I’m near Soria now (110km) had a few nights rest as the next leg will be facing an old nemesis “Agreda”. The first time I went there I really suffered, it was the hardest bike ride of the tour no question. So I’ll be interested to see how it goes in the next few days. I’ve deliberately made sure that I tackle it differently and I’m approaching from the south side. But I know there’s a lot of climb in the way.

Aside from that I’ve started applying for work, honestly only sent one application to a place I’d really like to work but I’m now going to hunt for runner ups . So today is about relaxing and building up strength before heading off. Kind of worried but also pretty relaxed about it all. I will be in France when I planned to be, then in Toulouse I’m hoping to find month intensive French courses.

Wish me luck

well I’m back to Spain , Which is a strange feeling But I have a lot to write about. Portugal was a fantastic place for those of you haven’t been. There are similarities to Spain but enough differences to make it well worth the trip.

The Pousadas de Juventude (Official Youth hostels) in Portugal are clean cheap and pretty well situated in most cases. So I’d definitely use them. English is spoken almost everywhere apart from the smallest villages and it doesn’t take long to get yourself understood. The food is cheap compared to everywhere else I’ve been so far (I’ll miss that). But now I’m back in Spain I’m focused on Andorra, a stepping stone to France.

My plan is to apply for work for the ski tourist season, but to improve my chances I’m determined to study and get to an intelligible level in French. As the season ends in April it gives me an excellent opportunity, 7 months of being in France, studying, working and preparing for the next leg across to Italy, Slovakia, Croatia and so on till I reach Greece then I go to Turkey and work my way up the East side back up to Ukraine.

That should take me the year to finish in my reckoning and also should be cheaper than this first leg of the tour, I’ve learnt a lot about what I need, my bike, my limits and how to budget. I think those will only improve.

The main focus now is getting to Andorra and then working out where to couchsurf in Toulouse, plus applying to everyone I can to get a job. But even without the ski work I’m confident I’ll find something somewhere.

I have had an awesome time so far and I know that the future just holds more fantastic experiences. So I’ve had enough of worrying about things, or regretting decisions now I’m just focusing on the future, the next km and enjoying life. Hopefully I’ll see some of you along the way!

So I’ve biked from La Linea across to Sevilla and then down to Portugal. Met Parents for a week in Alvor and then headed up to Lisboa.

It’s been a busy few weeks with a lot going on. I’m not really prepared to write a lengthy post but suffice to say it’s been an amazing time I’ll miss my new friends but I’ll make new ones I’m sure. I would suggest that Portugal is an awesome place to visit. But the Algarve is pretty expensive, go a little inland and prices halve.

It’s all good for biking and it’s 1500 km to Andorra now, so I’m hoping to be in France for early September then I’ll be studying my ass off in French and also hopefully getting a job in a ski lodge. I’ll write up a proper entry in the next few days.

I’ve written enough thinking posts so this is more of a travel guide for cyclists and also for people coming to Spain maybe. Just some things I’ve noticed as I’ve pottered along.

When I left Ciudad Real and headed south over the mountains to Cordoba I entered Andalucía, for those not familiar with the terrain the area around Cordoba and Sevilla (the capital of Andalucía) has the ominous nick name the frying pan of Spain. I can vouch for this one, it is searing hot with midday temperatures at around 45°C on the days I was there in late June. Apparently August brings even more heat, something I don’t want to even consider.

Andalucía is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the most populous and the second largest, in terms of land area, of the seventeen such communities of the Kingdom of Spain. It, like all of Spain, has a load of convoluted history (much more than I can talk about here). One prominent and constant feature is the Islamic influence on the region, you get mosques everywhere that have been converted into Cathedrals during the Catholic rule later. Muslim castles (in Malaga, Gibraltar etc) and even some of the names of places still reflect the history just look south of Sevilla on a map and there are a load of places ending in de la frontera. The border towns of the christian and Muslim world.

I met a guy called Austin who had just been studying international law in Cairo, who gave me some interesting insight into how the architecture worked, like all the points where the elements combined from the cardinal directions and formed fountains sending water towards the heavens etc. After hearing that every place I went I saw more and more of what he meant and it brought a whole new interest to every Muslim building.

The whole of the coast is a massive tourist destination which has spread houses everywhere in an almost binge like fashion, massively built up areas dominate over beautiful cathedrals and parks. Really that’s where the problem comes in. There is a distinct dichotomy in the area. You get everything here from beautiful empty roads to screaming autovia, which while you’re allowed to bike on in some cases are pretty damn terrifying. In worst cases they don’t allow cyclists on to the roads halfway along but don’t mention it on the actual autovia only on the entrances so suddenly you pass an entrance and notice that you’re not supposed to be there anymore with no idea how long that’s been in effect.

Contrasting the beautiful modern clean tourist areas if you walk or bike just a little way out you can usually find litter covering the streets,  dilapidated buildings, sometimes windowless and packed with yet more rubbish and in the worst cases slums that look more like the favelas of Brazil than in a developed country (trust me, go to Sevilla and drive to the north section out of town you’ll see what I mean). There is a huge unemployment problem in Spain too at around 17.5% if I read the news report right. Yet goods still remain quite expensive unless you hunt around.

I don’t write that to put the place down, it’s been fantastic down here, you can meet every kind of person under the sun, from friendly locals in rock bars in Sevilla who invited me back to their home to party till the sun came up, to students who met up with me in Malaga and wandered around town just because I was an interesting person. The whole south section along the coast is more of an English colony than a tourist area. Out of 5 people I asked for directions none of them spoke Spanish (I asked in Spanish first) this wouldn’t be so bad but one guy had lived there 5 years.

The Terrain is mountainous in almost every direction and is pretty hard biking although east of Cordoba towards Sevilla is at least pretty flat. bordering the coast is mountain after mountain. Tyring to avoid motorways (the main routes that weave through them) is almost impossible without taking long detours or hard biking roads, on the plus side you get some fantastic downhill stretches that go on for 10-15km, pure joy.

Bull fighting seems to still be hugely popular round here with posters and banners letting you know about all the events. There also seem to be constant fiestas ranging from free to crazy expensive. Pubs are everywhere. Honestly I don’t know how they all can survive given the sheer number of them, licenses in most small bars run to 3 but you can often find yourself staggering into your hostel as other people are coming out to work.

I also should mention another cycle tourist I met called Brian who did a different route to me around the same area. We randomly met at a garage between Marbella and Gibraltar and parted ways today he’s off to Morocco while I’m heading to Portugal. He’s a great guy and we put the world to rights discussing the difficulties and successes of cycle touring in Spain. I wish him all the best in his tour I’m sure he’ll have a great time.

I’m going to try and write up what I think of places as I visit them from now on along with other mental stuff this is after all about the journey and I hope people will maybe visit some of the great places I had the pleasure of finding on my minor roads as well as the big cities. So I’ll tag posts like this with ‘travel guide’ as I go on. So hopefully I’ll do a write up Cadiz and all that’s inbetween when I get there .

So I have been travelling around 3 months now, and I´m loving it but I´ll have to work at some point soon just to recharge funds and also keep the wheels turning, I think I mentioned that previously but it´s becoming a firmer idea. Certainly I wouldn´t mind stopping to develop some friends and have a feeling of permanence somewhere. I have such a greater profound respect for the great cycle tourists out there now, those who´ve been travelling for years before returning home (or are still going) how they cope with the endless movement is beyond me.

This doesn´t mean I´m about to stop. Even living abroad for a few months is part of the journey not the destination. Certainly though I am wondering how the future will be, how long will I be on the road. One thing is clear, money seems the least important thing in my life now. When I was earning good money I never felt as satisfied as I am at present. In fact it seems the less I have material wise the less stressed and happier I feel. What is the phrase again “the things you own, own you”? Possibly this is just simplicity at work. When you only have to worry about your next meal and the road ahead things are certainly simpler. Obviously when you get a job that changes, you have responsibilities a schedule of work, time is taken away to generate funds, but if I´m working just to move on again then I can cope for a time. In the future I can see my home / flat / apartment will be pretty spartan in nature.

So my plan is Portugal for now, then Andorra I know where I´m headed, I know what the plan is, I have a direction. But part of me is constantly wondering a few things;

1. Where I am going to stop?
2. When is that going to be?
3. What am I going to do when I finally reach the destination?
4. Who am I now and who do I want to be?
5. Why am I doing this? (usually on a mountainside in blistering heat to be fair)
6. How will I answer any of the above?

I don´t have an answer to any of these questions I think their similar questions to the ones I had when I was at work. Does everyone have them, aside from minor variations? Does anybody know how find the answers? Well anyhow I´m off to explore locally see if I can get any inspiration and maybe meditate again later. My blog entries seem quite repetetive recently so I´ll end on a travel note.

I biked to Malaga and I´m on my route back to Gibraltar due to the routes that are available I´ll have to backtrack as far as Sevilla before heading to Portugal thankfully this is only 3 or so days away but it´s worth learning that you should look at the big picture before deciding a route. I´ve met some fantastic people during my little detour and so I´m glad I took the time to do it, plus the places I visited are as beautiful as they are interesting. I would suggest taking the time to see Spain to anyone there are many spains though, depending where you go you´ll see something entirely different, I would suggest the less beaten path is the more interesting but don´t underestimate how nice it can be where the locals can understand English