Category: Gardens and Paths

Finding the Vuelta

Leaving the lovely park in the morning we tried once again to find the climb on the next day’s route.

We knew we were on the right roads part of the time but just didn’t know where all of the turnoffs were as nothing was marked yet.  We back-tracked to Baiona and decided to go a bit west just for fun – once again we’ve found the Camino! – 150 km to Santiago.

And there’s a parking area with fantastic views of the ocean and a lovely smooth foot/bike path.

We stopped to take in the views and I laughed a bit at the fact that some folks, when presented with breath-taking vistas choose rather to look at their phones!

…

After a bit more to-and-fro we were once again heading north along the coast when we saw a large group of riders making a turn inland – today is the rest day and it was the entire Movistar team doing a recon of the final climb and then down into the finish.  The road was not marked and if we’d timed it differently we might still be circling the area!

There were quite a few nice wide places to pull over so we got a bit ahead of the team so I could hop out and take some photos.  They were very happy to see us and Enrique Mas posed for a photo with a team-mate as they rode past.

We found a spot for the night on the route and finally relaxed now that we knew we were on the right road.

In the morning the fellow from the campervan that was parked near us was busy putting Belgian flags up everywhere, and he had a lot of them!

We put a few of ours up as well, and as usual as the day progressed more and more fans showed up parking where they could along the road.

There was a bit of excitement at one point when a fan coming down the hill on his bike crashed and the ambulance had to come.  There were police with flashing lights directing the traffic and the ambulance took the guy away up the hill – it seemed like a collarbone or shoulder injury so hopefully not too serious.

The race arrived right around 5:00 with Wout van Aert in the lead (we found out later that he won the stage).

Roglic and some of the other main contenders were about five minutes behind.

As soon as the race passed…

…we started to pack up and were on our way to our next chosen race watching place for Thursday.  We made it to the city of Tui and found a Lidls to stock up on food, then continued on past Ourense looking for a stopping area along a secondary highway.  We did find a place to stop but it was one busy little road and the cars and big trucks just whizzed past all night long – not much sleep happened!

Heading to the ITT

Got another nice ride in – a lovely route around to Aunac, with a stop for coffee.

Bastille Day celebrations were fairly subdued – no huge parties or fireworks that I could hear or see.

We got away mid-morning on Thursday – we’re both pretty organized and packing up the campervan didn’t take long.  The trip south to the time-trial course took about 2 ½ hours as we travelled on smaller, quieter roads.

The yellow route marking arrows weren’t up yet, but it’s pretty easy to tell when you’re on the route…

We looked for a parking spot along almost the entire route, starting in Libourne and going almost all the way to Saint-Emilion before pulling over and claiming our spot. 

We’d passed quite a few campervans already and knew many more would come but didn’t want to risk getting stuck on the wide shoulder as the ground looked a bit soft.

We’re in a nice wide spot with room for one or two more campervans, right next to a large vineyard.  This is a UNESCO Heritage area and is well known for it’s excellent wine – we’re beside a field of Merlot grapes.

They’re doing spraying of the vines right now – great timing!  We kept all of the windows shut for part of the day but luckily the sprayers knocked off fairly early.

We’ve discovered a problem with the campervan – the sink isn’t draining properly.  There’s a bit right at the top that’s a plastic piece of crap and has broken so all of the drain water flows directly into the cutlery drawer underneath.  I am now doing dishes in the bathroom sink.

The town of Libourne had their fireworks on Thursday night – I was already in bed but listened to them for quite awhile.  Mo heard them too and did her usual little barky/growly thing at them before settling back down on my feet.

Just after breakfast Friday morning a fellow pulled up in a car beside us – the vineyard side, not the road side.  We wondered if we were going to get asked to move, but all he did was warn us to close all of the windows as the sprayers would be coming soon.

We knew the machine was approaching, but appreciated the warning and kept the windows closed for an hour after he’d passed.

In the afternoon we took a walk back to the next group of campervans and on the way passed a very beautiful garden that must belong to the owner of the vineyard.

We had a rather lazy day – I finished the last of the three Genghis Khan books and was left wishing for a fourth.  We found a second problem with the campervan – the freezer has stopped working and the chicken as well as the salmon were both completely defrosted.  Chicken is Friday’s dinner so that’s ok and I made a teriyaki marinade for the salmon so it’s all good.

Late in the evening a bunch of vehicles pulled up on the road, including a semi-truck and several vans. They commenced to put up large signs and some barriers.  Apparently we’re right at the ‘4 km to go’ point.

The team had men from several different countries, including a fellow from Louisiana who said he used to do setups for the Cirque du Soleil.

It was quite a production and they didn’t finish until almost 10:30.

Ready for What’s Next (?)

351F0BFE-A2DD-47F1-9340-835F695BE5DAUpon leaving our nice parking spot outside the Royal Oak we took the ‘scenic’ route back via Bath.
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Over the next few days we took Mo for some nice walks, and another bike ride to Droitwich. I tested the electric assistance a bit more and can tell it will make a big difference on the hills. Once again I split off at Tibberton to follow the canal and trails back to the house.
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One afternoon we packed up my beautiful Cannondale into a box ready for shipping home – I have mixed feelings about taking it home, but knowing that I have the beautiful new Cube over here now makes up for it. And it also means that I’ll have a great bike at home now to ride.
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Colin planted some new grasses and flowering plants in his back garden and moved Mr. Buddha more to the centre.
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With the work that had been done earlier the garden is so much more inviting, although with all of the rain we haven’t actually been able to enjoy it much.
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It seems that after so many months and so many adventures that the present and the future are suddenly rushing upon me. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the road I’ve travelled to get here, and where I’m going in the future.
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We had a couple of excellent dinners over the last few days – roasted chicken, that I made soup out of later; roast shoulder of lamb, that also made great bunwiches that next day – lots of good food to remember.
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I got pretty much packed up on the last afternoon, and we took it easy all day, only going out briefly for a few groceries. Mo has been staying pretty close to me – when I sit in the comfy chair in the living room there’s just enough room for her to lie right next to me.