Prior to Wednesday, I had no particular inclination for or against the wearing of cycle helmets. I would mostly wear one, but occasionally leave it behind for the sake of convenience.

 

That changed Wednesday morning when, somewhere north of Roquetas de Mar, I entered a roundabout a little too fast at 20mph, hit an oily patch in the road and in a split second, found myself impacting with planet earth.

 

Apart from the cuts and bruises down my left side, mild whiplash and a seized shoulder, I had a headache and a deep dent punched into the side of my cycle helmet. I am now converted. Never again will I ride a bicycle without it.

 

Disregarding crash number 2, the run in to Nerja was a fine bit of riding. Up into Almeria, through Spaghetti Western country, down to the coast and along, until I came to the happiest of tour moments, rounding a corner to see the final destination gleaming in the distance.

 

By the Numbers:

Distance cycled - 860 miles.

Elevation climbed - (per the ridewithgps route planning website) 59,667ft, however (per the Garmin 800 GPS cycle computer) 36,876ft. A huge discrepancy, which neither Garmin nor ridewithgps.com appear to have a clear explanation for.

 

Cycling days - 19 (rest days - 5).

 

Weight carried in panniers - 6.5kg.

 

Average cost of accomodation - 28 Euros per night. Mostly hostals and pensions (B&Bs).

 

Other cycle tourers met - 14. Apart from the six who were on the ferry, there were three guys in Teruel, from Sussex, putting me to shame cycling from Brighton to Morocco. There was a Welsh guy riding north from Valencia, looking for parties, two Germans in Cariñena, looking for mountains, and a Spanish couple from Girona, riding down the coastal route on matching road bikes.

 

Crashes - 2.

 

Snakes - 3. Two not moving, presumed dead. One merging with the tarmac.

 

Puntures - 0!

 

Suncream used - 400ml.

 

 

I repeatedly found myself feeling nostalgic on the trip. Something I initially put down to farmiliar scents coming from the fauna/surroundings. But it may have been more that I was, in essence, doing what I would do when I was young, simply going out for a ride on my bike. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

If all the worries you have, for a short time, are too much luggage, not enough luggage, mechanical breakdown, etc, then in the grand scheme, that´s no worries at all.