Sunday 11 July 2010

Days 25 to 30
















Day 25 and 26

The day after the team arrived in Arenys Del Mar, they trained it into the thriving metropolis of Barcelona, where they soaked up the sights, enjoyed some sandwiches at Bo Da B's, and enjoyed a thoroughly deserved night out on the town, where they met the Brasilian bandits Phillipi and Cleef, and spent the night with friendly Australians Matty and Leanne. Having got the night bus back to their campsite, the next day the team were forced to cycle through the city they had so much enjoyed the previous night. However, although cycling in presented no problems, the team had much to do in the city, and after finding an internet cafe and getting caught up in a gay parade, the sun was rapidly setting upon them. Navigating their way out of the city at dusk proved more difficult than anticipated, and it wasn't long before the team were drowning in the haze of an urban wilderness as night fell, and they had to leave the city via busy A roads. Although a somewhat distressing experience however, it was definitely a lesson and an adventure for the weary travellers, who eventually collapsed on a beach some 30km south of the city where they spent the night being worried about getting shouted at by an angry beach-combing-tractor-driving Spaniard. Tragically, due to his exhaustion, team member Tom misplaced the speedometer somewhere, and from here onwards, the team's awareness of time, speed and distance gradually began to slip away through their fingers, like the sand on which they slept.

Days 26 to 30

These days were not some of the team's best, as they were forced to cycle along the great N340 for more than 300km. This infamous road is an awsomely ugly artery of carbon monoxide that runs along the Costa Brava like a great hungry tapeworm. This road the team would quickly come to despise, as heavy goods vehicles and numberless cars, Hondas, Renaults and Saabs pushed past the team, filling their eyes and lungs with dirt and soot. This road of death controlled the team's lives for the near 200 miles that they spent on it, and the team gradually became lazy, as their lunch time stints on the sandy beaches increased, and their desire to cycle along la carretera del muerte ebbed away. The team did enjoy the lush Medditeranean water however, and camped on some wonderfully picturesque beaches.

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