Having worked pretty hard over the spring and summer, the time has come for a well earned holiday. An opportunity to find some Sun and forget about the abysmal summer we had in the UK. Originally I planned for Espe and I to take a road trip around Belgium, Holland, Germany, France and Spain visiting as many friends as possible. The plan was to be in Valencia for a wedding two weeks into the trip. I had a long list of people and places to visit but due to the lack of money and, more importantly, the lack of a car, I had to abandon this idea a couple of months ago and buy some cheap flights to Spain instead.

Discussing the doomed plan with work colleague Ants, she suggested that I just jump on my bike and disappear for a couple of weeks. I got quite excited by the prospect but then kind of forgot about the idea in amongst the busyness of flat hunting and a move. With less than a week to go until I fly, I figured I’d better look into my options before I end up spending three weeks lying in the sun, reading books and over indulging in great food (not such a bad prospect actually).

Anyway, after spending the evening researching I’ve discovered that I can take my bike on an Easyjet flight for £16. All I need to do is dismantle it and put it in a box. A bit more research showed that there are some good Mountain Bike routes north of Madrid. But… a few routes north of Madrid won’t fill the holiday… What I need is a bigger challenge. Something that I don’t know if I’m capable of achieving. Something that will let me see rural Spain. Realising that I fly into Madrid and out of Valencia, an idea started to form. Why not cycle from Madrid to Valencia (a mere 350 kilometres), and to make things more interesting, crossing every mountain range I can find on the way?

I have five days to figure it all out and try to make it happen. Watch this space…