Day 389: Badalona to Sant Cugat

Time: 2:00
Distance: 24.5 km
Avg Speed: 12.25 kph
Terrain: Rolling cityscape
Location: N 41° 28' 0", E 2° 5' 0"

We had a short ride to a good destination today. The only thing that stood in our way was the bustling metropolis of Barcelona. A friend of ours lives north of town and was kind enough to offer us a bed and a shower for a few days. We couldn’t pass that offer up, so we left our little hostal under the cover of rain and clouds. Riding in the rain isn’t our favorite way to travel, but when you can get a home cooked meal the goal outweighs the journey. Getting through town was not as straightforward as we thought and we stalled out a bit running into one-way streets, hills reminiscent of San Francisco, and highways that didn’t allow bikes. We eventually wound our way to a river and got on a recreation path that took us in the direction we wanted to go. A few more correct guesses and we were like rolling wet blankets heading towards the town of Sant Cugat. Our friend, Fernando, gave us his address and with Leslie’s sense of direction (with the help of google maps) we got within a couple blocks before I broke out the cell phone for help on the final approach. We found the place easy enough and before we knew it we had cold beers in our hands and a hot meal in our bellies. A little wine and some little Spanish pastries rounded off our meal before we turned in for a little afternoon nap. Our host’s graciousness and thoughtfulness quickly made our experience of the wet city dash become a distant memory. We will spend a couple of days here taking care of some business, making Fernando play tour guide and resting up before venturing further south towards Seville.

Smelly like a wet dog,
CK