This long Mayday weekend, I went away with my English climbing friends to cycle the Ruta del Carrilet. Between it being a national holiday here in Spain and falling on Tamara’s birthday (sort of) we gathered as a bunch of expats and cycled the Ruta del Carrilet.
Saturday
South on the Ruta del Carrilet
The Ruta del Carrilet II used to be a railroad from Girona to Sant Feliu de Guíxols 40km cycle ride and takes in all the beautiful scenery along the way. The original train route was calculated for the least amount of slopes which made cycling most agreeable! All the old stations remain along the route, and now show expire timetables, and memorabilia. These stations also have facilities including drinking water.
I should point out it’s Ruta del Carrilet No.2 as there’s another Ruta del Carrilet No.1 which may do at some other point!
Keep in mind that Strava only records the amount of time moving, the trip south took a lot longer than expected. This could be on account of a lot of some of the group figuring out their bikes. It also could be said that we had lots of great conversations along the way. However, the overall trip time was about 5-6 hours including various stops and a lunch break. The moving time alone was nearly three and a half hours which was rather surprising for me!
We arrived, in Sant Feliu de Guíxols in the evening, tired and exhausted. We found the hotel we had booked which was a rather pleasant little place, freshened up and went out for food. The evening turned to-night quite quickly and before I knew it I was fighting to get back to the hotel room before 1am, leaving the others still at the bar drinking.
Sunday
We left the bikes at the hotel where we had stayed and took a hike along the coast from Sant Feliu de Guíxols to Sant Pol de la Playa. The trail was windy and took lots of climbs and descents, but the coast line along the Costa Brava was gorgeous. The weather on Sunday was a little poor. However, the good company made up for it!
We had a tapa based lunch in Sant Pol de la Playa before heading back, frankly, I was a little fed up with the ups and downs and opted for the shortcut along the road.
That evening we took naps and regrouped for supper at an italian. Frankly, I think I was still recovering from the cycle ride the day before. 😛
Monday
Now call me a sucker for punishment but Tuesday I have to be up at dawn. I don’t like arriving home without an organization for my following day (if I have to be up at dawn). I made a decision to cycle on ahead of the group and try to return to Barcelona a little quicker than the rest.
North on the Ruta del Carrilet
The first 20km David joined me for company and we made it in just over an hour. We took a refreshment break. To my disbelief by the time the waitress served me my drink the rest of the group were arriving. I downed my drink and hit the road again. An hour later I pulled into Girona.
I later found out at the train station that the next train wouldn’t leave for another hour and twenty minutes and was going to take about an hour and a half to get home. I sucked it up and went for lunch.
