Author: Rob Ainsley

The final day of the trip was a short, sunny, easy hop up to Gijón. Just as well we had all day to do it: just north of Oviedo our intended back-roads route was closed (pic). It was a rally – not one by Extinction Rebellion, but a car and motorcycle one. Somehow the spectators…

A tough day in prospect today, with plenty of climbing, and rain forecast. But, to compensate, we had the most spectacular scenery of the trip, and a unique Asturian experience at the end. And perhaps most importantly, a fine breakfast where we discovered yet again the delights of León’s custom of free tapas – in…

A fairly low-key day today, all on minor roads, almost all flat, through quiet villages. A notable feature of many of them was these hillside entrances that suggested a house in the cliffs, complete with chimneys on the bank top (pic). They’re bodegas: cavelike chambers used for smoking meat and making wine and, increasingly nowadays,…

Yesterday, Day 8, was a rest day exploring Salamanca. We resumed cycling today, and we’re well into the groove now – Groove Armada, in the case of Nigel’s hub-dynamo-powered, bluetooth-speaker onboard sound system – and today was a full day of very enjoyable cycling on, yes, the almost untrafficked N630 on a warm sunny day…

The longest, and best, day of the tour so far. It was Palm Sunday, start of Semana Santa, and the faithful were walking through Plasencia’s main square with fronds (pic). Our search for meaning in life was a little different at this point, but it was successful: we did indeed find a cafe open serving…

Another fabulous day of road cycling: sunny, virtually no wind, roads almost empty apart from other cyclists (pic), and even some scenery to look at en route. I think he said something like, ¿Tienes también el fregadero en esas alforjas? (‘Have you got the kitchen sink in those panniers as well?’) We were now firmly…

A glorious day of warm sunshine, quiet roads, little wind, and only one puncture, so we’ll take that. En route out of Mérida we looped past the ruins of the Roman aqueduct (pic). It dates from 1900 years ago, only slightly older than my back tyre, which is probably why I keep getting punctures. Now…

A longish day of N630 spadework in sun and headwind, with punctures featuring prominently. I got up early to fix yesterday’s flat before we left our hotel, but obviously didn’t do much of a job: an hour later , it was hissing like an audience of geese at a pantomime villain boiling kettles. Still, I…

Yesterday, Day 2, was a rest day in Seville, doing admin and sightseeing and experiencing the very relaxed pace of life here. Not quite ideal, actually, when you’re in a bank trying to make an urgent payment. Anyway, this morning we checked out of our lovely Airbnb apartment in characterful Triana, with its vibrant bars…

‘A journey of a thousand kilometres’, goes the old proverb, ‘begins with a chocolate con churros‘ (pic). OK, so the End to End properly started here, at the Old Fortress at the bottom end of Cádiz (pic). The city claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe at 3000 years old, and to…