July 9 Barcelona
Cam and I went out to his studio today to fix Leila's bike in preparation for our ride this weekend up into the Pyranees. Sue spent a fruitless day looking around the shops for shoes. The humidity is quite high and Sue and I are feeling very tired a lot of the time - if we see a bed we seem to lie down and doze.

July 11 - 14 Ripoll to La Pinya (near Olot) to Girona by bike
Leila finished work early today so that we could load our bikes onto the 12.15 train for the 1.5 hour trip to Ripoll, the start of the rail trail towards Olot. Cam said that it would be an easy 15 km ride along the rail trail. When we got off the train we were stopped by the sight of the mountains immediately behind the town which seemed to head straight for the sky. Fortunately trains don't go straight up mountains. We had a sausage sandwich at a bar opposite the station before stocking up on water, bananas and chocolate. We located the start of the trail quite easily and were pleased to see that it was sealed. The trail headed along the side of the range, climbing steadily for 12 kms to the old station at Sant Joan de les Abadesses. The station now houses a coffee shop, so we stopped for coffee before searching for the continuation of the trail, which was on the road for the rest of the way.
The trail took a steep downhill towards the river and then crossed a strange cobbled bridge which sloped up to a ridge and down the other side. In town we had to stop and ask for directions a couple of times before finding a road which coincided with the map Cam had. The road climbed steadily for probably 8 km before reaching the Col de Santigosa at 1010m. The hard work of the climb was rewarded by a long downhill of perhaps 12 kms. We stopped part way down to admire the view into the valley. We knew that we had to turn off the main road to reach our destination. I was really enjoying the downhill, but did see a turn-off and fortunately decided to wait for the others about 300m past the road. Leila stopped with me. If we hadn't stopped, it would have added another 10 kms to the ride. The turn-off took us down a narrow, steep winding road past a number of very large haciendas. Soon after we were relieved to see the sign to our accommodation - Mars Garganta - even if the steep driveway was more suited to mountain bikes than to Birdys.

Mars Garganta is a very old attractive farmhouse sitting on the side of the hill, operating as a B&B. Parts of the original farmhouse remain, and date from 1350. Everything is old and rustic. In a room off the main entrance there is an old kitchen sink, old kitchen utensils, a large wooden table, a big open fireplace with curved high-backed wooden seats surrounding the fireplace. The timber on the seats is very worn with the carved sections barely recognisable. The flooring of the first floor in this old part of the building was huge slabs of timber, without tongue and groove, making it possible to look up through the gaps in sections. Our bedrooms were family suites in a newer section of the house. Being summer, meals are served on a huge open verandah overlooking the mountain ranges. We had arranged to have our evening meal at the house as well as breakfast. It was very relaxing sitting around the mealtable, looking over the hills and listening to the tinkle of the cow bells. On the way up the trail we had noticed that many of the cattle were wearing bells around their necks, making a very romantic continuous sound as even when they were lying down, they were shaking their heads to disturb the flies. This sound also put us to sleep and also wakened us in the mornings.

On Saturday it was overcast with bursts of drizzle. After a sumptuous breakfast on the balcony, enjoying the view through the arches, we lazed around until around midday in case it rained. With optimism we hopped on our bikes and rode the 7kms into Olot, along undulating rural roads and then on railtrail into town. There are a lot of old volcanoes in this area, so after lunch in the town square, we rode to the base of one of the volcanoes, and Sue minded the bikes while Leila, Cam and I climbed up to the rim, walking around the old monastery and inspecting the defense towers spaced around the rim. We headed home and stopped at a small cafe along the trail for a coffee, before having a look in the Parc de Pedra Tosca. This was an area of communal gardens, the small irregular sized and shaped plots being marked out by stone fences, and planted with different crops - beans, lavender, corn.
It was looking a little overcast when we went into the park, so we didn't stay very long- but we did stay too long as on the way home it started to thunder and then rain became progressively heavier. Sue was the only one with a raincoat, but even she was pretty wet when we arrived back at Mars Garganta. The lady of the house delighted us by offering to put our clothes into the drier.

Another good night's rest and an even more extensive breakfast, before heading into Olot. Leila has to go back to Barcelona tonight, so we had to arrange her bus trip. We thought that she could go at 4.30 to Girona and then catch the train to Barcelona, but found that this bus wouldn't take the bike, even though it was not fully booked and there was very little in the luggage compartments when it departed. At 7.30, an identical bus took Leila and the bike back to Ripoll to catch the last train for the day. With only 20 minutes between the ETA of the bus and the departure of the train, Cam was anxious about Leila's welfare, and we were all relieved some 1.5 hours later to receive a call from Leila to say that she had caught the train.
On the way back into town, we again visited the Parc to search out a hillock from which there was supposed to be good views over the area. We eventually found the hillock, after a bit of trailbashing, only to find that trees well and truly blocked any view that might have been had. We then set out to find a restaurant which had been recommended to us. We ended up on some dirt track with wet patches, and as I attempted to avoid the water, my front wheel did a right turn, throwing me down the embankment. It was a soft landing, but I came up a bit grubby, so when we arrived at the restaurant, to be greeted in the car park by an attendant in black pants, white shirt and vest, we wondered whether we would be acceptable clientele. No problem - we were shown where to put our bikes and shown into a large marquee, where we enjoyed lunch together.
After lunch, we rode around town to fill in time before the bus left. Being a Sunday, there was little traffic. The river El fluvia runs through the centre of town, so there was some pleasant paths to ride.
Back to Mars Garganta for another big evening meal, bed and up to another big breakfast before heading off for the 64 km ride to Girona. The trail today was rail trail, flat good surface out of Olot before a 3 km climb to the Col d'en Bas and then it was all downhill to Girona - apart from a couple of sections which bore no resemblance of a railway track and involved several short but steep downhills with steep rocky uphills, again far more suited to mountain bikes, but which I am pleased to say, didn't daunt the Birdys.
About 20 kms into the ride we pulled in to a small village, crossing the river on a quaint stone bridge, winding up narrow one-way streets to the square where we sat outside under the trees and enjoyed our coffees. On the way out of town, I stopped to take some photos on Leila's camera. I turned the corner to see a crowd of people around Sue who was picking herself up off the footpath. The wheel of her bike must have been parallel to a raised section of tarmac, and when she went to turn the wheel, the surface resisted and she lost her balance, hitting her head and shin on the way down. After dusting herself off and checking that nothing was broken, we headed out of town. It was a beautiful sunny day, the via verde was downhill, and even a short period of being lost and Sue's sore shin couldn't detract from a great day's ride. On arriving in Girona we located the station with minimal difficulty. Fortunately the train was running late, so we had time to buy our tickets and find the station, heading back to Barcelona with little delay.

The end of a wonderful week-end away with Cam and Leila.