So what is there to say about this tour that might not be apparent from what's been written above? A few things come to mind.

A few setbacks
First off, I think it's important to point out that this was a wonderful tour. We've given up on the idea of comparing tours, or of deciding which we like best. We love nearly all of them any more, but in different ways. One noteworthy aspect of this one though is that it had more than its share of setbacks and inconveniences.

On the equipment side, we had at least seven flat tires (I lost track, and don't feel inclined to reread this and count them) - this, in spite of riding Schwalbe Marathons, one of the most durable tires around. On most tours any more, we have perhaps one flat per month on average. So that was an annoyance.

One thing to note though that others might learn from: Schwalbe tires are notoriously difficult to mount or remove; at least the 406 dimension tires used on a Bike Friday. We used to dread flats with these tires because of the difficulty - in fact, on our first ride to the Pyrenees, on a day ride from Foix, Rachael flattened and I just couldn't remove the tire. We gave up and flagged down a car o give Rachael a ride back to the hotel, and I biked home alone. This is no longer a problem though, ever since we started carrying the excellent, heavy-duty Pedro's type levers. Very effective; if you're a BF rider, I highly recommend them.

And, on the technical side, it was more than an annoyance to arrive in Bilbao and discover that Rachael's derailleur was broken (my fault, I think - I overpacked her suitcase). We were lucky to find a replacement, imperfect though it was - it got us through the tour, or nearly. It was also an annoyance to have to replace it in Pezenas after it also broke.

And, it was more than an annoyance to lose my billfold, along with driver's license, credit cards, and a significant wad of cash.

And finally of course, there was my food poisoning incident. It cost us five days of the tour while I recovered, caused us to write off destinations we were excited to see, and cost us a bit in uncancellable lodging reservations.

So, given all this, why was it still such a great tour? Why didn't some or all of this get us down and sour us on the overall experience? I think I credit this to age, experience and attitude. Well, and resources - there's no doubt that we're a bit privileged and can weather the financial costs of all this without too much pain. Mostly though, I think it is because we've gotten better at traveling, better at traveling together, and more philosophical over the years. We seem to be doing better all the time at keeping a philosophical attitude when things don't go as planned and at keeping flexible. We aren't wasting energy dwelling on what's gone wrong or what's been lost, but stay focused on going forward from where we are now and reaching consensus on what to do next. Other than using the experience as a learning opportunity, we don't waste energy and dissipate morale by pointlessly blaming each other, and we don't poison the present and future by dwelling on what's gone wrong in the past.

Lessons learned
There were a few, alright. There always are, if you've got your feelers out for them. In many ways, bicycle touring has aspects in common with software development. It's a complex domain where there's always room for improvement. A continuous improvement model works well here, so it's worth looking for ways to improve our game.

One lesson here is in packing the bikes for the flight. I think I broke Rachael's derailleur by trying to wedge too many accessories (shoes, water bottles) into the free space around that part of her bike. I don't think I'll make that error again.

We learned how simple it was to ship our suitcases to our final destination using UPS - just wheel them up to the store and give the problem to them. We'll undoubtedly take this approach in the future, and will pick a point of entry hotel that is in easy walking distance to a UPS outlet.

We learned that I'm probably a risk factor by carrying around my billfold. I have some characteristics that taken together make me a bit dangerous: I'm basically trusting, so I don't have my feelers out all the time for risks in my environment. And, I tend to get totally absorbed in what I'm doing, particularly with a camera in my hands. I lose myself in what I'm doing, which is both a blessing and a curse. Our plan here is that we'll have Rachael start carrying the cash when we're on an urban walkabout.

We learned something about planning our itinerary as well, when we scrapped the last two weeks and improvised a new one on the fly. There is surely a lesson here in the fact that the last ten days were perhaps the best part of the tour.

Recommendations
1. If you enjoyed or found something useful in all this, please consider donating to this website (see the donation tab at the top). The website is a one man show, and maintaining it is the primary source of income for the webmaster. We who publish here all feel fortunate that it's here. It's worth supporting. Anything helps.

2. Be careful what you eat.

3. If you're interested in visiting France but have never been to Langueduc, give it a consideration. Knowing what I know now, I would come here rather than Provence. It's a remarkable region with much to see and take in, and far quieter and more relaxed. And, if you're down here, we especially recommend that you spend a night in Carcassonne and Narbonne, and visit Fontfroide Abbey, the Cirque de Navacelles, and the Camargue.

4. Spain is a fantastic country to cycle tour in. We've been here five times now, and I like it better with every visit. It has a seemingly endless supply of quiet, empty roads - it feels like the American Southwest in some ways - and it has astonishing physical, cultural and historic diversity. And, it's quite inexpensive. You get a lot back from your time and money here.

5. We don't carry a tent any more, so we always come back with a lot of first hand lodging experience. If you're planning a tour along any of the route we took and are curious about what we liked or cared less for, drop a line.

Thanks for following along, and a special thanks to those of you that dropped a line in the Guestbook (see the tab at the top, for those of you that weren't aware that there was one). Take care.

Scott (and Rachael)