A noisey camping ground, but that is to be expected in Benidorm. But we were happy to have had a place to park and shower. Will had popped to the Supermecardo right next door for some beers (0.75€ each), and some breaky food, so we had Croissant yumbo's for breaky. First home cooked meal for the trip....(that is not including the crisps we had for dinner....got to get organised, can't eat like that).
We headed off about 10am, and it looked like rain. Low and behold, it started raining after a very short distance. I can't be riding in the rain, my glasses get wet and I can't see, I take them off and I can see even less. So we parked up and hoped it would be a quick event.
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| The rain in Spain |
It lasted about half an hour, and then we put on our wet weather gear, for the first time, and kept going towards Altea. It was a really good ride, and coming into Altea, I could smell the ocean and the fresh Kelp. It is a really pretty town, right on the coast with a beautiful old church right up on the hill top.
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| Coming into Altea, look at the church on the hill. |
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| Altea |
The rain had completely stopped and we were getting warm, so off with the extra layers and on we go.
More spectacular views and stops to capture them. Will is going to throw me off one of these cliffs soon, reckons we'll never get there.....but it's so amazing!
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| Looking towards Calpe |
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| Looking back at Benidorm |
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The tunnels are better than the hills.
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So on from Altea and we are heading up hill. It was not too bad, and we could make it in granny gear, but did have to stop a bit to catch my breath. Lots of big tourist buses and cars passing us, but all excellent with giving us plenty of space. There many large pelotons cycling downhill, giving us waves and greetings, as well as a few sniggers I'm sure. Then we came to the Tuneles (tunnels). Whoah! There was a guy walking his two dogs on the other side of the road, and because we (I) had to stop a few times, he almost caught up to us.
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| Crazy faces after the scary tunnels. |
It was exciting, and so different for us. We needed a break, and our friend (maybe we'll rethink that after the next section) Toni, who has offered her Villa in Javea for us to use, suggested the ride through Calpe, so off we went.
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| Notice we parked next to a Chiropractor? |
It was Sunday, everything was closed, but we found a cute little cafe to have, you guessed it, a beer and Jamon, queso y tomate toastie, oh and the fresh squeezed orange juice. While we sat and rested, we could hear fireworks going off somewhere close by...at least we hope that is what it was.
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| A small decline, don't be fooled. |
We found our route out of Calpe easily, and again lots of back roads and amazing scenes. But this time, killer hills. Holy cow! Get ready for the swear words people. I was really great fun they were not gravel. To give you a clue, two teenage local boys, riding past us, jumped off and pushed. Shit! That is not a good sign.
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| This was the beginning of a very tough uphill battle. |
It just got worse and worse.....what had we done? Bloody Toni, her ears would be burning. Pedalling was not an option, and pushing was insanely difficult. Ok, this is really how unfit I am. Stop, start, swear, try to breath, swear, just keep going and try to enjoy the amazing views.
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| I have been looking at that bloody rock for ever..ugh. |
A wrong turn, downhill of course, was a "bummer", we were just keen for a downhill break. But we weren't far from the downhill run into Xabia, and Javea. Thank god, I felt like I was dying. I remember this feeling from our Mundabiddie Adventure. Ugh!
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| We have gone up about 280mtrs in 3kms. But awesome. |
So down, down, down we go. Awesome! Zipping round the bends, through the countryside, and even passed a scooter....huh, yeah! Then the scooter passed us and all was even again. We made a couple of stops to discuss directions, and somehow found our way into Xabia. We needed to contact Rob, a friend of Toni's, to get directions to her Villa, so we located, you'll never guess, MacDonalds! Used their free Wifi, got a burger (didn't realise I was starving, could of had two), and you guessed it, a beer. Got directions from Rob, fuck, we had overshot by 5kms....Noooooooo!
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| Back streets of Javea |
So, deep breath, and go! Google took us along a bike path next to a river bed, that was pretty cool, but a bit run down.
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| Not as bad as our Mundabiddie trek. |
We road back the way we had come in and located the street (Calle) and you know it, a nother bloody great hill. Ugh! Off and pushing, then riding around, we got a bit lost again. Luckily Rob had come out looking for us and led us the last couple of hundred metres, UPFUCKINGHILL!
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| Yep, knackered. Buggered. Shattered. |
I'm shattered! Toni Ross, We've eaten your soup and drank your beers, this is your fault! But thank you for the great day, and comfy bed!
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| View from the Villa. Wow. |
For everyone interested in another view of our fabulous adventure, with more statistics, facts and photos, check out www.crazyguyonabike.com and search wiljen. You can read about all our cycle adventures there too.
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