The Adventure Begins

Well, whatever. Whatever isn't done can be mocked up, ad-libbed, put into order or taken care of at a later date. I got to Chamartín Station without too much difficulty except that the bike, fully packed, is quite heavy, so.........

8:29 - Shortly before the train took off, a guy got on the train with a LeMond ten-speed that had to be a good ten years old. Looks like he's heading up to Ávila. I think he's gonna be disappointed. There's rain in them thar hills. LOTS of rain.

14.17 - Good stuff. Turns out that the train I took DOES go all the way up to Irún, which means that it also goes by Ordizia, where Stuart and Jools live. Hur-RAH, as my host would say. The train going up from Vitoria is full of university students, and quite a number of them are speaking in Euskera, which sounds comforting when they speak it. Now that I just hope that one of them doesn't put his or her bike (all of their bikes are made by Orbea, not surprisingly) against mine, so that I can get off more easily in Ordizia.

I love the Basque Country. Everything's so tidy and orderly up here. And there are so many bidegorris (bicycle lanes), making it easier to get around by bike. Three of the students on this train have brought their bikes and they just fling 'em on the train without any ado - bang! and on they go.

18:33 - If it stays like this for the rest of the weekend, we'll have gotten off lightly, that's for sure. It's a heavy mist, more than anything, and Stuart seems to think that the odds of having an epic, ripping boomer worthy of King Lear is pretty minimal. He said that last weekend they were supposed to get snow and instead they ended up sitting around watching the rugby match in their shirtsleeves. So who knows.

How do you know when you're ready to go?

SIGNS THAT YOU NEED TO GO ON YOUR CYCLING VACATION NOW:

a) You live in a 20-square-metre studio apartment and you start thinking, Hm. Rather roomy, this.
b) You've sworn at the noisy neighbors once today. You've sworn at your laptop three dozen times. And it's only two in the afternoon.
b) The manager of your gym complains that you've worn out two static bicycles since Christmas.
d) You're cooking on your Campingaz stove for the sheer hell of it.
e) You're using your camping towel for the sheer hell of it.
f) You find yourself spending far more time than usual in the dried-pasta-and-soup section of the supermarket.
g) You can't find anything wrong with the idea of spreading cream cheese with your index finger.
g) The only clothes you find you wash on a regular basis are black, black, dark brown, washed-out-black-going-to-grey and the occasional red garment (for visibility, natch).

Right, then...what have I missed?

A slightly adjusted route

After taking a look at some maps (and as usual, more maps and even more maps), I've decided to tweak the route a bit during the final days going through Andalusia.

Originally, we were going to go through Arcos de la Frontera and head down through Medina Sidonia. But, after a bit of reflection, I realized that that presents a couple of problems:
a) It'd mean having to take the A393 regional highway, which is pretty enough, but which can't really be recommended, due to heavy traffic and non-existent shoulder to ride on.
b) We wouldn't get to see Ronda!

So the route's changed a bit. Instead of doing the entire Vía Verde de la Sierra on Sunday, April 20th, we'll backtrack a little bit so that we can head to Setenil de las Bodegas, so that we can visit Acinipo, the Roman settlement that essentially served as the first Ronda. From there, we'll take some back roads and country paths in to the north end of Ronda.

The next day, Monday 21 April, will be a rest day, which will allow participants to take part in some sightseeing, get caught up on e-mail and get some shopping done for the next couple of days. If you've never had the opportunity to visit Ronda, you're in for a treat: it's one of the most atmospheric cities in Spain!

And if you want to stretch your legs even more, go for it: you can take a bus up to Grazalema and bike around the north end of the park, and meet us in Alcalá de los Gazules on Wednesday, April 23rd. This essentially gets us into Tarifa one day later, on Friday the 25th of April, but it's worth it in order to avoid traffic and to enjoy the fabulous views to be had from the south end of the Alcorconales Regional Park.

12000 and a snowstorm to boot!

Like most North American cities, Ottawa has its fair share of right-on coffee shops inhabited by goateed types banging away on Macintosh notebooks while sipping espresso. Even in the steamy environs of Bridgehead on Bank, Andrew Cameron stood out among the hippies and hipsters. Not because he was, easily, twice as tall as everyone else; but because when he emerged from the snowstorm, he was totally decked out in cycling gear: two Buffs topped by a helmet; a well-loved pair of lobster gloves; about four layers of different tops...and a big smile.

"Cycling in Ottawa in winter is like being able to go on a big mountain bike ride without getting muddy," Andrew laughed, and he would know. This past fall, Andrew had the opportunity to take part in the Tour D'Afrique (http://www.tourdeafrique.com), a twelve thousand, hundred-day-long cycling tour that cuts across the African continent, taking thirty-two cyclists across more than a dozen countries.

I'd found out about Andrew's trip through the Events board on Mountain Equipment Co-op's (http://www.mec.ca) website, and was interested in hearing more about what it's like to take part in such a long trip. Given that Andrew was a racer, not an organizer, of the Tour, most of the information that he could share with me had to do with what it's like to do something like this - useful to know what works and what can be done better.

Thanks, Andrew, for taking the time out to meet with me! And for those of you who'd like to know more about Andrew's trip, be sure to check out his blog at http://12000km.blogspot.com.

Ready to roll

Nine-forty-nine in the morning, and I have decided that I'm ready to go.

Not go to the gym, not go back to Canada, just GO and do the damn Trans-Iberian already.

The only thing that's missing is the time off. I have the maps. The GPS unit is on its way. The weather is nippy, but it's not impossible.

All I'd need is some time free, and I'd be ready to roll.

I WANT A (SUBSIDIZED) BIKE, TOO!!!!

For a couple of months now, the Spanish Traffic Directorate (DGT) has been offering grants of up to €1000 for 17 to 25-year-olds who want to get their drivers' licenses. While I'm certainly not anti-car (I had a gas-guzzling convertible once, too), it seems a little hypocritical to give money to drivers when the people who don't create pollution don't get squat - in spite of not creating more pollution or circulation problems.

So, too, do the nice people at the Plataforma Carril-Bici de Córdoba, who are calling the DGT out on this discrepancy. They're asking cyclists from all over Spain to download and fill out the PDF file on their website, reclaiming the fact that, no, we're not interested in grants to get us driving - but a bit of cash to get a new bicycle would be more than welcome!

Check it out at: http://www.platabicicordoba.org/bici-dgt.html.

Double Life

Winning a prize like the Salomon Women Will competition is fun, but it's a LOT of work. There are days when I feel really nervous about the fact that there are three and a half months left until we go on this trip; and at the same time, it feels like it'll never get here. Slowly but surely, however, it's getting there. I've started making reservations in youth hostels and campsites, and I've got the route worked out; I just need to make more phone calls, make more contacts, do more work than I've been doing...

The easiest thing will be getting on the bike and riding the route when it finally comes!!!