Cycle trip to Gibraltar - 2022 -- Chapter 1 - Heat battle in the Rhine Valley

Even the longest cycle tour starts with the first metre. On 17 June 2022, shortly after 9 a.m., I set off from my home in Leonberg heading west to Pforzheim. It's my home territory. I know every pothole here. The further I get towards the Rhine Valley, the higher the temperatures rise. With temperatures of about 30 degrees Celsius, the heat really starts to beat me. In addition, because of a coronavirus infection, I haven't been jogging or cycling long distances in the last three weeks. Pretty exhausted, I reach my destination in Kehl am Rhein on the evening of the first stage.

The weather forecast has announced temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius for the next few days. Generally I am used to heat and really like it when it's really warm. But so far I struggle to cope with the heat. Whenever I drink some water, I'm afraid I'm going to vomit. I usually finish a 0.75 litre bottle of water in one shot. Up to now I've had to force myself to drink just a mouthful of water. Fortunately, I don't have a headache yet. If I did, it would be a sign of hyperthermia and the end of the stage. My 4.5 litres of water for the stage are getting less and less. I take good care to drink, even if I don't really want to drink anything. In the afternoon, I organise an overnight stay in Neuenburg am Rhein. It's just about 30 kilometres to get there. Actually NOTHING. But now it becomes a challenge. The heat along the country roads is insane. And if there is any wind, then it is very hot. I occasionally ask myself whether I have made a crucial mistake in my careful preparation for this cycle tour and chosen the wrong date for the start. Wouldn't autumn have been better? But who knew that I would have to deal with temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius in the shade immediately after the start? Each evening on each stage, I supplement the electrolytes in my body with special tablets. Alcohol is absolutely taboo!

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Cycle trip to Gibraltar - 2022 -- Chapter 2 - Through Switzerland

On the third day of my trip, I reach Switzerland. From Weil am Rhein, the transition to Basel is almost seamless. The route leaves the Rhine valley and the first (500) metres of climbing have to be cycled. This is very exhausting in the heat. Fortunately, I find places to refill my water bottles along the way. The river Aare is crowded with people looking to cool off in the cool water on this Sunday. My overnight stay in Aarau is right next to the railway station. The square is literally burning in the heat and there is no air conditioning in the hotel room. There was also nobody at the check-in desk. Thanks to the latest technology, it was terribly impersonal but very expensive.

From Aarau, the route leads to Lucerne and onwards to Lake Lucerne. I cross Lake Lucerne by ferry and reach the small town of Flüelen in the evening. From here I set off in the morning of the 5th stage towards the Gotthard! I reach Göschenen around lunchtime. The route continues uphill to Andermatt until I reach the top of the Gotthard Pass in the early afternoon. If there was any corona left in me this morning, it has certainly been sweated out now. I proudly take a few selfies and then ride down towards Bellinzona. An overnight stay directly on Lake Maggiore was not possible due to budget limitations. I spend the night nearby in private B&B accommodation with a friendly family.

After passing the small community of Intragana, the hard work starts. The route climbs very steeply uphill. But it also passes through extremely impressive countryside! I am also fascinated by the narrow-gauge railway, which I pass over or under again and again. A masterpiece of planning and construction. The surrounding mountains rise very steeply into the air, with small material cable cars crossing the valley from time to time. But where these go is usually lost in the dense clouds. The weather has changed dramatically. The heat is gone and instead I've been riding in the rain all through the day. Early in the afternoon, I reach the border crossing to Italy.

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Cycle trip to Gibraltar - 2022 -- Chapter 3 - Italy

After a generous breakfast at the Hotel Bettina in Mergozzo, I start the next stage very relaxed. The route is not very mountainous. Unfortunately, a strong headwind is causing me a lot inconvenience. By the end of the day, I will have cycled 140 kilometres to the finish in Monferrato. In the evening I reach a small private holiday flat where I spend the night. It is almost part of the daily routine to check the bike in the evening. The front brake pads need to be replaced. Then I wash my clothes, eat, write my diary, brush my teeth and look for overnight stays for the next few days. Because the route in the next few days runs through the mountains and the number of accommodations is not as plentiful as in the big cities. I usually look for a place to stay around midday. Then I know how far I can or want to cycle. That's not a problem in the urban centres. Now, in the mountains, there's not much available overnight stays and it's important to book well in advance. I'm a bit worried that otherwise I might end up without a place to stay in the night. That would not be nice. It soon turned out that my worries were well founded. Nevertheless, I managed to find a place to sleep along the stages through the mountains.

The morning procedure has also become something of a routine: brush my teeth, apply sunscreen, dress in cycling gear, fill and pack the water bottles, grab my luggage, pay for the room and start cycling. Today the stage is a real pleasure to cycle: I cycle on a small road with no traffic, there is shade in places but most importantly the views over the mountains and valleys are incredibly beautiful. I could stop and take pictures after almost every bend. It is simply very impressive. I will (hopefully) keep most of the impressions in my memory for a long time. The route leads through many small villages in the mountains. Very romantic! But you can't fail to notice that the severe thunderstorms have caused damage here too.

And then it's done. In the afternoon of the 10th stage, I reach the town of Imperia on the Mediterranean. The first 1,100 kilometres are made!

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Cycle trip to Gibraltar - 2022 -- Chapter 4 - France

The journey continues southwards. Always along the Mediterranean. The route takes me to Monte Carlo. A terrible city! Very loud, far too much traffic, crowded. Terrible! And then the yacht club. There are a few of these incredibly overpriced superyachts floating in the harbour. Four or five maximum. I didn't take any pictures. It's not even worth the space on my memory card! There's not much room in the harbour anyway. The owner and mistress seem to have flown out and are probably desperately trying to buy even more expensive clothes and jewellery than the neighbour wore at the party last night. The staff are cleaning and polishing the yacht while two fuel trucks pump fresh diesel into the yacht. How about the price of diesel right now? 2.15 per litre. Well, that's probably not the point. I think I'm small-minded when I catch myself thinking what Greta would say about it...? Who cares? I can't be jealous of all the pomp. I simply don't care. Let's move on, out of the chaos. To Nice. The harbour in Nice puts Monte Carlo miles in the shade. 

Here there really were countless of these completely overblown yachts. Masses of them! The journey continues towards the airport. Here you can already see the next bitter pill for the super-rich. Well, actually there are two bitter pills. Firstly, there are too few parking spaces for the super-rich's private jets. And even worse: Nobody can see those fucking jets here (except someone driving by on a bike, but who of the super-rich rides a bike...?). So, enough of mockery and derision. Next stop is Cannes.

I take a rest day in Arles. The first rest day in the last two weeks. I've now cycled more than 1,500 kilometres. A break is really necessary. The city was built by the Romans. There are still many well-preserved ancient buildings to visit today. A Roman theatre and an Arena are the highlights there.

By the afternoon of day 17 of my journey (and almost 2,000 kilometres), I arrived at the Col de Panissars. This is the border with Spain.

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Cycle trip to Gibraltar - 2022 -- Chapter 5 - Spain

On the Col de Panissars' south side, the road descends steeply. The road is nothing but stones, sand, deep tracks and an infinite number of potholes. When I reach the foot of the mountain, I take a short break, drink plenty of water and look online for a place to stay for the night. The supermarkets in La Jonquera are even open on Sundays. In the supermarket, everything was always mega-large. And they do have them: 10 litre cans of sangria. Lots and lots of meat! Entire pork hips hanging dried on the shelves. For me as a veggie, of course, it's great stuff! Paella pans with a 2 metre diameter and everything that belongs to it. Oh yes, and the drama with the non-availability of olive or other oil is perhaps only to be made in Germany. Here you can buy olive oil in 10 litre cans. Cucumbers are available here in 10-kilo buckets instead of glass jars. Only cereals.... Well, after a long search I find a few packs in a corner.

Unfortunately, the cycle paths in Spain are not as luxurious as the supermarkets. They are in fact all tracks made of sand and gravel. Asphalt is practically non-existent. The colour of the sand is almost white and the higher the sun rises, the brighter the sand is blinding. It is also very dusty. Even I kick up a lot of dust with my bike. Not to mention if a car or even a truck comes towards me or overtakes me. In that case, I'm prepared to stop voluntarily until the dust has cleared. Meanwhile, it has also become really hot. I am glad that I have 4.5 litres of water with me. I pass numerous and almost endless areas of farmland and fruit plantations. There are water pumps almost everywhere along the way, pumping water onto the fields or into the plantations. Where there is no water, there is nothing but drought. Many fields have already been mown. Where watering is possible, new crops have already been sown.

On day 19 of my journey, I reach Barcelona. Again, I take a rest day. The enormous heat and constant sweating causes the skin on my bum to fade. This prevents the skin from forming a callus. At some point, the skin becomes sore and needs a break. Besides, Barcelona is definitely worth a rest day.

The heat, dust and sand battle continues in the days that follow. Through the mountains, the roads are sometimes so bad that riding is impossible and even pushing is very difficult. By now I start in the morning long before sunrise and ride with the lights on so that the heat and especially the strong southerly wind don't get to me too much. Next stops are: València and Alicante. I cycle closer to Almeria. The huge greenhouses in which vegetables are grown can be seen everywhere. One thing I can say for sure: tomatoes from Spain grow in the ground and not in a nutrient fluid. But wherever there is no watering, there is absolute drought.

There are hundreds of greenhouses in the wide valley I cycle along. They are lined up close together for kilometres, as far as the eye can see. Unbelievable! But they are not glass greenhouses, they are made of plastic foil. The roofs probably protect the plants from the sun or rain. Some of the roofs are sprayed with white paint. Probably to prevent it from getting too hot inside. They are very generous with the paint. Some of it ends up on the road so that it is also white. Who cares about that? In general, environmental protection doesn't seem to be very important here. There is a lot of rubbish between the greenhouses. On some greenhouses, the foil hangs down in rags. In other places, old plastic foil grows into real mountains of rubbish. This is the dark side of industrial vegetable production. I also notice the large number of black people working here. Of course, the Dublin Regulation states that people must first stay in that country to where they have entered. For many refugees from Africa, this is Spain. They probably work here for starvation wages somewhere in the countless greenhouses. No one will probably care whether they are legal or illegal. That's how it looks like in Europe 2022, but I have to accept: There are worse places in the world and other topics are currently dominating the media headlines ("War in the Ukraine").

Malaga is reached after 29 days and just over 3,300 kilometres. Now there are only a few days left until Gibraltar. Gradually it's worth thinking about the return journey. Or should I cycle a few more stages further across Portugal to Lisbon?

First of all, I'm concerned about a large forest fire raging near Malaga. I hope this forest fire doesn't force me to take a diversion?! The huge cloud of smoke near the city looks dangerous. 

Between Malaga and Marbella I start to have serious doubts about the route planning of Eurovelo 8, because it branches off onto the motorway!!! That can never be possible. For several kilometres I try to find alternatives somehow. But at some point this is simply impossible. I search the internet for alternatives. But even these routes either take the motorway or run kilometres away from me through the mountains. When there is no other option, I search the internet to see if I can find any information. There are actually some reports from other cycle travellers who have had similar experiences. The rule is: if there is no explicit sign prohibiting cycling on the motorway, then it is allowed. In Germany this is simply unthinkable! I give it a try. No problem. No drivers going crazy. Nevertheless, I'm glad when I can cycle again on a normal road or cycle path.

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Cycle trip to Gibraltar - 2022 -- Chapter 6 - Gibraltar

And finally it's here: The final stage!

Extract from my diary: Sunday, 17.07.2022 - Day 31 - from San Luis de Sabinillas to Gibraltar and on to Tarifa.

I reach the border with Gibraltar at around 11am. Officially, this is where the EU ends, as Gibraltar is politically part of England. And as you know, England left the EU a few years ago. But entering Gibraltar is pretty easy. They don't even want to see a passport or ID card at the checkpoint. Just drive through. But a few hundred metres further on, I'm standing in front of a closed barrier together with other cars. Hm, strange. Signs above the barrier mention "Airfield". I wait to see what happens. And indeed: a few minutes later, an aircraft taxis across the road. A large Easyjet aircraft. The aircraft disappears behind a building. That's all I can see. So, it's time to move on, open the barrier now! But nothing happens. The barrier remains closed and I have to keep waiting - just so close to my finishing line! Right at that moment, the aeroplane shoots across the road again at full power and takes off right in front of me. Wow madness! I've never seen anything like it from so close! The noise was deafening, of course, and really got to me. Well, then the aeroplane was gone and the barrier opened. Now I can continue. I want to get to the southern end of Gibraltar. There I see the lighthouse and AFRICA! I have reached the destination of my journey. Or to be more precise, the actual end point. I already reached my goal when I left home: to be travelling by bike....

It's short after 11am. I have arrived after 3,503 kilometres. It's very quiet here at the lighthouse. No noise, a few tourists, nothing more. I'm pleased that I've cycled this far and am very grateful that nothing has happened and that I'm healthy. I enjoy the biscuits from the provisions, take a few pictures and just simply enjoy the moment.

Then I cycle on towards Tarifa. The ferries to Africa leave from here. It makes me very thoughtful to be standing here. Africa. Certainly a fantastic adventure. I have to think about my time in Sierra Leone...

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Cycle trip to Gibraltar - 2022 -- Chapter 7 - The return journey

The next day, I travel from Tarifa to Algeciras. The nearest railway station is here. I buy a ticket for the return journey. Tomorrow morning at 6.20 a.m. I'll be travelling to Madrid by train. I change there for a train to Avignon. 

At this point I have to get my bike ready for the return journey. I'm going to disassemble my bike and wrap it in cloth and lots of thin plastic foil. Without a box around it. I found some cloths by chance a few days ago while cycling. Someone had dumped a few bags of old clothes in a dry river. The clothes looked clean (one piece even still had the tag on it), large, quite thick and robust. I put a few of them on my luggage rack and transported them through Spain over the last few days. I disassembled my bike piece by piece and wrapped the parts in cloth and plastic foil. Except the rear wheel. I want it to remain in the bike so it can rotate and I don't have to carry all the weight.

I travelled on a regional train to the main line of the high-speed trains the next morning. While there was no problem with my luggage on the regional train, it was a bigger problem on the high-speed train. Even though I had dismantled everything, the rear wheel was still recognisable and so I suddenly had a bike instead of some luggage. After a lot of discussion, the lady called the train to clarify whether there was room for a "bicycle" (which is actually no longer a bicycle...). I reach Madrid around midday and can board the next train there. No discussions this time. There's a space for large luggage. I enjoy the journey through the country. I already know some of the cities we pass through from this or other journeys by bike. The train arrives in Avignon at 10 pm. My return journey ends here for tonight. The journey continues tomorrow at 7am. I find a cosy spot where I can spend the night relaxing. But unfortunately it doesn't work out. At 1 a.m., security kicks me and other travellers out of the station in a very determined and unfriendly manner. We spend the night in a car park somewhere outside Avignon. It stinks of piss and I'm gradually getting cold. Tick it off. So I have actually "wild camped" during this holiday and have slept under the stars.

On the following morning, I travel on to Strasburg, then continue to Karlsruhe and finally to Pforzheim. I end my train journey in Pforzheim. I decided to cycle the last few kilometres home. There are train problems in Stuttgart and so on. In fact, I don't really want to sit on the train any longer. I leave the station and find a quiet corner nearby, unpack my bike and reassemble it.

I go and buy something to drink and cycle from Pforzheim through the Würmtal valley to Leonberg. The Würmtal is my favourite route. I really enjoy travelling here. A rumble of thunder takes me out of my thoughts. The sky is already dark and a thunderstorm is not far away. As I reach the fields between Heimsheim and Perouse, lightning flashes from the sky and the first drops begin to fall. I pedal faster and push harder to make it to Leonberg still more or less dry. But that no longer happens. To be honest, the rain doesn't bother me either. After the last weeks of heat and dryness, it's just a pleasure to cycle through the warm rain.

Finally, my journey ends on the market square in Leonberg. Just the obligatory photo is not taken because it is raining too hard. I stay under a large parasol and enjoy a cold beer. Some of my friends are also present and it turned to be a cosy evening. Wet inside and out, as the thunderstorm moves on really slowly and it rains long and hard, with lightning and thunder.

And with this my report from my cycle tour to Gibraltar comes to an end.

If you want to read more, you can open the diary of the trip. Here you will find lots of details, my personal thoughts and impressions during the trip. Have fun while reading!

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