Cycling the Spanish Pyrenees Mountains & France on a bike

16,069 m and 858 km on a mountain bike across the Spanish Pyrenees and France with my dad!

One of my favourite parts of the trip was in the Spanish Pyrenees mountains. It was remote, and many times we didn't have a signal, so we had to navigate with offline mapping systems. The people we met on the way were wonderful, and some saved us when we really needed support from bad weather, simply offering a roof over our heads and transporting me from town to town when I couldn't ride anymore. The beauty in the Pyrenees really took my breath away.

Along the way, there were days that felt like I couldn't keep going. Some days I felt like giving up, stopping riding, and not waking up to ride. Some days we were up in the middle of the mountains nearing dusk with no reception and still had a fair way to go, cycling for 10 hours in a day and pushing our bikes in snow for hours. Other days, I woke up earlier than I wanted to after a big day of cycling the day before with an aching body, descending a mountain with a lot of gear on our bikes on a challenging downhill MTB track, and the worst was carrying and pushing our bikes over and under what felt like hundreds of fallen trees from the recent storms. Some days my muscles were aching and I got quite ill with gastroenteritis from drinking unpotable water in the mountains, which resulted in me stopping riding for a few days, even though we still had to keep travelling with different forms of transport to follow our schedule.

This trip wasn't easy for me, I can confess. However, each day, I witnessed many beautiful moments in nature, met wonderful people, felt connected within and with nature, and spent a lot of time alone in my own head, breathing heavily and softly, doing little dances, and singing melodies.

This journey has been the longest cycling trip I have ever done, lasting 27 days with 4 rest days, making it the longest day ride of 76.23 km and the highest day climb of 1466 m. I am grateful I was able to share this journey with my dad, who is my inspiration for outdoor adventures.

....Just keep pedalling and take eveyrthing in... :)