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Louise GleesonLouise Gleeson
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traveled in 3 countries Read more
  • Blue Bear Tours Spain - almost
    1
    Day 45

    Lucky he likes aeroplanes

    October 28, 2022 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    We found Blue Bear back at our first hotel, carelessly stuffed into a bike box these last six weeks. We all apologised but he remained rather expressionless, which was fair enough, I guess. Of almost equal note, our bike boxes still existed, so the progression onto airplanes has been very smooth. Home in 18 hours…Read more

  • Blue Bear Tours Spain - almost
    Day 43

    On the flats

    October 26, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Flat being a relative term. I think there are some really flat bits of Spain, we just didn’t see them this time. Even so, we’ve been on the plateau for the last few days, enjoying hills that are gentle, and that end. We reached the official 1000km mark yesterday, made apparent by Jimmy frantically throwing fisties and wiggling his butt up ahead of us oldies a lagging a bit back down the track. We were on a repeat run of a particularly nice bike path that Komoot had served up, which had brought us into Avila at sunset a couple of days before . That day had been a bit of a stretch, lovely as it was, which resulted in dine in Domino’s pizza before finding our apartment about 9pm, and a rest day to follow. Anyway, we got the thousand, despite the first week being on foot, so cheers to the boys for their enthusiasm to the end, and to me and Lou for being generally awesome parents and trip organisers. We’re on the last train now, back to Madrid, which is crisscrossed with bike paths to get us to our beloved bike boxes, and hopefully back to Blue Bear too….Read more

  • Blue Bear Tours Spain - almost
    Day 40

    Exposure Therapy

    October 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I have a bit of PTSD when thinking about bikes on trains. Running late in Paris and then getting a flat tyre on the kid’s Chariot, trying to bundle everything on at the last minute without the two year old falling onto the tracks, realising that the train door won’t open wide enough for the chariot, realising that the fold-up mechanism on the chariot is broken, …. The train starting to move with only half the family on board and half the chariot still out the door. Fun times, good memories. That was not the only bad experience. I remember another time being pulled onto a departing subway by the shirtfront, having managed to get my bike on, but not all of myself, as the tunnel edge approached.
    The rules here in Spain say only three bikes on a train, so it’s always been a bit of a lottery when we turn up. We can’t ever buy 4 tickets. On our 5th train now as a family however, so fortunately the rules seem bendable. Not that the train we’re on now is going where we decided to go last night. That train line, for reasons unknown, was declared strictly ‘no bicicletas’ at the ticket booth, so Salamanca will not be enjoying our company this evening. Instead, Valladolid had us riding down the green carpet this morning, laid especially for us on the promenade into the main plaza. We think Penelope and Javier might have had first go on it last night for some filmfest, but we just speculate . Valladolid has also enjoyed us putting on a fine display of family hacky sack with the soccer ball this morning. A double hack has been our modest best so far, but one of us is just turning the corner after breaking a rib a week ago, so cred to them for getting off the couch at all. We did all greatly enjoy watching the Valladolidlian A League team, known locally as Pucelas, beat their rivals from the north yesterday afternoon. We were sat amongst the Basques, so had to feign enthusiasm when their team took shots, but were secretly happy when the local underdogs got their home ground victory. Seeing a game in La Liga was one of the few items on our ‘to do’ list, so it was a victory for us as well. We’ve finally left the north coast to spend a few days in the heartland before heading home. Hoping that the rains in Spain choose to fall elsewhere for a bit, and let us enjoy a bit of relatively flat cycling.    Read more

  • Blue Bear Tours Spain - almost
    Day 32

    Bollocks!

    October 15, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Jimmy rode into a cast iron bollard this afternoon, that was helpfully placed in the middle of the bike path, and sliced his leg on the nasty steel plate reflector bolted to it. As he went down Lou ran over his head and then tumbled over him. Listening to the mini peloton pile up behind me, I assumed at first that Charlie was breaking his arm again, so have to admit to being relieved at first to see he wasn’t in the jumble. Lou lost some knee skin, and was a bit traumatised by the lingering visual of her tyre going over Jimmy’s head. Jimmy was generally unperturbed, even when I chopped off a couple of tatty bits of skin, and became rather delighted in fact when I told him he was going to be left with a scar.Read more

  • Blue Bear Tours Spain - almost
    1113111
    Day 29

    Coasting along

    October 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    I had a spew. Feel better now so might try finishing this unlogged blog. It tasted like chocolate, which was a change from Parmesan or off milk. Jimmy was impressed when I blew bits of carrot out my nose afterwards. I was impressed I didn’t get run over as I hurriedly crossed to the bushy side of the road and hurled round one ahead of me into some innocent shrubbery. Charlie, who routinely cruises in second position behind me, and who is used to my frequent calls of “stopping”, was impressed that I altered the call correctly and then missed my shoes.
    We’re cruising west along the Atlantic coast now. Lou is swimming at every opportunity- an activity most locals seem to have given up on this time of year. The beaches are actually pretty nice.
    The Basques love putting lots of x’s and z’s in their words, so though we’re passed through half a dozen beautiful seaside towns we can barely name them. Our bums and legs are getting pretty used to spending all day on a bike now , so we often pass through places with barely a pause. Not to say we don’t still stop a hundred times each day for food or a photo or to fix something or change clothes or grab a coffee etc etc . Or spew. Accomodation has been a pleasant blend of top class sneaky camps and seaside hotels. The one we’re in now, a late call that trumped the beachside DIY camp with my top and bottom frailties, has a kind of underwater theme going on, and a bike storage room so well decorated that it puts most people’s dining halls to shame. All for $200, breakfast for 4 incluido.
    Last night we camped high on a grassy hill in front of some ruins, about a stone’s throw off the Camino, with a panorama over the Atlantic below us. The boys cooked up the pasta for us in the fading light, which never really finished fading because of the glow coming back to us from nearby Bilbao.    Read more

  • Blue Bear Tours Spain - almost
    1
    Day 26

    I see the light

    October 9, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We stayed a night last week in a little village called Getaria, after a massive 10 km ride in the morning. The ride was downhill or flat the whole way, with an incessant, biting 3 knot tailwind of about 20 degrees. It was so brutal that we had to have a swim half way through, and another when it was finally over. And another, which was why we never managed to leave town that day. I scoped out the headland, known as “the rat”, for a potential sneaky camp. It was actually an island that had been artificially rejoined to the docks of town, which made riding up it so much easier. After a bit more leisure time by the water we climbed the hill and cooked dinner on the lookout, then threw up the tent/ hammock in a little grassy grove under the lighthouse a few metres back from the cliff. Fortunately the beams swept over our heads, not blindingly through the flimsy nylon of our shelter, so a good night’s sleep was had by all. Awoken by rain, we blundered around in the dark to get Charlie into the tent from his hammock, before realising it was 7am anyway. Awake at 7 was a good hour better than our usual, and allowed for sunrise breakfast back on the lookout before getting on our way. That one was a long day, we pulled in at 6 pm to what eventuated as a rather luxurious dockfront hotel and rest day in Lekeitio .Read more

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