Orpesa to Valencia - Day 112

Date: December 8th, 2009
Distance: 114km
Country: Spain
Song of the Day: I Don't Even Know Myself - The Who

I got up early and had breakfast while watching the sun rise over the Mediterranean. At least as much as I could through the clouds. I was hoping for a bit of sun to dry out my tent, but that never happened. Oh well. Tim wasn't feeling good and was going to stay until he felt better. For me, I knew I was on a schedule. I bid told him to feel better and took off.

Most of the day's riding was great. I was on the highway and it was easy with a wide shoulder. I was making great time as well. Really pushing myself along. But about 20 kilometers from Valencia outside of the town of Segunt, the road becomes and Autovia, a freeway. I spent the next three hours and about 40 kilometers trying to get into Valencia. I made it but it was awful. At first I tried to follow the sea. Which worked for a bit, but then the highway turned into an industrial area. The road eventually turned into a dirt road and then a vacant lot. I did see a highway, but it was on the other side of a giant water pipe. So I had to throw my stuff and my bike over that to keep going. The path from this point zig-zagged between the sea and the freeway. Finally I found a path along the sea, but this was the worst road I have yet been on. A rutted and rocky path. I couldn't go fast because I was afraid that I was going to bend a rim.

I was quite happy to finally make it to town and check into the hostel. It was going to be a pretty easy night. I made some dinner in the kitchen then did some laundry. Exciting.

But after that I was talking with some of the girls in my room and they said to try the pub crawl. It was a fun (if late) evening and a good way to meet people. So I decided to go. I had a good time, but it was kind of quiet. There were only five people from a couple of hostels going. Me, and aussie kid named Alex, a girl from the states and a Finnish couple. The places we went were also kind of dead too. I guess it was the first day after a three day weekend, so most people were partied out. Things got more exciting, in a bad way, at one of the places when someone walked off with the A girl's purse. So that put a downer on the whole evening. At least I got some good pizza out of it.

-Dravis