Day 32: El Campello (Cycle/Drive)

Effectively I had a lie in this morning: the first time I'd risen after 8am in a good few weeks (8.05am to be precise!). However, given how tired I felt this morning I initially abandoned all thoughts of cycling today, instead I was minded to have a rest day.

However, as the clock struck 10 I realised that, even though I was tired, I could go for a ride, but take it easy. This would mean I could complete my planned rides for this area and move on, which fitted in with the fact that I needed to find a new park-up location tonight because of tomorrow's Tuesday market day that mandated my current location be cleared of all vehicles by midnight tonight.

The ride was good. The route was such that I repeated the first 20 kilometres or so of yesterday's ride so that I could take in the totality of the Port de Confrides climb, which is a 20.5 kilometre long with an average gradient of 3.9%.

This was followed by a short descent ...

... and then a 7.3 kilometre climb to Port de Tudons at an average gradient of 5.1%.

This was my fourth time over this pass, but the first time from this direction. And, for the fourth time, it felt cold and was cloudy but, probably, the warmest it's been up there for me, at 10°C.

The early stage of the descent was a wee bit chilly. However, by the time I reached Sella the degrees C had risen to eighteen and the gradient remained negative, which pleased me.

I'd definitely recommend this route, it is so much better than yesterday's; especially as the maximum gradients were no greater than about 10% and there are plenty of potential coffee stops, the scenery is good and, most importantly, so is the cycling.

Tonight, I arrived in El Campello at about 11pm, having completed numerous chores (laundry, disposal of grey and black water and replenishment of fresh water). It was dark! And the place I stayed last year appeared to no longer be available for use by campers! So, a nearby, temporary, alternative was found: too tired to phaff looking for a preferred location.

Tree of the day:

• Distance driven: 30 miles
• Distance cycled: 91 kilometres
• Weather: Mixed, depending which valley and how far inland and/or elevation, it was either clear skies and reasonably warm (about 18°C) or heavily overcast and cool/cold.
• Location: Google Maps

Today's route: