S’Agaro to Figueres

May 24, 2024

On the Road Again

Today we packed up and left our group at 9:30 am. We had a long trip ahead of us of 73 k to Figueres, Spain, in order to see the Dali Museum the following day. Our friends Jim and Diana were picking up a car to meet us in Figueres so they kindly offered to take our panniers, giving us one more day to ride sans panniers.

We said goodbye to our guides and others and departed. We rode north along the coast and saw some additional coastal towns and backtracked over some of the area we had been to earlier in the week, the towns of Palafrugel, Torrence, and others, like Bellcaire and Albion. There are so many folks on bikes here it feels very welcoming. Spanish cycling infrastructure is modest but it exists and it’s always there when you really need it, even if it’s just a couple of feet of roadway marked off for cyclists in a busy area. Spanish drivers are very polite and it makes Spain feel cycle friendly whether or not there are cycling lanes. After we leave Figueres we will be going to France so we are saying goodbye to Spain for now.

The route was varied and included paved roads, gravel, cycleways, you name it, we had it. At a few points we picked up routes from old train tracks, such as the Ruta de petite train. We rode through a lot of agricultural fields and orchards with mystery fruits and vegetables we could not identify. We could smell the fertilizer however! The weather was cool and it sprinkled here and there but it was pleasant cycling weather. We resumed our usual habit of stopping for lunch with a sandwich from the morning buffet and also stopped for coffee in a charming town, whose name I can’t remember. There wasn’t much elevation gain so it was just a pleasant day of riding.

We arrived in Figueres around 3 pm and caught up with our friends who were just arriving too. We had a fun visit in our hotel lobby which included gin and tonics and beers for the boys, and then cleaned up in our hotel, called the Hotel Pirineous, right on the main drag. It’s a great, modestly- priced little inn and has a very good restaurant which the four of us enjoyed for dinner. There was sign on the front door stating that they were cyclist friendly and they weren't exaggerating. They had a garage across the busy boulevard which needed careful navigation and in the lower level was a bike cage replete with a foot pump, bicycle stand and just about any tool you might need. They also had numerous outlets allowing us to charge our bikes without schlepping them up to our room.

Southwest of Figures, our route took us briefly along the coast to this town of Platja de la Valentina, a busy port city with lots of tourists. We were happy not having stayed there.

Signs of the struggle for Catalan independence were everywhere in the region.

Excellent signage and cycling infrastructure . . .

. . . Even if you get the occasional low bridge, one-at-a-time pathway.

From a mental standpoint it was an encouraging day. After all the adversity with bad weather we had this month I was starting to worry that riding 70 or 80 k per day was too much for us. Today proved otherwise. It was just a good day and reminded me of why we cycle tour!

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 901 km (560 miles)

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