Bilbao

Saturday May 30th
I'm at Seatac waiting for my flight to Frankfurt with feelings reminiscent of starting my ride three years ago. This day has taken forever to get here and at the same time has arrived instantly. In a few days I hope to relive another feeling I experienced riding cross-country; laughing out loud at the sheer joy of living out another dream.

Sunday May 31st
Well this is it, I'm here. The flights went smoothly and I arrived in Bilbao at 1PM. My baggage wasn't showing up and it started to feel like one of the Boeing trips through Bilbao when my suitcase didn't find me for four days. An airport worker finally came over to tell me and a few other lost souls that the international baggage came out on a different carousel. Sure enough both bags were there going around in circles.

I'm staying in the same hotel that I used in 2007. It's nice to have something familiar, and I have one less worry since they will keep my bike case until I come back on the 26th.

After assembling my bike and doing a short test ride I spent a few hours walking around the city near my hotel. It's Sunday so the shops are closed, but like the other European cities I've visited, the streets are filled with people of all ages. Torturing locals with incomprehensible Spanish is one of my goals and I got started right away. Some of them are very receptive while others (some bartenders) are too busy to teach me remedial language skills. Oh well, it should only get better from this day forward and no one has laughed at me.......yet. I alternate between feelings of "oh no what have I done" to "four weeks won't be long enough and we should just move here."

Preparation

In my usual fashion I have obsessed, fretted, and worried every imaginable detail and won't stop until the rubber hits the road. The plan is to stay in hotels which means the bike will be heavy, but much lighter than self-contained touring. As I mentioned before, the bike is new, and specially built for travel. It is a normal steel road bike (Rodrigues Rainier from R&E cycles) with couplings that allow the frame to be split into two parts. It fits in a suitcase 10x26x26 inches which is right at the limit of what airlines will carry without extra charges.


Bike ready to be packed


Packed


Ready for the airplane

Most of my gear consists of clothing for on and off the bike. I'm also well stocked with electronics: Ipod, camera, and mini laptop (netbook). Hopefully these devices will help me enjoy the journey instead of taking it for me.

I did a shakedown trip a few weekends ago, riding from home through Arlington and LaConner to Deception Pass State Park for the night. The next day I completed the loop down Whidbey Island to the Mukilteo ferry. It was a very valuable trip because I finally decided against taking camping gear, and was also reminded that patience is the most valuable asset for touring. Strength and impatience are no match for weakness with lots of patience. Something about aspiring to be the tortoise instead of the hare. Anyone who's ridden with me knows that I almost never identify with the slow and steady philosophy, but there is no denying F=ma when dealing with a large mass.


About to get a lesson in patience the hard way


LaConner Bridge


Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island

One of the attractions of touring Spain is the opportunity to improve my rudimentary Spanish. I have been studying in my spare time. Four weeks on my own should really help force me speak Spanish. I'm a little apprehensive which is a good indication that this trip is pushing my boundaries.

Not the Whole Summer This Time

I thought I'd finished this blog three years ago, but once again it seems like the easiest way to keep in touch during an extended trip. Last time it was Jani, Kira, and I going across the US in 12 weeks. This time it will be me, bicycling in Spain, for four weeks.

Bike touring in Europe has been a dream for awhile. One dream among many others. What put Spain atop the list were the three separate trips I took there in 2007. Boeing was working with a company in Vitoria (northern Spain) and I was lucky enough to go there for design reviews. I also managed to add side-trips to Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and San Sebastian. Seeing some of the country made me want to see more. One trip always seems to beget three more.

I spent a lot of time two rainy Christmas' ago staring at maps, planning a large loop around Northern Spain, going close but not too close to Madrid. I found that most of the cities I wanted to visit could be combined in a 1500 mile trip starting on the north coast in Bilbao. Bilbao is a large city, but not nearly as intimidating as Madrid. From there I will head east to the Picos de Europa, a small but significant mountain range near the coast. Hopefully the weather will be good and I'll be able to spend several days in and around the mountains. After that my route will go between cities that I've wanted to visit: Leon, Zamora, Salamanca, Segovia, Avila, Toledo, Cuenca, Pamplona, San Sebastian, and back to Bilbao.

I need to give credit to my brother for helping kick me in the butt, even if it was unintentional. Last fall I was still talking about cycling in Spain even though I'd done nothing to make it happen. His reply was, "Is this the same trip you were talking about last year?" I didn't want to let another year go by and decided to finally make it come true. Buying a special bike that fits in a suitcase for airline travel gave me even more incentive. It will never pay for itself (unless the airlines start charging much more than $100 to carry regular size bikes) but I'll have fun trying to justify the bike.

Trip Details:
I leave on May 30th, arrive in Bilbao on the 31st, and start cycling on June 1st. The route should require about 19 days of cycling, leaving me with seven days off whenever and wherever needed. I need to be back in Bilbao on June 26th for my flight home on the 27th. I also want to leave a day open for visiting the people I've worked with in Vitoria.

Here is my route: