Barcelona – Sitges – Platja del Torn – Vinaròs – Castellón de la Plana – Valencia: 389 km

After a serious night of drinking with Stijn and the boys in Barcelona Donna and me set out half-heartedly towards, well, somewhere along the coast. Just over 40 kilometres later, we arrive in Sitges, famous for its relaxed vibe and significant gay community. We find a little coffee shop and once our flat whites are finished we completely collapse. Our nagging headaches from the night before have taken their toll. The grey weather doesn’t help. We book an Airbnb right there and then and spend the rest of the afternoon watching The Office. Our ‘rest days’ in Barcelona have depleted our energy more than it has resupplied it. But we have time to spare before Donna’s flight leaves from Valencia.  

The next day we ride through desolated holiday towns, hotels de size of cruise liners, generic burger bars, pizzerias and Irish pubs on every corner, all closed this time of year. The emptiness and repetitiveness of these huge structures makes the experience eery and almost dystopian. Equally desolated are the water parks, paintball pits and fun fares that link up these towns. Plastic towns, where food comes in buffets, and fun is doing absolutely nothing but securing a stretcher as close to the pool as possible. We skip these settlements and find the best camp spot so far in a nearby tiny national park. Just out of the wind, we set up the tent in a sandy forest next to the Mediterranean. We cook a whole fish with asparagus on the fire that we season with rosemary we pluck fresh from the ground. It is one of the best meals I’ve had since I left home. Night falls, the fire crackles and the sea breezes us asleep.

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Then the hard days start. Two full days of rain. But hey, what’s life without a bit of adversary. Luckily, we are able to pack the tent in dry conditions, but soon enough the rain comes down ferociously. Simultaneously the gravel begins. Sand splashes everywhere around us. With her knobby tires and absent fenders, it’s much worse for Donna than it is for me. We can’t really use each other as wind shields because the mud propels backwards from our wheels with high quantities. Donna is a machine on these gravel strokes and I have to put in serious effort just to stay close to her. In between the long periods of rain, we use the dry moments to pick the fruit from the orange trees that have accompanied us for days now. The second day of rain we cross yet another national park. All gravel, all beautiful, all wet. But we’re having fun in our relative suffering. Pain is now, memories are forever. The rain washes away our motivation to camp. We stay at an Airbnb in Vinaròs and try out Warm Showers the day after. The community doesn’t seem as active in Spain. I’ve been hoping to take Donna to a Warm Showers host, just for the experience. But we’ve not been getting luckily. Until today. When we arrive it’s a tiny bit different from my previous experiences. The lovely man has a shed on a field where he grows crops for fun. The tiny box has no furniture, electricity or running water. He himself lives somewhere else in the city. It’s definitely good enough for us, but it’s a shame we weren’t able to get the ‘typical Warm Showers experience’ together.

The Spanish lifestyle doesn’t sync up well with that of cyclists. Siesta, especially in smaller towns, means that most cafés are closed during lunch. Luckily, the bigger supermarkets tend to be open. But the problem occurs more so at night. Restaurants open around 21h. By that time we’re are done for and ready for bed. Whenever we eat out, Donna and me are the first (and only ones in) and the first ones out.

All of a sudden a long boulevard hedged with palms leads us into Valencia. Our last stop together. Two weeks have flown by, we’ve covered 840 km in two countries, laughed, camped, conversed and were just outside. Being outside is the best thing in the world. Outside. I could easily spend another two weeks with Donna outside. The weather on our last day is perfect, the city more than great. It’s lively, tourism has picked up, and we spend our day doing what you do in a new city; walking around, drinking and eating. It’s the perfect end to a perfect two weeks.