Toulouse, France to A Coruña, Spain
Crossing the Pyrenees!
As I said in the previous blog, I had to hustle to Toulouse to meet Vincent Prat. Vincent was one of the founders of the original Wheels and Waves motorcycle festival in Biarritz, France although he is no longer involved. I rolled up to his bat-cave-like garage in Toulouse and introduced myself. I remember Vincent, like many people when they see my bike and how it’s decked out being at a loss for words. I’m loaded with panniers, a tank bag, and a 40L bag right behind me essentially on the passenger seat. Not to mention all the gear I wear including an airbag vest, and the snowsuit which I will be getting rid of soon to survive the impending heat.
Vincent showed me his bikes and spent some time telling me about his history and how he came to where he is. He took me out for a great lunch and told me more about the city of Toulouse which I knew nothing about. This stop was the first one where I started to feel the heat. Summer was now in full bloom. It was the first week of July and I was pretty far south in France. I was starting to be concerned about the gear I was wearing. Knowing it was only going to be getting warmer as I traveled further south. Something was going to have to change or I risked serious health risks.
It was getting late in the day and I needed to push on. Vincent gave me some great advice for the next bit of my ride. Over the Pyrenees and into Spain. Due to the late start time and a long ride, I was simply not able to make it as far as we had discussed. I did find a great campsite for the night. With the Pyrenees mountains in the distance, I could imagine the ride that was to come the following day.
The next morning I got an early start towards Spain, but first coffee and a pain au chocolate at the foot of the mountains. This may be hard to believe but I was starting to get a little tired of amazing baked goods for breakfast. I just wanted a piece of toast or something simple. BUT, I persevered on :)
As I began the ride up the mountain, I was feeling really good. The weather was beautiful and the roads were perfect. I knew it would be getting a bit colder as I climbed, but for now it was great. These are single-lane roads that can get a bit slowed down by trucks and tractors so I found myself jumping ahead from time to time to keep moving at a decent pace. The roads are also seriously steep in parts but that didn’t stop all the cyclists who are constantly riding up and down them. it’s no wonder some of the best cyclists come from Spain and France. of course, Canada has hockey :)
As I climbed higher there were more switchbacks, the road snaking up ever higher. At one point I had to stop to view the valley below. The map said Aragnouet, France. With mountain peaks above and a valley below, it was one of the most beautiful locations I’ve ever seen. Of course, there would be more to come but this was a great introduction.
My goal was to get to A Coruña, Spain where El Solitario is located. I did not know about El Solitario before this trip but pretty much from the ABR Festival I’d been hearing about them. All these different people were talking about riding with them in Spain and Portugal. Vincent was another person to mention them and he was kind enough to do an intro for me to go there. They are bike builders, clothing designers and lifestyle boundry pushers.
I had a long ride to get there and I was not going to make it in one day. So I enjoyed the roads in Spain which were beautiful and billiard-table smooth for much of the ride. However, the heat was getting really bad for me. It’s difficult to dress for different seasons on a bike. One can pick either cooler or warmer weather but it can be really tough to have both sets of clothing options. For me, starting in the UK I needed the warmer gear, the snowsuit as I call it. However, as rode more south it was becoming clear I would need to change into summer gear. Sadly for me, that meant purchasing summer pants and even worse buying a summer jacket. Since I already own one it pissed me off to have to buy another but it had to happen.
Racing around the UK had left me wanting to slow the ride down. I had felt like the tail was wagging the dog. I knew how fortunate I was to do this ride and I wanted to enjoy it, slowing down and finding the better roads was key to this. Of course adding new portraits was important but not to the exclusion of having fun for this most likely once in a lifetime ride.
I rode casually and took my time. Enjoying the scenery. Eventually, it was time to find a place to sleep. I found a great campsite called Gorliz in Bizkaia, Spain. Campsites in Europe are far different than what we have in Canada and the States. In Europe it often looks more like a parking lot full of RV’s etc. You don’t really get much personal space. There is often a pool and pretty good facilities but privacy is not something you get. This was a great location not far from The Bay of Plentzia. I could walk there in about 10 min and just chill on the beach. It was nice to finally put my bathing suit on and take a load off. I also managed to wash some clothing at the campsite (hand wash that is)
I pulled off the highway to get a coffee and rest, I’m not sure how I found this place but wow, it was so beautiful. Puerto de Cudillero was this georgous little port. I met this nice couple who were riding together for the day. They added my sticker to their box.
From here, I pushed on to A Coruña, Spain. A stunning port town on the North West tip of Spain. I believe they do the Americas Cup sailing race from there from time to time. Of course I may be wrong about that as well. I’m out of room, I’ll tell you more about it in the next post.
Here is my YouTube video of this part. Episode 9. Check it out, subscribe, like comment. You know… all the things :)
David
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