Penguins Bike

June 21, 2026 - biked 53 km (33 mi), train'd 398 km (247 mi) - biked 55 km (34 mi) total

Day 1 unexpectedly started a day early! Our housing in Valencia canceled so we scrambled to find another place and it just so happened to be 38 km (23 mi or 2 hour bike ride) outside of Valencia.

We started biking after the train from Madrid arrived at 12:30pm. The hight speed Spanish trains are very strict! They make you go through airport-like security and they confiscated our French made knives because they were dos centímetros too long. Also we did not ride fast enough to the station and had only 7 minutes to bag our bikes and we were so rushed.

But we made it on the train and got to relax.

Even though it wasn’t the official EuroVelo, it looked like there was a bike path right on the beach up the whole way. It ended up being 27 miles of winding beach boardwalks and sandy nature trails. Dragging our bikes through sand. Biking over big rocks. Small rocks. Weird bumpy pavers. We arrived at our campsite at around 8pm with no fuel to make dinner. So we snacked on cheese/crackers and canned tuna. It was delicious. This cheese Mescla is a must have.

David was a great navigator, even if he lead us on treacherous roads. One of the cursed roads led us to a bird sanctuary and we saw this cool black and white bird.

Even though we had to hustle and start biking sooner than expected, we found ourselves ready. We’ve been preparing for this trip for over 6 months and it felt good to meet the road that will bring us to many more places.

June 19-20, 2026 - biked 0 km (0 mi) - biked 2 km (1.2 mi) total

We walked. That we did for two days. That's what one does when we'd have to carry our bikes up and down five flights of stairs and there's nowhere to lock them up when we get wherever we are going. So our bikes rested while Sarah's new shoes were put to the test.

We did a walking tour, visited some markets, some free art museums, had lunch wine, tried to watch world cup games, and saw a Flamenco show.

It's a really great city to walk. We learned that whenever we are tired, we are actually hungry. That Irish pubs are too crowded with people watching soccer to actually watch soccer. And that the metro and wine should be this cheap every where.

We enjoyed the Flamenco dance the most. We enjoyed it in a very intimate space with about 20 other people. Three dancers, one singer and one guitar player expressed their heart and culture with such talent. They put so much effort. It was so visible in the sweat and marks on the stage.

As we watched the sunset, there was a little thunderstorm.