Day twenty eight

 

A short break on Las Ramblas, Barcelona

The ride into Barcelona is very enjoyable. The weather remained good, sunny but cool with cloud making it ideal cycling weather. I arrive in Barcelona at 11:00 but it is another hour before I am on Las Ramblas after negotiating endless traffic lights and round-a-bouts through the city. Las Ramblas looks much the same as I remember and seems rather overrated to me, but it was a nostalgic visit and there was a fantastic market off one of the side streets.

After spending an hour in the centre I head for my chosen campsite on the coast, south of Barcelona. It is a relatively easy ride until the last couple of kilometers when Google maps takes me through a sewer. Why they chose this route I have no idea as there was clearly a road route for vehicles, which I had been on. My bike, shoes and trousers end up spattered with gunk that stinks. It is a storm overflow channel that runs out into the sea and a storm was brewing over Barcelona in the late afternoon. These channels are notoriously dangerous due to flash floods trapping people behind high walls. I could see no good reason for choosing this route for cyclists and wonder what Google are playing at.

Was this sewer Google maps idea of a shortcut?

 

The storm over Barcelona finally arrives in the evening.

 

The storm that had been predicted for days finally arrives over Barcelona but thankfully its full force never quite reaches the campsite.