Happy Easter Sunday! We had a lovely 125km ride from Valencia towards Barcelona, and tonight we are camping along the beach. This Holy Week is getting very expensive; our spot of gravel at a beach side campground is 31€! Normally it’s 20€, and we are used to paying just 15€ or less… Quite ridiculous and makes me want to consider wild camping, even if it’s frowned upon… But the next cheapest indoor lodging I could find was over 50€, so not a lot of options. I think we’ll have to stretch our budget a bit from here until Croatia.
When we checked into the campground, the friendly host showed us to our space and asked us about our trip and where we are from. Hearing we are from America, the conversation of course turned to Donald Trump; he said we should have taken him with us to maybe help him change his mind about the world. It has been frustrating, to say the least, to have to apologise for being American everywhere we go. We haven’t met a single European who has anything kind to say about American politics. It’s quite an embarrassment, but as the camp host said, it’s not just the Americans; Hungary has the same problem, and I added that yes, Turkey, and perhaps France are having similar issues.
He then commented that, oh, of course you rode 125km today, you are American, you can do anything. In reality, we’d been passed today by a Frenchman on tour doing over 200km per day plus dozens of racers doing much more on their Sunday rides. Overall it’s disappointing, though understandable, the preconceptions that others have of us, simply based on where we were born. I think it’s an important lesson that the reality is always more complicated than what you first perceive.
We saw a lot of people out picnicking and enjoying their Easter, and we stopped at a busy port city for lunch, where I had the best shrimp I’ve ever had, sorry New Orleans, you are no longer #1. Gambás de Denia (a nearby town on the Mediterranean) tasted like little lobster tails, wow!!
Tomorrow we will ride as far as we can towards Sitges and find a (hopefully) more affordable campground or cheap hotel.
Keep on rolling my friends. What others think of you is none of your business. I live by this. You guys are awesome. I spent many many drunken holiday in Sitges. You guys are my rock stars.
God Bless! Safe travels and all our love!!!
Cliff and I were stopped on a street in Tokyo by a man who asked us what we thought of our current administration. When we showed our dismay at the turn of events that led to Trump, he said OK you can pass. So it is everywhere.
Hi Tim, wow 125km on that road ! ….What speed do you try and sit on ? ….I’m planning a trip in Oz and figure about averaging 20-22 km per hour ….obviously conditions are everything but is this about right? ……in Australia everyone is angry in that we haven’t got an issue with China at all and we fear getting dragged in to a mess due to US /Oz alliance . I bet you are a great ambassador for the US … you can’t do more than that
We are doing between 20-25kph, depending on the climbing, winds, etc. I remember you thought 25 was too slow in Thailand (me too), so I think your estimate is safe. The part of Thailand we did was pretty flat, so if the are some hills, then 20ish.
Thanks…….I won’t be on a designated tourer …… just a loaded hybrid ….if you think there’s long stretches in Spain ….wait til Oz !
You guys must be so fit and how cool being able to eat anything due to your exercise