From Zahara, we rode for 10 days straight, ranging anywhere from a meager 20+ kilometers through the mountains to 130K on the flatter lands per day. We have mostly been riding along the coast, swerving and hilly. Boy oh boy, 10 days of riding and my butt sure did hurt. We planned to ride close to Velencia before taking days off and heading on a train to Barcelona, but my sore legs and yearning for some walks and simplicity of not packing and unpacking our panniers, we stopped in the little town of Los Narejos, just outside of Cartegena. We arrived late on Saturday evening, winding our way to the campground along a road filled with kids in their late teens to early 20´s drinking cocktails and deafing themselves to techno blaring from their cars. Little did we know that the campground hosted a dance club, playing techno until about 2am and then the kids go to their cars and continue even loader music as it is closer to our tent until 8am. Wow! A crappy campground, sleeping (or lack there of until the music stopped) under an awning because of the lack of trees, and this is where we were spending our day off. Great I thought.
In the morning, we decided to take the mysertious boardwalk through what looks like corn stalks to see where it would lead us. To the sandy beaches and the town! Fantastic! This campground is already better! And for 8€ per day, we can´t beat that. Since this discovery, combined with an amazing cafe with homemade delicacies, a boardwalk that runs for a few miles to even the next town over, we are in heaven. And because of this, we have enjoyed everyday and it´s now Wednesday! One night of load music was no big deal. Resting our legs has felt so good. We walk 40 minutes along the water into town for some coffee, stop at the grocery store for lunch, lay on the beach with our books, go for a swim, stretch on the dock watching kite surfers, sailboats and wind surfers, head back to our campsite for our bikes before heading to the store for our dinner and white wine as we can actually chill it. Our daily rountine. This has been a place that I was bummed we were stuck at and has turned into such a relaxing, enjoyable mini vacation at the beach.
After a few days of resting our legs, we decided this morning to go for a run. It felt so great to run! Riding so much kind of gets you stuck so to speak. I honestly forgot how envigorating it feels and such a great way to start the day. A run, more stretching on a different dock, a shower and back into town for our daily routine. Wow......I actually wish we were staying here longer. Tomorrow will be ride to Alicante to catch the Friday morning train to Barcelona for a long weekend with one of Ryan´s friends from college. We cannot wait!
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ReplyDeleteHave you folks read Paul Theoux's "Pillars of Hercules"? It is about traveling from the Strait of Gibraltar along the coast of the Mediterranean to the tip of Morocco. I am reading it now as you all are traveling along these places. That, combined with the great blog, are taking me away from my classroom of misfits nicely. Check it out if you get a chance...keep up the writing and riding. Loving it all.
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