NOT getting up that early!

In Reverse wrote:NOT getting up that early!

Sleep on the plane then breckie & strong coffee in Reus

@ In Reverse, return at 16.55 on the Sunday is fine, Dave B is flying at 16.40 so the plan is to get to Bilbao on Sunday lunchtime of just after. Wotsits' flight to Reus is a good plan, I'll be there Friday morning to pick up him and Mbnut, unpack bikes and give boxes to Mrs PB to take to Bilbao. I've suggested to the Barca arrivals that a taxi and bed in Castelldefels might be better than staying in Barca and dicing with the traffic on Friday morning.

Just an update for those who have booked flights.
As far as i can see there are 8 confirmed with flights, 6 are flying to Barcelona on Thursday night and riding down to Tarragona on Friday. Im flying into Barca tomorrow morning and plan to have a look for a hostal or cheap hotel in Castelldefels for those 6. I think staying there is preferrable to the city as its 2 minutes from the airport and avoids the motorway hell that is the south exit from Barca.
A few posts ago i asked for e mail addresses to enable me to send the route info and other stuff, only 3 sent them so pull your fingers out.
My best guess list atm is (forum names obvs)
Mbnut ) flying to Reus friday
Wotsits) flying to Reus friday
Mike
Dave Barter
Scattamah
HUX
In Reverse
Rufus748 all flying to Barca Thursday night

If anyone is dithering, particularly if you want to join the Barca crew, let me know, looking at you Firmo
Ta

pistonbroke wrote: Im flying into Barca tomorrow morning and plan to have a look for a hostal or cheap hotel in Castelldefels for those 6.

Rufus has already sorted us a hotel in Castelldefels Duncan so you can save yourself a job there.

Given that everyone who has already booked is arriving on thursday night or friday morning, i think it would make sense to start on friday afternoon. The first day was always planned to be a reasonably gentle leg stretcher, staying on a campground by the river Ebro. I've now calculated the full distance including a few loops that i was slightly concerned about if people were on cross bikes. From the responses I've had, everyone is riding mountainbikes so I've been able to cut out a few road sections. The total distance is 1,000km with 13,000m of climbing. This means an average of 100km per day but with the first and last days being a bit shorter, the norm will be around 120km.
If you're still dithering and haven't booked flights, please bear this new start in mind. There are still flights from E Mids with Ryan and Manchester with Thos Cook that get into Reus on friday morning and plenty of options to Barcelona on Thursday.
Looks like it's going to be a belter.

Wildly excited about this yet mildly nervous.... can't wait.

It looks like there are going to be 8 of us doing this trip. There are 2 more possibles, Scattamah and Firmo but not had confirmation of whether they're in yet. We're starting from Tarragona on Friday May 5th and arriving in Bilbao on Sunday 14th with 600 miles of country lanes, gravel trails and singletrack behind us. There is still time to join in the fun but bear in mind that you will need to fly to Barcelona on Thursday to get down to Tarragona or early Friday to Reus.

I'll be there...just sorting out some details here first. :)

Greetz

S.

That's great Scattamah, I've sent the route out via wikiloc, PM me with your email address if you want to be kept in the loop.

So I guess someone has to ask..... what tyres?

Ok, let me explain.

Firstly, I am on a fully rigid Kinesis FF29 alloy frame with a Niner carbon fork... I am strangely addicted to riding it but it does give me a damn good rattling.

I am currently running Schwalbe Thunder Burts 29 x 2.25, love the things for pure ease of rolling on good surfaces and with attention to pressures offer some usable volume.

My question.

Is volume going to be of greater advantage (mostly washboard and bumpy surfaces) or ease of rolling on smoother surfaces. If I could find a tyre that offered the Burts glide but with greater volume I'd be chuffed but as volumes go up the tread patterns become marginally more draggy

Choices.

Stick with Burts - more money for beer.

Go with a higher volume 29er, a nice pair of 2.6s would be my choice but I don't want Nobby Nics, a Ralph/Ron would be my dream combo. The Conti X King 2.4 could be an option, my old 2.4 Rubber Queens were flipping massive but don't know how the X King blows up now days. My feeling is that I know I want the Ralph/Ron combo and it will be coming, so do I just wait as anything else is just for this sally through the Spanish countryside.

Go to 650b semi plus out back, 2.6 Ron (limited space) and a 2.8 Ron up front. Again, I still see this bike with the Ralph/Ron 29ers in 2.6 in the future.


Jez.... sorry, went into one there! I guess what I'm saying is will the Burts on under gunned, I have ridden them on all sorts of surfaces and blasted them on rough trails and I am seriously impressed with how robust they have been to date... think I have answered my own question ;-D

What do ya reckon Duncan?

One other thing.

I am a recent convert to gas canisters, if in the bike bag will there be any is flying with them?

Don't worry guys, I'm not actually needy in real life.... promise. Though phrases such as; I need lunch, I need a beer I need a s**t etc may well be mutter on the odd occasion.

29" 2.4 x kings for me because they are what's on at the moment and they seem to roll pretty well. Should be ok I reckon/hope!

I use X Kings on my day to day bike but I'd be inclined to look at something a bit sturdier in the sidewall for this trip as we spend a long time in the middle of nowhere and a ripped sidewall would be tricky. Maxis Ikons seem to be a good all rounder so I've got those on my luggaged bike, bearing in mind the extra weight on the bike. That said I used Maxxis Aspens on the CAT700 last year and put plenty of air in. On One Smorgasbord's work well and are pretty cheap. With regard to width, yes the trails are pretty bumpy so I'd consider wider options if you are going fully rigid, I'm using Rebas and 2.2 tyres as I suffered with numb fingers for 6 months after running rigid forks last year.
Re air canisters, I've had to bin them after one showed up on the x ray at Manchester, given the length of the trip and that we're not in a massive hurry I'd bring a pump. I'll bring a track pump and air shot to the start to reinflate tyres before we go.

I'll be on 2.0 Nine Lines...I had one on the back for TNR and it was solid.

@PB - I sent you a PM but nada on the grapevine re: GPX.

Greetz

S.

Oops sorry Scattamah having issues with email but I'll forward you the file Dave Barter sent with the whole route on.
Btw, if you've got Eurosport, the Volta Cataluña is around here tomorrow and Saturday, it's passing right by our house and even if you're not keen on road racing, worth a look for the scenery. Last 12km tomorrow goes from sea level to 1,000m it took me an hour last week, the road book allows 35 mins!

Ta for that. Looking at the ticket situation just now...all going well should be set by tonight.

Greetz

S.

Great, dont forget we set off friday lunchtime and return sunday teatime or later.

Yup. Looks like my airfare hunting gnome has gone home for the day...so it'll be tomorrow now. Aiming for Barca on Thurs. evening right now.

GPX now in hand. Ta for that.

Greetz

S.

Scattamah wrote:Yup. Looks like my airfare hunting gnome has gone home for the day...so it'll be tomorrow now. Aiming for Barca on Thurs. evening right now.

GPX now in hand. Ta for that.

Greetz

S.

Scott, let me know if you're flying in Thursday and want to stay at the hostel with the rest of us. I've currently booked 2 rooms (a 2 and a 3 bed) I'm happy to enquiry if I can swap the 2 bed to another 3.
Andy

Likewise with the taxi to Castelldefels from the airport, I'm working on getting a minibus to take 5-6 people plus bikes in boxes. The guy at the hotel seemed to think adding another wouldn't be a problem providing you let them know. I'm also assuming you are all taking the train to Tarragona on Friday morning so we'll collect the boxes you brought the bikes over in. If this isnt the case and you need another box for the return, let me know and I'll get them.
PS Dont go mad with your boxes, we've got a fairly small car so ones that fold down or collapsible cardboard ones would be best. We'll struggle with 8 rigid boxes.

Cheers everyone. My flight booking gnome has gone for the weekend, but the flights are looking good for Thursday evening arrival in Barca ~ 19:00. Will be using C2C bag again with a little more padding this time.

Greetz

S.

Ok folks...I'm dropping into Barca @ 19:00 Thursday evening. Outta Bilbao 12:20 Sunday. Day 7 and 8 will most likely get merged into one for me to get back on time.

@Rufus - I'm up for somewhere to crash. Happy to roll out the Neoair on a floor next to the bikes if that's what it comes to.

Greetz

S.

That's good news, I was worried that flights had dried up.
As you're getting in earlier than the rest, I'd suggest building your bike at the airport and riding to Castelldefels where the hotel is. It's only 10km or so and actually very easy to find.
Re your earlier return, I'd planned for us to have a slightly shorter day on the Saturday where we would finish at a campsite to get showered and meet up with Mrs PB ready for the ride down to Bilbao. As the crow flies this is 45 miles from the airport so you could either start very early on Sunday morning or do a chunk on Saturday evening. Either way, we can get your bike bag and a change of clothes to the airport on Sunday morning if you want.

Cheers for all the info PB. Appreciated. Change of clothes...never occurred to me to be in anything other than riding gear! I will have to rethink what I'm taking. There are still loads of flights, but they're starting to ramp up in price. It did limit my return options for Sunday or I was stuck taking another day off werk, where 7 off coming into peak season was met with "you want to what? I hope you're going somewhere cool." Said Barca and was met with "Nice! Enjoy!"

What's the general thought prevailing on riding to Tarragona on Friday morning? Are more sensible heads thinking of the train? If my bike is built up on the Thurs. night, is it viable to get it on the train?

Greetz

S.

The trains from Tarragona to Barcelona are local RENFE ones and have plenty of room for bikes. The ride along the coast from Castelldefels is quite busy and surprisingly hilly, it would take about 3 hours. The main reason for taking the train would be to retain the packaging that you brought the bike in for transfer up to Bilbao. As you will have a built bike, this is less important. We will be riding a further 50 miles on Friday afternoon so bear this in mind. Mike has said he's taking the train but not heard from anyone else. Tarragona station is very close to the start point so we'll probably meet those coming on the train there once we've collected the 2 that are flying to Reus.