Travel from Seattle to Newark we early, but trouble free. Like all airlines, Continential has a "variable" rate from shipping bikes. Tom and I, $50, the Iddings each paid $100.
We had a 4 hour layover in Newark and killed that time with some food and beers at a Sam Adam place in the terminal.
Newark to Barcelona left "on time", but then you sit in line on the runway for 45 minutes. Once in the air we set back to watch movies, read or sleep.
Landing in Barcelona we made it through customs no problem. All bags and bikes made it and we were off to find our rental van. The first one didn't suit our liking (we like tires with air in them and not showing the steel belt). We were then on our way to Girona to drop off our bike boxes and see the hotel thatwill end this trip. This last hotel (Hotel Historic) was recommended to us by Dede Barry and has been a sort term home from many of the world's top cyclists.
The next part of our journey to the Pyrenees was via rental van. A big Fiat thatlooks like a Sprinter can. The drive was a good 6 1/2 hours on Interstate type roads to roads filled with big trucks and farm equipment.
We got to our hotel near 10 and were soon enjoying a light dinner of bread, meats, cheeses and fruits. Now, time to sleep after 30 hours without much sleep.
A few pics:
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Day 1-- The first day was to work the kinks out of our legs and bikes. We left the hotel and headed for the Col de Marie Blanche. This was a good stiff climb, but not nearly as long as other to come. With our late start and a cool rain we cut our ride a bit short. One thing about France is every little grouping of homes is a town so town sign sprints come every k or so.We went for them all and were worked bythe time we got back to the hotel.
Dinner was welcome with duck, potatoes, snap peas and pear.
Tomorrow is a big day and the weather is looking better.
GPS Route
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