Caldes du Montbui to Barcelona

Only a short 20 mile hop to Barcelona today, what could possibly go wrong?…

Problem is all major routes in are motorways with tunnels so the lads have to try and pick their way through on A or B roads but it all soon goes wrong and they find themselves thrashing down on the edge motorway in all the grit and rubbish. Sure enough, Marty and John get punctures and have to fix themselves up at the side.

Of course this soon attracts the attention of the local police who see the funny side and escort them off and they thread their way through town towards the meeting point to pick up the apartment keys.

Meanwhile the sat nav has taken me there but I can find nowhere to park so I begin going round and round the 4-6 lane one way roads in the city centre…then disaster strikes. Right at the busiest section complete with road works I get a blow out! A consequence of that rough road the other day in my opinion.

No way I can stop here so I carry on and then pull into the Bus / Taxi lane and stop. Immediately a man in a hi-viz approaches and he wants me to move on. But both he and the guy in the car behind see my predicament and try to explain what I should do which goes nowhere with the language barrier so the guy in the car actually guides me to a spot 200 yards further on in front of a hotel with a service area. Nice bloke!

But just as I pull in two guys in a van are coming out and they also tell me to move. Again, spotting my predicament they let me park and get out to have a look. Now I’ve never changed a tyre in my life and I’ve no idea where the tools are kept in transit van but these guys were actually gonna do it for me! Really nice people!

Of course by now I’d alerted the lads and they took a detour and found me at the hotel and soon had me on the road again. What a relief!

We head back to the apartments and get lucky, finding a place to park outside a cafe and eat lunch while we wait for the guy with keys to arrive.

It’s a great little cafe and the lady owner is so impressed by the lads matching cycling gear that she takes photos and we get free cake after lunch. They just don’t see cyclists in full kit in this city. I’m not surprised!!!

After lunch we get the van loaded with both the bikes and the camping gear now no longer required.

The apartments will be a luxury after camping but the one I’m in with John, Marty and Spenna has no lift, 119 steps and we’re right at the top! The view from the terrace is pretty good though…

Tomorrow…sight seeing proper!