In Girona: Banyoles

December 15, 2018

We have had way more than our share of good fortune on this exceptional tour: exceptional weather, no breakdowns or significant mechanicals, and one terrific ride after another for over three months as we passed through regions and towns we’d love to see again and maybe even live in for a spell.

We’ve been thinking about this, feeling somewhat guilty at having more than our share of serendipity and worried a bit that our readers might be feeling a bit envious or wishing they could tag along and share in the bounty on a future tour.

For those among you that may be harboring feelings of envy or resentment, today’s ride is for you. We saved the worst for last.

It’s a cool but sunny day when we leave our hotel, bound for a loop up into the hills east of the city. We’ll be following a route I drew up using the RideWithGPS cycle routing option. It’s a fairly ambitious loop with quite a bit of climbing involved, which is what we were after. This is likely to be the final ride of the tour, since rain is in the forecast for tomorrow and we fly out the next day.

We get a late start though, not leaving the hotel until around noon. It was quite cool, about 40F, when we woke up this morning so we decided to spend the morning with a walking tour of the old town and wait for the day to warm up a bit. It’s still pretty chilly when we start riding, and we have all our layers on when we cross one of the many bridges to old town. Within about a half mile, we’re climbing fairly steeply, and soon shed an outer layer.

Crossing the Onyar river over the Pont d’ Sant Feliu, we ave this view of the Basilica to inspire us. It looks like a beautiful day for a ride.

Looking back at the Basilica, as we begin to climb. Rachael chides me to keep biking, because it’s too cold to stand around and we have a fairly short window.

Visions of another blissful outing quickly evaporated though. After a few bone rattling blocks weaving through the crowds on old town’s narrow cobblestone streets, we came to pavement - for about three blocks, when the pavement ended and the climbing began. The first mile wasn’t too bad, really; but road quality steadily deteriorated as we gained elevation - gravel, sand, deeply rutted surfaces, ambiguous junctions where what appeared like the main road was marked as private, and the other option was a narrow path straggling off into the weeds.

Tensions mounted. Our short window of time for completing a ride dripped away with minimal progress. Emotional breakdown seemed imminent. Studying our GPS at yet another ambiguous and unpromising spot, we considered that it was still over a half mile and another 400’ of elevation gain until we came to what looked like an actual road.

Time for a new plan. We decided to reverse course, coast back to town, and then bike out to Banyoles - another loop I had mapped out that is shorter and flatter. There’s still time to get a ride in, if we abandon this one.

On the plus side, we quickly get some great views back across the town. On the downside, they include Rachael’s glare as she telegraphs some frustration with the route I’ve picked out for the day.

One good thing about reversing course is that I got a second chance at a couple photos that I regretted not stopping for on the way up. This donkey is still here in the same spot, patiently awaiting my return.

As was this attractive gaggle. Rachael has gotten a bit ahead of me on the descent, but I knew where she was when she passed this crowd and they honked loudly as she passed.

And there’s this mystery I hoped someone might solve for me. An aubergine agave perhaps?

So, we’re back in Girona, it’s nearly 1:30 already and we’re just starting out on a 30 mile loop. We want to get a ride in, so there’s not much time for photostops. I don’t take a single photo until we reach our halfway point, the lake at Banyoles. Which is fine - I might not have stopped that much on the way out anyway, because the direct ride to Banyoles isn’t that scenic or attractive. If you don’t want to spend your time wandering off in the weeds and mud, you’re mostly biking on a fairly busy thoroughfare.

We did stop for lunch somewhere along the way, next to a church in a small village square. We ate quickly, because of the time shortage and because it began clouding off and cooling down. I see I failed to take a photo of our lunch stop, but I should have. Not the most scenic lunch break of the tour by a long shot, but it did have an attractive children’s playground with animal equipment. The elephant slide with its trunk as a chute was particularly charming.

Banyoles Lake looks like it should be particularly attractive, and I’m sure if it would be if we had the time to explore it a bit and ride on the lakeside path as we could see the lake better. As it was though, we stuck to the paved route that circles the lake and only got glimpses of it through the trees.

Lake Banyoles. It’s getting a bit dim already, and we’re still almost 15 miles from town.

Leaving Lake Banyoles, we take a different route back to Girona - much quieter, and for most of the way much more appealing than the ride out. First though we have to get past the outskirts of Banyoles. Easy enough, unless the team navigator has mapped us onto another muddy, rutted track instead of the perfectly fine paved road just a few hundred unreachable yards away. In a half mile we manage to undo much of the good work done to our bikes at Eat, Sleep, Bike by coating them with a fresh layer of mud. And, we do further damage to our already pressed time schedule as we walked our bikes through the worst sections.

On the positive side though, we did manage to come away from this stretch with our favorite video outtake of the tour.

Not exactly what we were hoping for when we’re in a hurry, Why can’t we be on that nice paved road at the bottom of this hill, Navigator?

Once out of this morass, we enjoy a fine seven mile stretch through gently rolling foothills with only the occasional unpaved footpath to slow us down. These miles would be perfectly enjoyable if we weren’t getting anxious about the fast-latening day.

Much better. More miles like these, por favor. And aren’t those plane trees?

Heading for the last summit of the day, and of the tour.

Scott, we don’t have time. No more pictures!

The good times, brief as they were, cOme to an abrupt end when we arrive at the highway, busy N11. It has a wide shoulder and might have been an OK ride back to town, but in the fading light it doesn’t feel wise to us. Especially when there’s a nice alternative in this unpaved, occasionally muddy side route that we can follow instead. True, the surface is pretty crappy in spots, but it’s perfectly safe; and eventually we make it back on to the familiar, if still unpaved, via verde.

In spite of all this, we do well to make it back to our hotel just at dusk, only a bit after five. We take a vote afterwards over dinner and nominate today’s ride as the worst day of the tour. I’m sure this a myopic point of view, and when we get back to revisiting the tour someday we’ll be reminded of other days equally unpleasant or worse. Today’s will certainly remain on the short list though.

Now, what do you think? Care to join us next time?

One of the better spots in the final six miles. I wasn’t inclined to pull out the camera again on the worst ones.

Strangely enough, the day ends just as it began with a nice view of the Basilica.

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Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 3,491 miles (5,618 km)

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Jen RahnUgh. Sounds like a frustrating day. Glad you made it back before dark!

If I had to choose, I would have rather been with you two on this ride than a couple of our worst Undaunted Porridge days. (Easy for me to say from the comfort of a leisurely breakfast with a cup of hot coffee).

After our experience, my worst riding fear is motorist-induced terror.
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5 years ago

Rachael AndersonTo Jen RahnYou make a good point. And if this was one of the worst days, this was obviously a pretty great tour.
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5 years ago

Jacquie GaudetI think it's Banyoles. I had a similar experience on my ride from Girona to Olot in 2016. First, the busy roads from Girona to Banyoles, then my Garmin (using bikefietsmaps) routed me along rough farm tracks out of Banyoles until I finally got onto the paved minor highway--which I could have been on all along had I not gone into Banyoles. It's like a town that doesn't want to let you leave....
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jacquie GaudetWe passed through Banyoles on our first Pyrenees tour also, n our way from Begur to Besalu. I didn’t really care for it then either. The town that doesn’t want you to leave? I like that. The place sucks.
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5 years ago