Our second bicycle trip through Catalonia 23 - 30 September

After a long day of transport into Madrid, train to Barcelona and then on to Ripoll, we were ready to start on our next bicycling adventure with Creative Catalonia. We start in the Pyrenees, travel to the Mediterranean Sea, and inland again to some medieval villages.

Ripoll's Monastery of Santa Maria.

The Romanesque portal was built in the 12 Century and is know as the stone bible because of all the biblical stories it tells.

The Monastery early the following morning.

A tomb inside.

There were some beautiful manuscripts produced at this monastery.

The cloisters were wonderful.

Here we are at the beginning of the 'route of iron', an old railway track, rearing and ready to head off on our second ride..

We started with a gentle climb on a fantastic surface.

How green and lush it is in the Pyrenees compared to the Castile area we last rode in.

A Romanesque bridge across the River Ter at Sant Joan de les Abadesses.

After about nine kilometres left the rail trail for a while and discovered we had a 6 and a half kilometre steep climb over the Santigosa Pass. We are smiling here at the top, but you should have seen us 10 minutes earlier.

Still, the views were great...

...and we had a 12 and a half kilometres exhilarating down hill ride.

Where ever we went, the Catalan independence flag was flying proudly.

After a long and varied day, we stayed in a lovely countrified hotel for the night, just outside Olot.