Day 2: Meet The Peloton
Day 2 started with breakfast at 7:30. The resort - PortBlue Club Pollentia Resort & Spa - is very similar to an all-inclusive; wristbands, adults-only areas, pools, pool-bars, nightly karaoke and buffet-style dinners. After meeting some of the peloton at breakfast, we suited up and met for ‘wheels-down’ at 9a.
The peloton was in full force for the first time of the trip with 17 total riders. With representation from the Midwest and Florida (perhaps other places?), the peloton set out for what would be a fairly standard ride, ~65miles and 2,000 feet of climbing. This is a pretty standard ratio that you will get around home.
Since the resort is on the coast, most of our rides will start out with a standard route on a fairly major road until we reach the inland path we want to take. Once to that path this morning, we headed along small country roads, lined with handmade stone walls 100s (maybe a thousand?) years old. I learned this wall technique, called Dry Stone, was used when no mortar-type material was available. Most of our routes, miles and miles and miles, have been lined by these walls. On the other side of the walls, goats. So, our rides are accompanied with the sound of the large bells the goats where around their necks.
After 25 miles or so, we entered a small village and encountered our first surprise of the day - a velodrome! It was an awesome surprise for me, since I’ve seen these in pictures and video, but never had the opportunity to ride one. And this in particular was situated in such a cool place - a small village with the cathedral up towards the top of the hill, the valley leading to the mountains on the other end and a small ‘hole-in-the-wall’ open-air eatery.
After a few spins around the velodrome, we continued on our way up some smaller hills to the top and finally the city center. This was the ~35 mile mark of the ride and time for a little coffee break!
The city square - a literal square with a fountain in the middle, had several cafes surrounding it, each with a bike rack out front and dozens of cyclists sprawled out in chairs (see ‘Cyclotourism’ in Day 1 post). We order some water, cause in Europe you have to pay for that, and a coffee. I also walked around a little and spotted this sweet cat roaming the streets.
Rest time is over; get moving! We saddled up and headed out of town. Down just a few traverses and the back to the long, sweeping country roads and dry stone walls. As we rolled back for the last 30 miles, we caught some nice breeze and decent mountain views; which will have to wait to be conquered for a few more days.
