Coll de Pass to St. Girons - 45k

This will be short as this entry is for today and im pooped so im not riding far...i left Coll de Pass at 8 am and made the easy ride into St. Girons, Where i stocked up on food, got a room to take a shower and do laundry, and update the blog...etc. Im about done, i thought ide upload a few pictures from today while i have access. I miss everyone and im doing just fine, just a little tired after my first 500Km. More updates in about a week hopefully. Christopher...

Summitt at day break

Cathedral in Marrat

The road to St. Girons

Porta to Coll de Pass - 120k

Early in the morning, me and Giulio parted ways, he was headed South, i North. So, North i went...i rode over the Coll de Puymorens, with an altitude of 1920 meters, and then cruised down to Tarascon for the most part, as it was mainly downhill. Once there, i took a ciesta, and then headed towards St. Girons, about 60k away. In Sarrat, i met Maurice who rode with me to the Coll de Pass, where the nicest lady made me a salad. I camped out near the summitt, with a guestimated altitude of about 1500 meters (1250 at the pass). I made camp soon and quickly went to sleep, the next morning i told myself that i would summit before daybreak to get the photo....and i did...

Summiting Coll de Puymorens

Along the way...

Summitt!

My new friend Maurice, summitting Coll de Pass

Campsite at Coll de Pass

Olot to Ripoll to Porta - 105k?

On the way from Olot to Ripoll, i was actually on a bus at this time because riding up to La Molina can be very dangerous due to the super skinny roads, the bus broke down in La Molina, and a friend that i met on the bus, Giulio, was also on bike. So, we rode from La Molina to Porta literally through the mountains, he was a true mountain biker. It was very hard work for me, but i made it and we stumbled into a town party before making camp just outside Porta.

Cathedral in Olot

Giulio

Passing scenery

Town with the festival

Porta, where we camped for the night

Girona to Olot - 78k

Girona to Olot was beautiful, except when i got to Les Preses, i got caught in q thundering hail storm while riding through the volcanic mountain ranges of Olot...and i actually heard Mike Marks somehow higher and lower demon voice saying, Chris Cannon, riding through volcanic mountain ranges in a thundering hail storm! despite the fact that i was completely wet, it made me actually laugh, thanks Mike. i made it to Olot and had to get a place to dry out all my stuff...

Cathedral in Girona


Door to an old ambandoned church

taking a break...

The beautiful scenery

a lovely flower, made me think of Angie

St. Feliu to Girona - 75k

I woke up early and left St. Feliu headed for Girona, this was a very nice ride, as it was a greenway (Viies Verdes) for bikes and walkers only. On the way i passed many scenic old farmhouses, pasturelands, and horses. The ride was easy, despite my very long ride the previous day.

a friend i found along the way

12th Century Arab bathouse


13th Century Cathedral

The Old Quarter of Girona

...And finally, just passed Girona, in a town called Salt, i made camp.

Day One, Barcelona to St. Feliu de Guixols - 114k

After Angie left, i stayed in Barcelona for one more night. There were celebrations all night, with fireworks, music and dancing.

early in the morning, i left for St. Feliu...the ride was quite easy at first, and after about 50k it got a lot more difficult...from the industrial outskirts of Barcelona, to the touristy beaches just beyond, and the towering cliffs of Costa Brava. While there, i took a break at Llorret de Mar, went swimming and took a nap.

Costa Brava

Llorett de Mar

St. Feliu de Guixols

Here i stayed in a Hostal because 114k in one day was a lot for me.

Architectural España

Today Ang flew home and i am sad...tomorrow she will be at work, getting back into the swing of her life, with the additional excitment that her sister Bonnie will be around for a month. I on the other hand will be in Barcelona for one more night...and tonight is the festival of Saint John, which celebrates the shortest night of the year, the 24th of June. There will be fireworks, bonfires, dancing, and celebrations all over Barcelona, so i think i will go out and be a part of all of it with my camera at my side, but not for too long, as tomorrow, early, i will be heading south to the coast, and then north east towards Sant Feliu, i hope to put in 100 km (60 miles) so that i can camp out between there and Girona, as it is sparsly populated and i should have no problem camping. Probably in 2 days i will be in Girona, anxious to explore some of the Roman bath houses, and cathedrals. From there i will make my way north west, towards Olot in the hopes that i can make it to Ribes in the same day, another 100 km or so. Today i am just doing the last of my shopping, washing, cleaning, organizing, maintanancing, etc before i go to bed, so as to be up and out by 7 am. It will be a long and hot day tomorrow, the temperature today is hovering at 75, but i should get a cool breeze from the sea, which could be good and bad at the same time. Thats it for now, here are some pictures from me and Ang´s architectural fiasco yesterday...

Casa Mila 0 La Padrera

Sculpture by Barceloneta Beach

Barceloneta Beach

Building on Passeig de Gracia

Rooftop of La Padrera, symbolic of the Turks and Muslims war over Spain

Goodbye Eenie, I Love You and Ill Miss You!

Mighty Barcelona!

So now i have been in Barcelona for two days, and i have loved each second, the weather has been amazing, with a bit of rain early this morning and some clouds later on today, but fine otherwise, sunny, warm, beautiful. Yesterday we went to the Picasso Museum and the Arc de Triumf as well as a few of the parks in the area, all were beautiful. We also visited La Catedral and the Barri Gottic, the Roman and Muslim area of Barcelona, also one of the oldest. Today we went to La Sagrada Familia and the Parc Guel, both were awe inspiring and gorgeous, with the Parc Guel providing a wonderful view of all of Barcelona. Later on we went to the beach and laid out for a while, but it was a little chilly since the clounds moved in and blocked the sun. We then walked through the Cuitedella Parc, and made our way back to our hotel. Now i am here about to go lay down to rest for tomorrows travels. Only a few more days until i begin my ride from Barcelona to Girona and on to Olot as i make my way to Saint Jean de Pied de Port, im ready to begin the ride. Until next time...here are some pictures!

Under the plaza at Parc Guel

Parc Guel

Angie at Parc Guel

La Sagrada Familia

Central Plaza

Atop a spire at Parc Guel

A quiet street in Barcelona

Barcelona Arc de Triumf

Ah Paris! Smells like urine...

A few of the pictures i took while in Paris...

Napolean

From inside the Louvre, Napolean´s Apartment

Inside Notre Dame, prayer candles

On the grounds of the Chateau, the wedding we attended

Montmarte Cemetary, amazing...

Probably my favorite sculpture in the gardens at the Louvre, a little dark...

So long since my last entry, as i have little access to computers, that by now i am in Spain, not without difficulty and having to disassemble my bicycle completely down to the frame, nearly...but this entry is for the hardly missed city of paris, with a little p... for poop, on the streets. I rode my bicycle all over Paris and it was stinky, dirty, smelly, and people yelled, hollered, wouldnt let me bring my bike in public parks, even walking it, and i couldnt eat a lunch in the grass...the museums were pretty cool though. I went to the Louvre, and that was just too much, art gallore really. The sculpture gardens were amazing, the picture of the man fighting with the bull headed man is from the garden, also Notre Dame Cathedral was pretty amazing, although its gardens were not that interesting. The Eiffel Tower was cooler than i thought it would be, taller too. Paris´ Arc du Triumf was HUGE and cool, the streets were crazy with traffic going every which way with no sense, but it seemed to work just fine for the French people. The weather was find except for one day that it rained most of the day, but other than that, perfect. We attended a wedding that was fantastic, a fairy tale wedding really, to two of the most lovely and in love people ever. after the wedding we got back to our hotel room late, spent the next day walking around Paris and sightseeing in the artist canal area, and then hopped on the night train to Barcelona...

Riding around Amsterdam...

So, since my last post, i have flown from New York to Dublin...

Hey Dublin!

where i bumped into Angie who was already supposed to be in Amsterdam, but had to "crash" land in Dublin due to lack of cabin pressure in her plane. So we flew on to Amsterdam together, where i put together my bicycle. Angie and I then checked into our hotel room and fell quickly asleep...but not for long. Shortly thereafter, i woke up feeling as though i had slept all night, only to take a shower, get dressed, and get myself ready to go out, only to find out that it was just past 3 am...so i decided to just go for a bike ride at 3 in the morning in Amsterdam...

My bike at 4 am by a local monument

One of the canals just as the sun is coming up

but this is not a bad thing, as i got to ride around the city with no one else, which was amazing, and i got to ride as the sun came up. The following day, me and Angie went to the Rijk Museum to see some Rembrandt and Vermeer paintings, we visited a few of the parks, and walked to the Anne Frank house. The following day, we took a train to the North Sea where we spent the day walking along the beach, getting sunburned, and walking through a national park.

Ang and i at a park in Holland by the North Sea

After that, we went back to Amsterdam and rented Angie a bike so that we could ride a little further out of the city center to see what the outer parts of the city were like. This yielded some decent birding opportunities, architectural viewing opportunities, as well as a glimpse at the Dutch lifestyle...

A cool building by the river

Some flowers by the canals

After that, and the chain on Angie's bike falling off literally 14 times, we rode on to Vondel Park...

Vondel Park

We then made our way through the city center on bikes, which was a bit dangerous, but fun for me, taking pictures all the while, to get shots such as this one...

A canal in the center of Amsterdam

Following that, and our 20 mile ride, we went back tot he hotel room to prepare ourselves for the train ride to Paris early the next day. That is where i am now, at Angie's friend's house, about to eat and have some coffee, no pictures yet, as we arrived late, and it has been rainy and a bit stormy all day today. However, it is supposed to be nice the next 2 days, so i should be able to snap a few shots in that time and add yet another post to this blog. On Wednesday, we have a wedding to attend and late on Thursday we will be headed to Barcelona on a night train. 'Till next time, Christopher.