Distance: 74.8 km
Ride time: 4:30:25
Average: 16.6 km/h
Max speed: 34.6 km/h
Total: 55053 km
In theory today should be an easy, flat 70 kilometer ride to Castellón – in reality it turned out to be quite the challenge. It all started during the night when our hostel dorm didn’t provide the best environment for sleep; people came and went all through the night. In some ways I feel that at 33 I’m getting too old for these dorm rooms, but then again, with 6 years of experience of staying in a new place every night I can sleep through almost everything.
Manon, however, had been awake must of the night and on top of that she had a Skype interview for her communication agency sivincommunications.com to take care of before we went cycling. All in all a pretty stressful morning where we actually considered to stay an extra day in Valencia, the problem being that the hostel was fully booked because of the upcoming Tomatina festival. Nothing to do but go cycling then…
55000 km in the bag and only 3 more to go…
Meeting Manon and sharing the experience of cycling through Morocco and Spain together is the best thing that has happened. But, it’s not always easy. On a bike tour you are together 24/7 and you push yourself physically and mentally to the limit. This recipe is pretty much guaranteed to create a bit of friction now and then, and that is what happened today. Oh well, if we survive this bike trip we will survive a whole lot…
In the end we did make it to Castellón where we were invited to stay with Diego, a friend of Manon. Diego is Colombian but doing his Phd in Spain – a super nice guy with whom we both immediately felt at home. It was an easy decision to stay a few extra days.
Manon lived in Castellón for 4 months back in 2011. Much in the same way that I had flash backs to my time in Granada, Manon was now showing me the university where she was studying, her old apartment, and the bars where she used to go out. I liked this extra layer of history to the city that was new to me.
Apart from spending time with Manon and Diego I also got to meet my radio friend Juan Luis EA5BM who I haven’t seen in 10 years. Good times, good times!
After two rest days with Diego in Castellón it was time to hit the road again – after all I’m trying to get back to Denmark before winter. Next stop Barcelona, and this time by bike…
