I woke up, made breakfast and packed my stuff. So far, so good.

The problems were not before I saw that I apparently had a flat. I search for the hole, and any scrap in the tire, for a total of 30 minutes, without finding anything. Some road bikers stop, one who gave me some repair patches and “rubber cement”, and one who could help me plan the rest of my day.
When putting the wheel back, I managed to get the brake pads to hop loose, so I also got to learn how to insert those.
I got enough air in the tube to get to the petrol station a couple of kilometres away, where I put in more air and also bought two baguettes for an euro. After a high climb through the city, I could start biking, and at twelve I had managed 5 kilometres in total, far behind the schedule.
It started slow, with head wind and roads in pretty bad shape. I felt that this day sucked and wondered if I would even manage 80 kilometres. Then, at an intersection, I was turning right, and suddenly I had tailwind and good roads. Now I rolled really fast!
Suddenly, I got 150 meter height to take, and it was around 30 degrees. I pushed through it, and finally on the top, went into a petrol station to refill water, use the toilet and buy some ice cream. As it was time for lunch, I found a place in the shadow, and ate one of the baguettes.

My last honey!

It went down, until the next city, where it went uphill again, until at 385 metres. I found a Lidl with some free wifi outside it, so I bought some food for dinner and for the next day.
In the next town I found another Lidl where I bought snickers. It was getting late so I needed a place to stay at, and started looking. I found a petrol station at the intersection between my road and the highway, and asked if I could pitch my tent there. No problem, and there were a water tap on the outside. No wifi though, but there were a 24-hour restaurant nearby, where I went and asked for wifi. No problem, and I talked a bit with them. After taking a look at the menu, I decided to eat some “real food” instead, and I am happy for that! It was really much, to a pretty low price. I also asked if they had a shower, wish they had, and they told me I could use it for free because I was “an adventurer”!

Yummy!

I also asked for a table with a power outlet, so they got me a cable from the outlet to the table. Not a small one, but the ones you usually see at construction sites. The people really were nice and even if the day started shitty, at least it ended really well!

After a nice morning with a big breakfast, and getting both sandwiches, coca-cola, fruit and cheese for lunch, I started at 1010. I weighted my bike before leaving, and it was 55,6 kilo! It will be fun to see how low I can go next time instead of making it ultra-comfortable. 🙂
I had decided to get down to some friends near Gibraltar until Friday, which according to the GPS would be 419 kilometres in four days. Doable, even though there would be hills in the way, and I knew it would be more kilometres.

A really nice guy!

The first 28 kilometres were (relatively) flat, and I met an old gentleman on the way whom I talked with for a few kilometres, before the hills started and he headed right.
It went uphill to approximately 850, down to 650, up to 900, down, up, down to 500… During the day I climbed approximately 1000 metres. The views were great though!

A break with some sheep
in the background

Down there I had a break!

I usually took my pauses in valleys, so that I can start with energy when I continue uphill.

Awesome me!

On the way (at my 5600 kilometre, actually) I met another bike tourer during an uphill. Richard had a flat earlier, and now had a bump in his tire he could not get away. I think I got something from him, as my following days would be really bad flat-wise!
I ate lunch in a village where I found water and shadow. It consisted of tortellini and some of the cheese Ramon gave me.
More uphill, but at least more good views!

I can’t sadly catch how
astounding the views were

Close to the end of the day, I had a really awesome descent. Going between 60-65 for five kilometres with really awesome views, I just didn’t care about filming but instead just enjoyed the moment so much. It was awesome!
I had to check the GPS so that I did not choose the wrong way in the long run. I had already taken many kilometres but decided to keep going a bit more as it was not close to dark yet (and I was going to wild camp). It was hard to find a good spot, and I got many kilometres (128 in total) but I found a spot I decided was good enough, as it did not seem to be a place anyone cared about. It was just beside a small road, but apparently not a perfect place. No one disturbed me really, but a few cars seemed to stop to take a look, as I woke up to this more than once.