Racing the Sun Allacante region, Spain 55km 3.5 hrs

I know why it is so green in Spain. The locals say it is unseasonablly rainy and cold. I guess it is the same in the US. I am glad I brought a rain coat, becuase I need it today. The goal is to get a long ride in before my day of travel to Italy.

I set off in the Allante Region south of the Vallencia region I expored the previous day.I will see the town and villages of Ganada, Peggo, ElVerger, Olivia, Piles, Miramar, and Bellreguary Spian. I have mapped out a 4-5 hour ride. My hope is to expore many cities and villages along the way. As I begin the ride from Gardia Spain, I run into a road block. The tourist information place that helped me the previous day is closed for the afternoon. Yes- it is siesta time and everything is closed. So I decide to wing it with a map without road mumbers, just destination points. I find a inner city bike path to route me around the traffic.I soon merge into traffic. I would go on about my traffic experiance but I would not want to worry my mother. All I can say is that my competetuive spirit and track stands have some in handy so far. Truthfully, I get a rush from combat cycling. The only probem is that the cars always win.

Heading south and exploring the cities, winding through roads, stopping and taking pictures has left me running out of time. I stop by every beautiful flower, shepherds tending their sheep, and evey striking flountain.

I make a decision to cut down my ride so I do not find myself in the dark. After stopping about 5 times to ask the route to El Verger,I find a gentelmen with a GPS unit. In broken english with random spainsh words intertwinded he directs be back the direction I just came from.I am pleased to find a remote 2 lane high way with a developed cycle path that parallels the road.As I look to the horizon, for a moment I question if the mountains have snow capping the top of their peaks. As I cycle closer I see the snow is actually houses. I FOUND MY WHITE HOUSES!!!. I can now check this off my list of things I wanted to see.

As the evening continues on I pass a road side fruit stand. There is nothin better than a orange during a ride.

I soon realize that I have about 1.5 hours left of day light. I pass the beach and continue to my final destination. My luck, I ride upon another cyclist. He is a spainsh man, small is stature, with a fast looking bicycle and fancy clothes to match. He glares back at me and begins to accelerate, Of course, I begin to match his pace. I decide to not get on his wheel becuase I am unfimilar with the openess of the cyclist in Spain. I find it amuzing that even Spanish men do not like women to match their pace. This is evident due to the increase speed and the multiple glances back my way. In all the excitement of pacing off my spanyard, I miss my turn. I opt, not by choice to continue north so I do not get stuck in the dark. I continue to race the sun and my stomach drops as I realize I may indeed be cycling in the dark. I kick it in the big ring, tuck, and gut it out the last 15km or so. I weave in and out of traffic. I become as a car and utilize the cobble stone side walks when the traffic haults. I find myself at the station just a sdusk finds me. It was a long good, but wet, day and I raced the sun and won.

Amor,
k

Just as a FYI I am on a Itallian computer and I cannot figure out how to do spell check- sorry