Girona

Sellmer's place provided us with a great night's rest, we woke up around 11, which gave us about 10 hours (more than twice last night). We ate breakfast together, then walked around for an hour and had coffee and stopped at the bank, which apparently put RBC into a frenzy at home as they called me today and locked my card down.

We packed our bikes in the car and drove to Girona after the walk and chat. It's a nice easy drive on toll roads that seem fairly cheap. It rained a little and was cool, but the terrain is beautiful. Our B&B is a little north of Girona, and took us a while to find. It's a large stone country house (mansion) owned by some Brits who did a full modern renovation on it. We were tired but suited up for a ride, which made me realize my plastic raincoat was left in the bike box at Sellmo's.

It wasn't hard to find great riding, it goes out right from our doorstep. Even with sprinkles iit wasn't cold. The roads are one lane (or no lane?) and are fairly empty. Like pretty much totally empty. And they're narrow. So really it feels like ultra-wide fresh blacktop personal bike path through the rolling foothills of the Pyrenees, in the afternoon humidity and slowly setting sun. And in case that needs any clarification, that feels a lot like cycling nirvana.

To be honest, I didn't think it'd be too tough to come across great cycling here. When a guy like Lance, who obviously can afford anywhere, and needs a great cycling training ground, picks a spot, I'd guess there was a little forethought that went into it.

Our B&B people gave me a number of a cycle tour guy to call, and after we chatted I couldn't figure it out. I'm sure it was the right thing for some people to pay €200/day for route finding and support, but I'm fairly confident my cycling nose and range with a pocket full of gels is sufficient to find good enough routes. Plus I've got some articles that quote Lance's preferred routes.

Tori and I went to Banyoles for Chinese tapas for dinner, and are relaxing in our room. Heavenly!