• Helene Rimberg
  • Helene Rimberg

The Grand Adventure

A bike trip with no end Read more
  • On da ferry

    October 11, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Very rainy and dark ride to the 8 am ferry. Get soaked while we await getting checked in with the cars. Luckily they pity on us and allow early entry. Gather up our provisions and tuck in for 29 hours. Grey day all day. Read, cards and silly ferry games like trivia quizzes kept us amused.Read more

  • Bilbao

    October 12, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Sun rises and it is actually warm. Spot dolphins and even a whale as we make our way to Spanish coast. Arrive and it is a return to summer. Amazed by all the people out. Turns out to be National Spain Day aka Columbus Day. Take a swinging gondola bridge and an elevator towards our campground. Hit the very crowded beach. Must eat out as stores all closed.Read more

  • A day to tour

    October 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Take the metro in to Bilbao and spend the day exploring. Highlights include the large market and the mix of old and new architecture. Enjoy a tapas lunch! Mostly sunny and warm as rain holds off until we are back in the campground. (More photos to come)Read more

  • The rain in Spain …,,

    October 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    As forecasted the rain has arrived. Head out anyway, enjoying incredible bike paths as we clear Bilbao. Rain ends for awhile as we enter the river valley but returns off and on throughout the day. At least it’s a warm rain. Once again the cycling gods are looking after us and we find ourselves camping for free on the porch of a cabana.Read more

  • Oña

    October 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Valley fog lifts and we start the day with climbing. Beautiful views as we clear the mountain pass. Long cruise into a canyon. Scenery seems similar to Utah. Fun caves on the side of the road. Stay in a hotel in small town of Oña.Read more

  • Onto Burgos

    October 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Travel on gravel bike path amongst beautifully colored rocks. Path goes gradually up and into our friend - the wind. Beer off of the gravel as we head into Burgos. Quick tour around including an impressive cathedral. Head out of town to meet our warm
    Showers host. After some miscommunication, find our way to finca (farm). Santi joins us later and enjoy a lovely evening - practicing Spanish and drinking wine from his bodega.
    Read more

  • Onto the Camino

    October 17, 2023 in Spain

    Beautiful sunshine to start our day. Find our way onto the Camino de Santiago. Route varies between road, gravel and eventually rocks. Many pilgrims are making their way west to Campostela de Santiago. Take a few diversions to get off the rocks and enjoy brief moments with a tail wind. Stay in a small town in an ALBERGUE with fellow pilgrims.Read more

  • No me gusta el viento

    October 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    Sadly the wind the wind continues and while it is mostly a side wind, at times it stops us in our tracks. Go alongside the Camino path to optimize pavement. Kilometers are slow to pass but we make it to our destination and check into large municipal hostel. Explore small town if Sahagun and eat an ok meal out.Read more

  • Storm Aline

    October 19, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    With an inch of rain and huge winds forecasted, opt to stay put. Wander a bit ur spend most of the day in the hostel planning how to again escape the rain and wind (next week is forecasted to be rainy and cold). Nice salmon dinner.Read more

  • Battling the wind

    October 20, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    Early departure as hostel has an 8 am check-our. As we drink coffee in the cafe, learn that torrential rain hit all across Spain - knocking out train services. Our power to bring the rain is quite impressive. Sunny and very cold. Slow but steady progress towards Leon. Incredible straight road and rather boring scenery. Confirms our plan to leave the Camino. Check in to pleasant hostel and explore a bit. Nice chicken dinnerRead more

  • Leon

    October 21, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Sunny and cold morning. Wander around the city - including a large outdoor market, many churches, and lots of windy alley ways. A tad bit of rain but mostly bright. With a tiny kitchen in our new hostel, opt for a tapas dinner. Explore a bit of the night life.Read more

  • Leon day 2

    October 22, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Another day to spend in Leon while we await our train. Head in a different direction and find skulls! Celebration of Mexican culture. Watch a 10k and go to a museum.

  • Train to Madrid

    October 23, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Early and dark ride to train station. Enjoy the scenery on our slow train to Madrid. Sunshine greets us a we ride up to our hostel. Leave the bikes and go explore! Big and beautiful city! Wait in the rain to get into Reina for free. Well worth it! Nice tapas dinner.Read more

  • Jucar Gorge

    October 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    On the advice of our host, we scrapped our route to head into the Jucar Gorge. Clouds were a bit slow to clear but we had a solid tailwind as we cruised along a beautiful cycle path before dropping into the gorge. Incredibly quiet and scenic route. Homes were built right into the rock. Stopped at Alcala del Jucar. Another nice dinner out - retuning to our hotel afterwards.Read more

  • Back onto the plateau

    October 26, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    Explore a bit further down the gorge, avoiding the uphill that awaits us. First climb isn’t too bad and then we hit the wind - again. Lots of wind turbines suggesting wind is a frequent presence. Make it to Alpera and find our warm showers host. Great dinner in the finca with lots of kittens.Read more

  • Castles and vineyards

    October 27, 2023 in Spain

    The day is bright and blustery. Good tailwind until Almansa where we stop and tour the castle. The day warms, especially as we drop off the plateau. Find ourselves on a Camino - complete with rocks and sand. Finally get off that and make tracks to Sax. Check into a Caravan campground.Read more

  • To the sea

    October 29, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    As we have switched off daylight savings time, we have a return to earlier sunrise. Start the day with a nice downhill through crops of pomegranate and citrus. Make our way to the heavily populated coast. Relatively good cycleways keep us safe. We have returned to the Med.Read more

  • Halloween

    October 31, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Clouds roll in but it is still fairly warm. Heading inland towards Murcia. As we climb we head away from populated areas and into olive and lemon groves. Nice gradual climb and plunge down through a beautiful canyon. Lose all elevation as we make our way to Murcia. Set up and opt to take bus into Murcia. Many people decked out for Halloween. Nice tapas dinnerRead more

  • All Saints Day Hike

    November 1, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Spaniards take November 1 as a day to visit their dead. We opted to go for a hike that started at a cemetery. Toasty day as we left the city behind and walked amongst lemons and olives. Easy walk until we hit the last part which went straight up. Beautiful views but a tad bit scary. Made it out alive!Read more

  • A dusty day

    November 2, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Left behind our cat friend and with the wind at our backs zoomed along cycleways. Hard packed gravel was the theme for most of the day making for dust everywhere. Checked into huge campground, again finding ourselves to be the youngsters amongst the elderly caravaners. Head into Santa Palo for pizza.Read more

  • Around the metropolis

    November 3, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    Side wind as we head north towards Alicante. Nice side roads keep us away from the busyness. Take a sweeping loop around the fringe on sidewalks/bike paths. Seems to take forever. Roads buckle up as we leave the city and ride amongst very ritzy seaside villas. A terrible rock road reminds us to look carefully at our route. Late check in to campground by the sea.Read more