Introduction and plans

Why Spain?

For a long time we have had the idea of a cycle tour around Spain, but have never been free at the best time of year to put this plan into action. This year we realised that we would have enough time in May and June for a seven week expedition, hopefully before the real heat of the Andalucian summer.
We are fascinated by the history of Spain, the Romans, the Moors, the Conquistadors and the dubiously acquired glories of Imperial Spain at the height of the Empire.
 There is a rugged beauty and remoteness about much of the countryside, Roman and even Greek remains and many interesting medieval towns and villages.
Though we have both travelled to some of the larger cities for work in the past and cycled from the UK to Santiago de Compostela in 2010, we feel that there is much of Spain left to explore.

Cycling is a wonderful way to get to know a country - you travel at a speed which allows observation, yet allows considerable distances to be covered. We've cycle toured in many European countries and have really enjoyed the gradual change of landscapes, character, language and architecture as the kilometres pass by.

The Route

Whilst researching our route to Rome in 2014 I discovered the splendidly presented Dutch guide books to cycling in many European countries published by Paul Benjaminse http://www.benjaminsecycling.com/ The Rome route proved to be wonderfully thought out, avoiding busy roads and visiting interesting and beautiful areas.

We've decided to combine three of Paul's Spanish routes (Andalucia and Ruta Iberica parts 1 & 2) to make the basis of a circuit of Spain - see map above.

Unfortunately these books are only available in Dutch, putting the English-speaking tourer at a severe disadvantage. However Paul has been very helpful in supplying some translations and also full text files which can be electronically translated, resulting in an unusual, but mostly comprehensible prose. We hope that this, combined with gps will be a sufficient guide for our trip.
Our clockwise route around Spain will take us through Girona, Teruel, Cuenca, Granada, Malaga, Ronda, Seville, Merida, El Escurial, Segovia, Peñafiel and Zaragoza. Then we'll cross the Pyrenees at the Col du Portalet to descend into France near Pau and head north to Agen to catch the Bike Express home. Well that's the plan; we hope that our fitness, the weather and an absence of mechanical issues with the bikes will allow us to make it in time!

Transport

We have booked the European Bike Express http://www.bike-express.co.uk/ to take us to Roses, near the start of the Andalucia route in Girona and will return seven weeks and 3,400km later from Agen in France. This is one of the more hassle-free ways to transport bikes through France. You travel in a "luxury" coach which pulls a trailer where the bikes travel fully assembled. It won't make for the best night's sleep, but we and our bikes should arrive ready-to-ride with no airports to negotiate.

Equipment

We intend to camp wherever possible and to look for hotels where there is no campsite.
Many years of mountain trekking mean that we have whittled our camping weight and bulk down and our 2.1 kg two-person tent, titanium pans and cups and lightweight sleeping bags make the load relatively manageable.
This year we have made a rather weighty concession to our aging backsides with the purchase of two very light camping chairs (750gms each). It remains to be seen if we will curse them or love them - I suppose that will depend on whether we are cycling uphill or sipping wine in comfort on a campsite!

So that is the plan. We only have a couple more weeks to get fit enough to tackle 3,400 kms of hilly terrain!

I'll try to post regular updates of our progress on this blog from the 12th May when we start cycling so that any family and friends who are interested can follow our progress.