Finally, after a month of City hopping and gorging on food and life, the cycling begins.
We had purchased our iron steeds from a bicycle shop in Barcelona and we stepped astride our Focus Whistlers. Laden with bike trailers and panniers we were carrying over 40kg each.
We used the fantastic bicycle network in Barcelona to wend our way to the old port and then, keeping the Mediterranean to our right, started up the coast. There was a fabulous series of promenades and paths for the first 15km out of Barcelona. We stopped for a late breakfast and coffee at Badalona, where we watched two dogs cavorting in a beachside park.
We continued on up the coast keeping to the beach paths and quieter roads. There was an awkward part where the beach path petered out and we had to push our bikes through sand then through an underpass to get under the highway. Then we had to carry the bikes and trailers up a flight of stairs on the other side of the highway. That signalled lunch time! We dined on the lunch menu at a passable seafood restaurant (including an edifying white wine) in Premia de Mar.
The afternoon's riding became more difficult. Cassy's refusal to ride on six lane highways (how could she possibly refuse!) meant we forced our way through some narrow foot paths to negotiate a mountain pass. And inevitably there was another stair well at the end, although at least we were carrying everything downstairs.
We had planned to camp in Arenys de Mar but we checked out a few campsites there and in the next town, Canet de Mar. They were all closed. So we found a fabulous hostel in Canet de Mar. I am writing this blog sitting on the balcony looking down the main street to the Mediterranean.
We covered 55kms on our first day - more than we had planned due to the closed campsites. Cassy was tremendous on her first day of touring - she did not complain once about the hills or the pace. She did murmur a bit about the dodgy lunch though. And I was bursting with excitement that the cycling adventure had finally begun!
We had purchased our iron steeds from a bicycle shop in Barcelona and we stepped astride our Focus Whistlers. Laden with bike trailers and panniers we were carrying over 40kg each.
We used the fantastic bicycle network in Barcelona to wend our way to the old port and then, keeping the Mediterranean to our right, started up the coast. There was a fabulous series of promenades and paths for the first 15km out of Barcelona. We stopped for a late breakfast and coffee at Badalona, where we watched two dogs cavorting in a beachside park.
We continued on up the coast keeping to the beach paths and quieter roads. There was an awkward part where the beach path petered out and we had to push our bikes through sand then through an underpass to get under the highway. Then we had to carry the bikes and trailers up a flight of stairs on the other side of the highway. That signalled lunch time! We dined on the lunch menu at a passable seafood restaurant (including an edifying white wine) in Premia de Mar.
The afternoon's riding became more difficult. Cassy's refusal to ride on six lane highways (how could she possibly refuse!) meant we forced our way through some narrow foot paths to negotiate a mountain pass. And inevitably there was another stair well at the end, although at least we were carrying everything downstairs.
We had planned to camp in Arenys de Mar but we checked out a few campsites there and in the next town, Canet de Mar. They were all closed. So we found a fabulous hostel in Canet de Mar. I am writing this blog sitting on the balcony looking down the main street to the Mediterranean.
We covered 55kms on our first day - more than we had planned due to the closed campsites. Cassy was tremendous on her first day of touring - she did not complain once about the hills or the pace. She did murmur a bit about the dodgy lunch though. And I was bursting with excitement that the cycling adventure had finally begun!