Last Tuesday, 18th June, we left San Sebastian at 8:30am in the rain. We had to continue riding past the beautiful blue lake that I mentioned in the last post as it was raining too much to stop or get a good photo. Heading up through the Pyrenees we saw this great rock formation and since the rain had stopped for a few mins we quickly hopped off the bike with soaking gloves and boots to stretch our legs and take some photos. This was at 11:30am.
So it's getting on to lunch time and we are heading for Huesca. We have basically seen no towns since Panploma 2 hours before and I'm beginning to wonder how big Huesca will be....maybe a few houses and that's it....where we will have lunch, who will be happy to have a couple of dripping wet bikers eat in their bar/restaurant and will be able to read the menu. There's a lot of thinking time on the back of a bike!!!! The first thing I see as we enter the town of Huesca was McDonalds!!! I haven't eaten McD's for about 10 years but at that moment nothing looked better to me - hot food and hot coffee, a menu with pictures!!! so we knew what we would be eating, and the people working their didn't care that we walked in with helmets on as it was still raining hard. I actually had to walk out again and wring out my gloves!!!
Hubby tucking into some hot food!
Whilst we were eating 2 other bikers came in out of rain - a couple from England, and we saw other bikes on the road who may have stopped there after us!
We continued on through the Pyrenees and at 2:15pm we stopped at the top of this mountain - Col de Montlobar, 1080m altitude. After we headed down this mountain the rain finally stopped!
We stopped again at Sort to check the tyre pressure and I managed a quick photo.
The roads had been windy and treacherous but hubby did a great job in keeping us safe and we finally made it into the Principality of Andorra late in the afternoon and that evening had a great dinner of steak of chips and salad which we had been yearning for after eating tapas for 3 days and nights!
The following day, Wednesday, June 19th, was bright and sunny which was excellent way to climb the heights of Andorra's mountain range and re-enter France at Pasa del la casa - most people take the tunnel but we took the windy road along with the other bikes....with the elevation being about 2400m!!!
So it's getting on to lunch time and we are heading for Huesca. We have basically seen no towns since Panploma 2 hours before and I'm beginning to wonder how big Huesca will be....maybe a few houses and that's it....where we will have lunch, who will be happy to have a couple of dripping wet bikers eat in their bar/restaurant and will be able to read the menu. There's a lot of thinking time on the back of a bike!!!! The first thing I see as we enter the town of Huesca was McDonalds!!! I haven't eaten McD's for about 10 years but at that moment nothing looked better to me - hot food and hot coffee, a menu with pictures!!! so we knew what we would be eating, and the people working their didn't care that we walked in with helmets on as it was still raining hard. I actually had to walk out again and wring out my gloves!!!
Hubby tucking into some hot food!
Whilst we were eating 2 other bikers came in out of rain - a couple from England, and we saw other bikes on the road who may have stopped there after us!
We continued on through the Pyrenees and at 2:15pm we stopped at the top of this mountain - Col de Montlobar, 1080m altitude. After we headed down this mountain the rain finally stopped!
We stopped again at Sort to check the tyre pressure and I managed a quick photo.
The roads had been windy and treacherous but hubby did a great job in keeping us safe and we finally made it into the Principality of Andorra late in the afternoon and that evening had a great dinner of steak of chips and salad which we had been yearning for after eating tapas for 3 days and nights!
The following day, Wednesday, June 19th, was bright and sunny which was excellent way to climb the heights of Andorra's mountain range and re-enter France at Pasa del la casa - most people take the tunnel but we took the windy road along with the other bikes....with the elevation being about 2400m!!!
We the headed north-east towards Narbonne and stopped at the top of Col du Chioula - this is a cycle route - total madness!!! with and elevation of 1431m!!! This pic is looking back towards the Pyrenees.
Another great pic taken along the way was when I said to hubby that I have a sore bottom and he said that he would pullover as soon as he could - well, we are going down this windy road and I'm thinking that it's going to be a while before we stop but nope, minutes later we come across a parking area and stop for a stretch and to take this pic at 3:30pm. We had a little rain over the next hour but none like the previous day.
By 5pm we had arrived safely at Maison Pelissier in Cuxac d'Audes, near Narbonne, a wonderful French family home filled with six very quiet children and full of great art, safe and sound.
They were two very long days of riding but ever so memorable for their adventures and scenery. So grateful and so blessed to be on this amazing journey.
Au revoir.
OMGoodness, such excitement, peril with the rain, and Saddle Sores...take the best of care of yourselves...And thanks so much for sharing your journey in such an upclose and personal way.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter actually hiked/scaled the Pyrenees last fall while studying in Europe with the hiking club from Spain.
My niece studied in Spain a couple years back and showed us some lovely photos of that area.
What a wonderful journey you are having! Hana Hou (Hawaiian for More to come and do it again!) as you complete your journey. HUgs!