Tandem Thoughts

Don’t you hate it when someone cycles really close behind you? Well we have one month of that! However, not satisfied with staring at each other’s bums on the bike, we decided to add a second perspective through rock climbing. We’re fairly mediocre at both of these sports, but combining them makes us feel like […]

Barcelona

I had a beautiful dream, this dream was me and you… Roxanne left Montserrat carrying with it 8 litres of red wine. This probably wasn’t ideal considering google maps had decided to add a new dimension to our challenge in the form of dirt tracks. The descent to Barcelona was a bit gnarly as Roxanne […]

Montserrat

The next day we stopped feeling sorry for ourselves and got on with having fun. Montserrat is actually pretty cool, and looks a bit like dribbles of icing. Even cooler is the fact we can now SEE Barcelona! Although just out of reach for a couple of days. Montserrat is pretty much a huge rock […]

The Journey

Morning breakfast climbing club gathered for its final meet at the cliffs of Camarasa. Sweatily, we slipped our way up a couple of routes before the midday sun. Then, just as the mad dogs came out to play, so we set off on the tandem. Dropping out of the Pyrenees proper and heading over rolling […]

MilkMAD Merlin

Our recently purchased bible, “Lleida Climbs,” next led us to the riverbanks of the Camarasa gorge. While the limestone cliffs soared above us, we struggled to get off the ground. It turned out half of Barcelona had the same book and our campsite was soon overrun – bit of a spoiler given we were hoping […]

Not-so-Fantastic Mr. Fox

Determined to spend a night near water without getting wet, Merlin strung his hammock over a piece of lake. Alex decided this looked like a good idea and followed suit. As the temperature increased so strangely did the level of the reservoir. High thirties left us confined to climbing early mornings and late evenings. So […]

Four Passes, Three Climbs, Two Beers and Won Race

Today was a mega one and one of our favourites. It included Roxanne starring in another cycle race, various passes, some rock climbing, a bar, a sunset and pervs. I know, it’s quite a lot to take in so we’ve broken it down: Worship the rock We initiated our new ‘morning breakfast climbing club’ […]

Under the Bridge Downtown

Having spent the morning climbing a few routes in Foridada, we set off up the Ventamillo gorge in search of a swimming spot. We managed to get pretty high in the mountains and rolled over a bridge to yet another perfect hammock pitch. Maybe the Pyrenees aren’t so bad after all. The following day we […]

That Time we Found a Town with a Song About It

The day we arrived in Foridada del Toscar was when the dream of cycling and climbing was finally realised to its full potential! Not only was the town perfectly situated beneath a climbing crag but it also boasted ideal hammock spots, plentiful water fountains and a nearby Meson to fill our hungry bellies.

Should’ve

The next day, Thunder fell from his perch on the handlebar and got crushed by a wheel. We’d had another freezing night in the crappy old hammocks. To prevent any further pessimism, we introduced a rule where the use of “should’ve” is punishable by push-ups. Here are some that caught us out: Should’ve stolen a […]

Kittens Galore

The day made a good start; we met an English speaker and Alex had his first conversation with another human in over a week! Things then started to go downhill as we grinded uphill in the heat. Low on water, the vultures circled overhead (or they might still be eagles I still haven’t yet checked with […]

The Signs

The following day as another long distance lorry rolled out of town a prostitute strolled across the square; it was a sign that today would be a good day. The birds were out and the sun was up. We saw big birds all day. Either eagles or vultures, I’ll have to check with my grandma. […]

The Road

Moment of the day: microwaved tortilla served from a plastic bag in a service station in the outback of Spain. It rained and Merlin was sad. The old road from Pamplona took us through dead towns. As we followed it, the number of cracks increased and the number of people dwindled. Alex worried they might […]

Roxanne the Racer

A Spanish town didn’t know what hit them when we stormed in on their annual kids cycle race. Roxanne the Racer took first in the tandem category, smashing the local record! Unfortunately the trophy was too heavy to add to our cargo. Following our racing success, we continued our sporting streak in Pamplona with […]

Livin’ La Vida Loca!

Never-mind about the chain; Merlin fixed it and we found a party! Arriving in another town with dogs, cats, goats, church bells, a fountain and, yet again, no supermarket, we gave up on finding a warm dinner that evening. However the night took a turn for the better when we were invited to the church […]

Bread and Bread

You’d be right to assume our abandoned hotel boasted cracking views – sadly we will never know as the cloud and drizzle persisted through the next day. We seized this opportunity with our mouths and spent five hours in a cafe gorging ourselves on Spanish cuisine and bread and bread. We found a friendly biker […]

Double Dippin’ the Atlantic!

Day two was when we realised what a challenge we had truly taken on. To make sure we started properly, we took two dips in the atlantic. The first was at an epic campsite on the sea cliffs and then again in the port town of Deba, where we also found a Moroccan barber and […]

The Two Days of Mania

In the run up to our adventure, a lot happened and a lot of lists were made. In a similar fashion, here’s a blog post in the form of a list; call it the sonnet of the blogosphere. Sarah – an angel who cooked for us, gave us her bed and stitched our clothes. Let’s […]

TANDEM, ROCKCLIMB, SLACKLINE.

As uni students we only get a third of the year off for summer so we needed a trip that would fit our tight schedule and, of course, boast satisfying alliteration. Tandem to Tibet wouldn’t work; tandem to Toronto wouldn’t work; tandem to Thailand wouldn’t work – all too far in our meagre time. We […]

muggle monkeys

swinging from tail to tale