Penguins Bike

June 29, 2026 - biked 40 km (25 mi) - biked 464 km (288 mi) total

I had an interview at 6pm, so we needed to book a place with reliable internet. Also I’m still sore from the climbs a few days ago, so today was kind of like a rest day. I sometimes lie to myself and that’s ok.

David booked this cute hostel in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains that came with a bottle of red wine.

Our bikes got their first shower today! They are so filthy from traversing these Spanish dirt and rock roads, so David hosed them off and even cleaned and greased Sarah’s chain while I was interviewing. Sigh.

It’s our last night in Spain and we have a few thoughts:

• We liked 1 out of 3 sangrias we tried.

• Other wine and alcohol is actually way cheaper than the states.

• People are generally very nice to bikes, but we’ve witnessed some pretty upset drivers.

• Everyone wants to speak in English than practice our Spanish.

• Our Spanish has improved.

We will miss Spain. But tomorrow we cross the border to France!

June 28, 2026 - biked 83 km (51 mi) - biked 424 km (263 mi) total

We had a delightful day with a good combo of beachside paths, dirt roads, and slight hills. We were pooped and ready to get to camp when we made it to one final lookout over the Golf de Roses and our campsite on the shore and France just over the hills when we looked down and...

GPS WAS GONE. Our penguin mascot fell out from peeking out of the top my front pannier somewhere along the bumpy dirt roads of the day. This made me very sad that we didn't notice. We had a big sulk thinking of what this means spiritually for our trip. I gave a few of my bags to Sarah and sprinted back on our path to try to find the stuffed penguin. I looked until he got to the dirt road section, then stashed the rest of my bags for speed. GPS is not bouncy and full of beans, so wherever he fell, he'd plop right in the middle of the road, so i'd look for a penguin each straightaway, and then race to the next turn. 10 km back, there he was, sitting next to a corn field being flooded.

I zipped him into my frame bag completely for safe keeping and went to get my stuff and catch up to Sarah at camp.

We decided this loss meant we were going too fast, and not spending enough time examining our surroundings. And on the other hand, that we were having a trip so good we loved taking in the surroundings and conversation. Both can be true. We're going to try to both slow it down and keep enjoying everything the next few days.