He is in Spain, me in Canada

[shootingstar]

That's life..but he's currently cycling solo in Spain right now. Madrid, Toledo and now in some small town on his way to Seville. (He will be attending a cycling conference where he is presenting a paper.)

I've never been to Spain, but get's one dreamin'. Right now the countryside where he is looks parched. Except maybe some blooming trees closer to Seville.

In Madrid they have some frickin' wide bike paths..:confused:

He reports to me: "I'm in cooler area now...more greenery and cows. Cows don't digest their food well above 25 degrees C." Well, thank you darling ex-farmer. And his pics include old Spanish rural buildings ...and sheep. Thank you dearest. :rolleyes:

[hebe]

I hope the time flies by until his safe return. And of course that his presentation goes well.

Mr Hebe is in Seattle again, so far away!

[Crankin]

Seville is one the most interesting and beautiful cities I've been to. I would love to see northern Spain, now.

[shootingstar]

If you can afford it, hebe, and if he gets another extended biz trip in Seattle, you should join him there especially in the summer. Seattle is like Vancouver, it doesn't rain much during summer. Certainly there's enough forumites based there to guide you.

He and I Skype every evening whenever he's on his cycling trips..and I'm not there. He makes a serious attempt to ensure each hotel/motel along the way has Internet access. I do join him on his long trips, when I can. Part of his trip is biz related since he's trying to do stuff in evening after bike touring during the day.

Well, he found it interesting, Crankin that marzipan is big and popular in Toledo. While it maybe for the tourists, it's probably because almond trees grow there? He enjoyed Toledo for its well preserved medieval architecture whereas Madrid he found expansive, etc. But their core streets are quite pedestrianized..he said it's something to hear the bubble of voices in the evening, not cars.

[hebe]

I'm glad he's finding his trip interesting.

I've been to Seattle once with him and would love to go again, when Small Girl is a little bigger. We went when I was very newly pregnant and it would be brilliant to revisit Seattle without morning sickness or asking room service for green beans at 5am.

[Triskeliongirl]

When he gets back, it would be great if he would be willing to share his route, as well as comments on how busy the traffic was, i.e. did he feel SAFE on his bike, were there adequate shoulders or minimal traffic, etc. We may want to ride a similar itinerary (sevilla to madrid) this summer. We could also ride for part and take a train for part if the traffic gets bad as you approach madrid, etc.

[shootingstar]

When he gets back, it would be great if he would be willing to share his route, as well as comments on how busy the traffic was, i.e. did he feel SAFE on his bike, were there adequate shoulders or minimal traffic, etc. We may want to ride a similar itinerary (sevilla to madrid) this summer. We could also ride for part and take a train for part if the traffic gets bad as you approach madrid, etc.

Well this gives incentive for us to have his trip post notes and pic highlights up on one of our blogs! :rolleyes:

His comment about Madrid area was that there were alot of expressways/highways which puzzled him. Madrid isn't totally bike friendly --it sounded closer to a big North American city with some very wide streets. However there is a green ring route for cyclists in the city which he did most of it one day.. Anyway, more to come in blog later.

Train is his last resort if necessary. After the Velo-city 2011 cycling conference in Sevilla, he hopes to get to the coast for a few days.

Since you're in Texas you probably would be used to the summer heat in Spain. :)

[Crankin]

I wouldn't ride right in Seville; although there are some wide boulevards and bike lanes, there's tons of traffic. Lot's of commuters, though, with Velo type rentals, like in Paris. But, I'm not a city type commuter.
Our tour drove us a little bit out of the city to start. We rode into the city of Granada (that was barely OK, it was Sunday), but I skipped the ride into Alahambra and took the van. Most of us did. The drivers were absolutely courteous, stayed behind long pacelines, gave us wide berths, and waved. But, the sheer number of cars were just something I'm not used to.
The temperatures in southern Spain in May were already brutal; if I had not lived in AZ and had some type of experience with those temps, it would have totally freaked me out. The first day we rode, it was flat, but totally unshaded. I found out my Terry Bella shorts are too heavy for 95 degrees. I ended up rinsing out my 2 pairs of Shebeest S Pros. It was about 65 in the AM, got up to close to 100 most of the days, until a front moved in and we had cool/cloudy weather for 2 days. Thankfully, the days we did the the climbs that were part of the Vuelta.
I loved Spain.

[tulip]

I love Spain, and would have liked to go to that conference. But as it's peripheral to my current planning practice, I really couldn't justify it. Hopefully I'll be doing more bike planning for the next conference.

I love city riding. It is the best way to learn about a city. I lived in Paris but did not ride there (it was before Paris became bike-friendly). I went back a couple of years ago with my bike, and I saw more of Paris on my bike than I had when I lived there. The Metro is great, but you miss everything above ground.

Barcelona is quite wonderful; I wasn't a huge fan of Madrid. Bilbao is interesting; the Guggenheim was under construction when I was there, so it was a while ago.

[shootingstar]

I love Spain, and would have liked to go to that conference. But as it's peripheral to my current planning practice, I really couldn't justify it. Hopefully I'll be doing more bike planning for the next conference.

I love city riding. It is the best way to learn about a city. I lived in Paris but did not ride there (it was before Paris became bike-friendly). I went back a couple of years ago with my bike, and I saw more of Paris on my bike than I had when I lived there. The Metro is great, but you miss everything above ground.

Barcelona is quite wonderful; I wasn't a huge fan of Madrid. Bilbao is interesting; the Guggenheim was under construction when I was there, so it was a while ago.

Based on the photos I've seen, Barcelona looks very interesting.
Well, tulip the conference will be in Vancouver, BC for 2012. :D More about that soon! :)

[shootingstar]

Some initial postings and pics of cycling in Spain (http://www.thirdwavecyclingblog.wordpress.com)during this time of year. It gets warmer towards Sevilla.

There will be more over the next few days too.
He ended up cycling 120 kms. over 3 mountain passes on one of the days later on. Now his camera battery recharger broke down and so no pics for his remaining 145 kms. to Seville. I hope he buys a recharger even though it'll be more expensive in Europe.

[shootingstar]

More pics, he took while cycling in Spain..in velo-city blog and 3rd wave blog.

There some cities he hasn't gotten around to writing them up though I have access to all his pics. I must admit Spain is one of the countries I haven't taken time to read up alot on my own on its art, architecture and history (except for their influence on North America in claiming parts of the New World centuries ago) . I have known abit more about parts of history and art for France, Germany and Italy.