Heather Bikes

TRIP TOTALS:

3,625 km / 2,252.47 miles
226:25 hours

Most beautiful places: Corsica and the Costa Verde of Spain

Easiest part: Finding camping every night

Hardest part: The days that I didn’t ride

Best part: Having complete freedom every day to wake up, ride, and see something completely new

Worst part: Losing 2 sunscreens, having to buy a new camera and noisy campgrounds

I had to check out of the hostel at 9:30 so I decided to go right to the airport, even though my plane didn’t leave until 1:30.

These were the girls that I shared a room with in the hostel. It was cool because we were all travelling by ourselves, for different reasons.

Here is my stuff, all ready to go. The duct tape totally hides the fact that its a bike box.

Spain has so many different versions of Cheetos!

And this is the perfect example of Spanish vegetarianism. A vegetable sandwich with a piece of ham, just hanging out.

I was worried that I wouldn’t find a bike box to pack my bike in. There were only 2 bike shops in Bilbao, and they were closed on Friday for Aste Nagusia, the Festival.

The first one I checked out on Monday morning said to come back in the afternoon and they might have one then.
Check out these fat tires on this fixed gear!

Well, luckily the second bike shop I went to had one right away, so I took that and went back to the hostel to pack it up.

I decided not to un-coupler my bike because it wouldn’t make a difference in the size of the box when I was done packing it. I was lucky to have found a box that was the exact size of the wheels before I left for Europe, but coming home, I decided to just put it in a regular bike box and risk getting charged at the airport.

I went to a hardware store to get bubble wrap, but that is definitely a Spanish word I didn’t know. I tried to mime it by going ‘pop pop pop’ in the air, but they thought I wanted a staple gun or tape dispenser. Finally I drew a picture and they knew what I was talking about. I am glad I kept my extra zip ties because there is no way I could have mimed that.

And here is the bike, almost all ready to go…

I went to a bar to get my last round of pintxos, the Basque version of tapas. They are really good, some with fresh seafood, and they’re little so you can try a lot of different ones.

Monday had to be reserved to pack up my bike, so I decided to get in one last day of riding before I came back to New York.

I left Sopelana around 11:30, after making sure my tent was totally dry, and rode east along the coastline.

I had wanted to ride all the way to Guernika-Lumo, the town that was bombed in the 1930s and prompted Picasso to paint ‘Guernica,’ but by 2pm I realized that it was just going to be too far to ride there and back to Bilbao.

I found out at a tourist office that there was a train that ran from Bormeo to Guernika and to Bilbao, so I was really happy to find out that I could see everything I wanted on my last day of riding.

Unfortunately, the tourist office in Guernika was closed when I got there, so I didn’t have a map of the city, but I found my way to the Old Tree

and Picasso’s mural.

I was really glad to have made it to this city. I saw Picasso’s Guernica in the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid, and coming to the town was a good experience. It really had a peaceful feel to it.

I took the train back to Bilbao and went to the hostel, where I had made reservations for Sunday and Monday. There was another girl in the room who was visiting her cousin in Bilbao, so I went out with them to the festival and it was great. There was a fireworks show which was awesome.

Coming back to the hostel, I was so relieved to be spending the night inside. I don’t think I’ve ever slept in softer sheets than what was on that bed…

distance 56.57
time 4:13:53
avg spd 13.36
max spd 55.19

When I was thinking about what city I wanted my trip to end in, I came across a photo of the Guggenheim in Bilbao and knew I wanted to see it, so booked my return flight from Bilbao.

I spent most of Saturday at the museum and it was really awesome. Seeing the building from the inside and up close was worth the cost of admission alone.

It was nice that there was an audio guide included in the price of admission, and it told me a lot about the construction of the building, in addition to the individual works of art.

This was a really cool exhibit in the museum, by Richard Serra, and its part of the permanent collection. If you go to visit the museum, I would recommend experiencing it first before you listen to the audio guide. There is a great narration by the artist, but it really takes you out of the experience of walking through the pieces to be listening to him talk and explain them.

There was also a really cool retrospective on Juan Munoz

I went back to the campground in Sopelana, to spend my last night camping!!!

It was still rainy in the morning and I didn’t want to pack up my tent all wet, but by around noon I couldn’t stand waiting around anymore and I just decided to ride. I was not too happy about the rain, though

by the time I got going, it was not so bad.

I am really glad I brought this raincoat, even though I never used it in the beginning and thought it was just extra weight, when you need it, you really need it.

This was a cool church in Castro Urdells

The coastline was really beautiful and quite challenging.

I rode up two 10% grade hills.

I knew that this was one of my last days of riding, so there was no way I was going to get off and walk!

People had told me that the language in the Basque region is totally different than Castillian Spanish, but of course I had to see it for myself to believe it.

Immediately after crossing into the Euskadi region, the language on the signs was completely different. I’m glad that most of them had little pictures, because otherwise, there was no way I could decipher the Basque language.

I ended in Bilbao, where I was told at the tourist office that there was no camping in the city, and the closest one was a 30 minute drive away. This came as a big surprise, because I had never had trouble finding camping before, and a 30 minute drive could be a 3 hour ride. The woman directed me to the youth hostel, and I begrudgingly went.
Well, the youth hostel was completely booked for Aste Nagusia (’big week’ in Basque), the festival that takes place every year in late August.
It was only about 5pm, and I was tired, but knew I could ride to the campground since that was my only option other than an expensive hotel. When the woman at the hostel told me that the Bilbao subway went all the way out there, I decided to take it.
The public transportation in Bilbao turned out to be really extensive and cheap.

I stayed at the campground in Sopelana.
distance 54.37
time 3:54:35
avg spd 13.9 (HILLS!!!)
max spd 50.79

This is the beach that Camping Derby was on, and there were a bunch of surfers. This is the first time on the trip that I’ve seen surfing, I guess the Mediterranean is too calm for it.

The houses here are so colorful!

I spent the night in a campground about 7km west of Castro Urdells, but I forgot to tuck my tarp under my tent. It rained heavily that night, so in the morning, it was almost like I was on a water bed, I was on a huge puddle. Luckily the tent didn’t leak, but it was cold and clammy inside…I was really ready to be done with camping.

distance 57.94
time 3:42:50
avg spd 15.60
max spd 52.25

Well, I finally had canned meat and beans, which was the only food I could think of that you could eat when you go camping. The beans were actually good, but the meat scared me, so I gave it to a little yapping dog who’s owners had just left him tied up by their tent.

distance 97.79
time 5:53:06
avg spd 16.61
max spd 50.79

totals: 3456 km
214:34 hours

this coast definitely rivals Corsica for the most beautiful place I have been on this trip.
I went to Llanes in the afternoon, where they have this really cool art on the port, called The Cubes of Memory by Augustin Ibarrola. It was so awesome, totally colorful, and peaceful with the waves crashing into the pier.

I wanted to try cidre, which is native to this area, but they only sold it by the bottle. This guy said ‘come sit with me’ (well it was in Spanish so I don’t know, but I got the gist) and he gave me a glass of his.

It was good but I don’t think I could have drank the whole bottle myself.

Walking on rocks in bike shoes is a little sketchy….

This town was really cool, easily one of my favorite places I’ve been to on this trip.

I kept riding and it started raining, and I loved it. Being so close to the sea and the mountains, and having beautiful greenery all around, without being too hot, is perfect for me right now.

these horses loved posing for me

‘Poo en fiestas’ Sounds like a great time, I’m sorry I missed it….

I stopped at this beach, La Francia, and it was gorgeous.

I wanted to stop to upload these pictures in case anything happens to my camera, but it is taking sooooo long!


Seeing these trees being cut down made me sad. I wasted so much paper in the last job I had. I am never going to print out another stupid data site again!!!

Today was absolutely gorgeous. I biked from Gijon to Garana.

I spent Sunday in Gijon, walking around the town. It was sunny and beautiful, about 27 degrees.

this is the Eulogy to the Horizon, and is the symbol of Gijon.

I stayed in Gijon because I wanted to get a catlike helmet and I saw a bike shop that had them, but they were closed. I wasn’t sure if I would come across any more shops with them on the way to Bilbao, so I decided to stay until Monday.

This is what I covet…

ahaha and I am glad I waited, because I got the helmet for like 30 euros less than what I saw it for in another town, the dollar was stronger when I bought it, and I like the color better.

Riding was absolutely stunning. I think it was about 22 degrees and it was cloudy, and I loved it. I felt like I was in Ireland, it was so green. Well, it is the Costa Verde…

It felt so good to be riding again. I hadn’t been riding for over a week I think

Ahhh I can’t think of another way to say how beautiful it was

I camped right by those mountains

Spanish people don’t eat dinner until really late. The restaurant at the campground didn’t start serving until 9, and I didn’t want to wait, so I ate the Emergency Meal that Rebecca gave me. I was a little scared, but it was actually really good! Much better than the pictures make it look…

distance 85 17

time 5 14 10

avg spd 16 26

max spd 56 65

totals 3297 km

time 2 05 01