calpe who we had found out about in a local paper. Unfortunately I had had a really bad night and had been awake since 5am so feeling extremely lethargic and unmotivated I sent Glynn off to do the ride without me. They did a ride to Albir and Altea and Glynn enjoyed meeting the other cyclists who were all ages and abilities. Just after he got back the heavens opened curtailing any further outdoor activities so we spent a quiet afternoon reading. Clive and Mary had arrived for their Calpe holiday so Del came to pick us up as Jan and Del had invited us all for dinner and we had a lovely evening catching up.

7th June. Today was our 15th wedding anniversary and after a quiet relaxing day we headed over to Tres Palmeras so Glynn could watch England play Costa Rica in an international warm up game prior to the start of the World Cup while I amused myself with a large G &T. What a good wife I am!! That has definitely earned me brownie points!!

Sierra Bernia

8th June. As we would be joining the cycle club for a ride to the Sierra Bernia on Sunday I was a bit nervous as to whether my cycling ability was good enough so I convinced Glynn we should do a test ride. It was a beautiful but challenging ride of 56kms with over 800 metres of climbing. From the Jalon valley it was a steady climb and the views were absolutely breathtaking. It was definitely the toughest ride I have done but also the most rewarding and spectacular. We stopped at the top to catch our breath and enjoy a coffee break before descending the hairpin bends back to the Jalon Valley. I don't think my brakes came off for the whole descent, it was stunning and scary at the same time. I was absolutely delighted that I had managed the ride and now felt confident at joining the club for the ride on Sunday. As it was Friday we headed over to Tres Palmeras late afternoon to join the others and I was delighted to win two prizes in the weekly meat raffle which was a selection of cheese and biscuits and the booby prize of weetabix. Glynn was chuffed as he loves weetabix.

Amazing views from the Sierra Bernia

10th June. Yesterday was a complete chill out day and in the evening we watched a DVD of the documentary film Meru about the mountain climbers which we really enjoyed. After a lot of rain through the night it was a relief to wake up to blue skies. Feeling confident after my test ride two days ago we set off to meet the cycle club before heading to Sierra Bernia. They were a really friendly group and we enjoyed another tough but scenic climb including the requisite coffee break. A brief shower fell while we were having coffee at the summit but luckily it soon passed ready for our descent. Yet again it was brakes on all the way down as we navigated the hairpin bends. It definitely wont be long before I'll need new brake pads if I keep climbing these mountains!! Another 56kms to add to our total as we headed back for lunch.

The rain from last night must have been full of orange sand as all the Motorhomes at the camper stop were covered in it. While I spent the afternoon relaxing Glynn was up on the roof washing it all off before the sun had chance to bake it on. The majority of the Motorhomes had men on the roof with buckets and sponges and made for quite an amusing sight.

Jalon Valley

13th June. After a couple of lazy days, other than one short ride to Benissa, we went out today with the cycle club again. We rode to the beautiful Jalon valley first before carrying on to Gato de Gorgos, a small village which is best known for its wicker industry and the fact that it has an unusually large number of bars and restaurants for the number of people living there!! It was a lovely scenic ride again and nothing too taxing compared with the ride to Bernia. A very nice 49km ride. As we plan on meeting friends in the Alps in July we spent the afternoon with the maps out planning our route north and finding places to stay along the route.

15th June. Today we decided to ride to Albir and Altea. It's not the nicest route as it involves cycling along the edge of the N332 however for the most part there is a wide tarmac lane beside the road so it isn't too bad apart from a couple of narrow areas however I must say that we've always found Spanish drivers to be so courteous and respectful of the space we need as they pass. While we were in Altea we met up with Clive and Mary for a drink as they were out sightseeing with some friends. We then left them to ride back and pushed ourselves hard riding flat out all the way back. We headed to Tres Palmeras for the usual Friday late afternoon gathering and meat raffle. My luck wasn't in this week on two counts, firstly I didn't win any prizes and secondly I was bought a second G &T that seemed to be more gin that tonic and ended up too squiffy to ride back so we had to walk the bikes back to the Mediterraneo camperstop. Luckily it's only about 2 miles!!

View from the top of the Col de Rates

17th June. What a great day it was today. We started off with our Sunday morning ride with the cycle club and today the route was to climb the famous Coll de Rates. In spite of my success at climbing the Sierra Bernia I had some trepidation as to what I would be facing as I had heard about this infamous climb. We rode to the Jalon valley from Calpe and passed through Alcalalí to Parcent. From Parcent we followed a straight road that led right to the mountain. The road then twists and turns its way up for over four kms before you take a sharp hairpin and there's a long straight with the mountain on one side and fantastic views to your left. If only I could have stopped to enjoy the scenery but I had my head down, the lightest gear selected and I was just concentrating hard on the climb trying not to look too far ahead.

I made it!!

I must confess that the climb did beat me briefly and I stopped for about thirty seconds before continuing on. That brief rest was enough to get my legs spinning again and it was with a great deal of elation that I reached the restaurant at the top. Never have I been more pleased to stop and have a coffee. Needless to say the ride down involved a lot of braking and when we got back my Garmin showed we had cycled 61kms and 1040 metres of elevation gain. The day just got better when we arrived back at Mediterraneo camperstop to discover they were cooking giant paellas for everyone. A quick change out of cycling kit and we were soon sitting in the sun with paella and a beer!! What a fantastic day.

Verd i Vent restaurant

20th June. Yesterday we enjoyed a lovely morning ride up to Benissa before spending the afternoon at Jan and Del's villa. It was like a mini Goa reunion as we were joined by Clive, Mary, Hilary and Ray. We all enjoyed a great afternoon playing brag which Glynn ultimately won much to his delight. Today was another great experience when Mick and Chris, from Tres Palmeras, arranged for a group of us to go up to Verd i Vent restaurant which was on the road up to the Sierra Bernia in a stunning setting with beautiful views down the valley. It is only open lunchtimes and for €18 you get a 5 course meal with unlimited red wine included!! Let's just say that in spite of our best intentions to pace ourselves the five courses were not enough to soak up the amount of wine being consumed and a very enjoyable time was had by all from what I can remember!!

Lovely day out in Alicante

22nd June. After spending yesterday recovering and trying to fill the missing gaps in our memories from the previous afternoon we took a trip to Alicante today with Hilary and Ray to see the Festival de Sant Joan. Myself and Glynn visited the event last year so we were excited to take Hilary and Ray on a walking tour of the streets to discover all the amazing fogueres that are placed throughout the city. We had a fabulous day and stopped for lunch at a great little tapas bar called Tapa-Caña (D'tablas) that Glynn discovered through the internet where all the lovely tapas dishes are €1. The waiters walk around with trays of tapas on little wooden blocks which you select as they walk past and all you do is pile the empty blocks at the end of your table so they know how much to charge you. Great fun and great tapas.

Water fountains in Polop

25th June. We spent the previous 2 days doing a lovely short ride of 25kms to Benissa and then a longer 52km ride to Polop, La Nucia and then back via Altea. In Polop there is an amazing feature at the Plaza De Los Chorros. 221 water pipes feed fresh water to a series of fountains that form a semi-circle around the Plaza. We topped up our water bottle with the beautiful cool water while we took a break. Above each fountain head is the name of a local village. It's definitely getting too hot for these long rides as summer advances. As we plan on leaving Calpe tomorrow we invited the gang round for a BBQ and sangria and we were joined by our neighbours Jan and Jeb. It was a lovely way to spend our last afternoon in Calpe as we will miss them all as we head north.

Beautiful mountains that surround Barx

30th June. After leaving Calpe we enjoying a fantastic three days in Barx staying with Teresa and David who live in a beautiful spot surrounded by the mountains of the Parpalló-Borrell national park. We swam and relaxed and left the bikes alone!! Yesterday we reluctantly bade them farewell and headed to one of our favourite stops, La Volta Stop n Go, in Peniscola. Apart from a quick 22km ride to Decathlon at Vinaros we have done little more than chill by the pool for the last two afternoons and play cards in the evening. Glynn managed to end the month on a high by beating me 2-1 at brag. Our plan is to spend the early part of July gradually heading towards the Alps to meet up with our friends and to catch a stage of the Tour de France as well as testing our legs on a few of the climbs ourselves!! Its been a fantastic month and although I've been taken out of my comfort zone a few times with the cycling it has been really good to see that I am capable of much more. Joining the U3A group opened up a whole range of stunning rides that we didn't even realise were right on our doorstep. Bring on the Alps!!