08/23/2023 Bikepacking Spain Day 15 : Interdit!

Starting the day off right with some single track fun. —

We have seen this a bunch in France: Outdoor Washing Machines. Actually a pretty good thing for a stinky cycletourist. Noteworthy is that there is also a dryer - a rare find in most of the non US world. 🌎

The falls where Janet would have… a fall. Don’t worry, she’s fine, and her bike has just one new badge of honor. ——-

There are so many bikes in France. I really like that. Even though the drivers drive swiftly, I feel like they expect bicycles, making it feel somewhat safer. Many of the passes we ride here don’t have cars, but some do - and the cars have been giving us our space. I’ve noticed that the French can often be spotted on bikes from the 90s. Sure they ride newer bikes too; any bike is fine with me! 🏍️

These are Janet’s new buddies. Their license plates said “F” for France, but she managed to talk to them in Spanish. Although I really want to learn French, we’ve been getting things done thanks to Spanish. If French people speak another language, it is usually Spanish and rarely English. These guys are asking Janet about her rear view mirror - a question we get everywhere we go. 🇺🇸

The first time I cycled Europe, the only two new words I came home knowing were: “Verboten” and “Interdit.” It seems like someone was always saying either one of these words to me or my friend Dennis. So, today Janet and I were packing our bikes outside of a grocery - across the street from what you see in the photo - and a small woman with a handbag came running across the road towards me. “**** Non! C’est interdit ***** carton ****”. FYI, The “**’s” are words I didn’t understand. Thanks to the few words I DID understand and her gesticulation at both the box on top of the trash and then pointing down the street, I felt like she was trying to tell me that the cardboard box needed to go down the street in the recycling. Since we haven’t met any French people who speak English - but enough speak Spanish - I decided to ask her if she spoke Spanish. “Parlés vous Français ?” I asked. This stymied her for a moment as she looked at me with a WTF look. Yes, I just asked her in French if she speaks French 🤦‍♂️. She took me across the street to investigate the box and really make sure I understood her. Once she spoke more slowly, I was now certain that she was really trying to tell me that this box didn’t belong here and it should be recycled. Mustering every French muscle I had, I said word by word, “je ne mettre pa ici” which means “I don’t put here.” That was good enough to escape this big-bad thing I had supposedly done. She patted me on the shoulder and said, “excusez-moi” - and she continued to apologize over her shoulder as she basically ran away from me down the street, embarrassed. Notably, she left the offensive cardboard box in its incorrect place! Europeans are quite the rule-enforcers, hey? 🛑

Did you ever read “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?” This is a book I really enjoyed, and these mountains brought to mind a quote from that book about the sides of then mountain sustaining life (not the top)… “Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn’t just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here’s where things grow. But of course, without the top you can’t have any sides. It’s the top that defines the sides. So on we go—we have a long way—no hurry—just one step after the next.” 🤲

Today Janet and I were discussing lifespan and how single men live much shorter lives than their partnered counterparts. We pondered why this might be, and talked about how we both engage in “better” behaviors because of each other. I told her that I’m targeting to live 100 years, knowing that is extremely unlikely - even for a non diabetic - but that is my “top of the mountain.” This means she needs to live to 120 😳. Well, there is no need to actually get to the top of this mountain… For without that elusive summit, the slopes leading up to it wouldn’t exist.…. “So on we go—we have a long way—no hurry—just one [pedal stroke] after the next.” 🏔️

Janet and I planned to sleep here. It was shown on the map as “Cabanas de pe de las testes.” I really wanted to tell you guys we stayed at “the testes place,” but we made better time than expected and it was too early to camp. The testes shall remain unexplored, our honor and their modesty intact! 🐮

Every day of this tour has had beautiful scenery… but maybe today tops the rest. 🤔 There were plenty of cyclists on these roads. There is something I love about seeing riders climb; many go uphill so fast that they create their own wind that lifts their unzipped jersey like Superman’s cape. Just like watching Armstrong’s “the look,” it gives me goosebumps to see athletes climbing with such speed. There is something powerful about ascending a mountain on such a sleek purpose-built machine. We get two chances to feel this vigor in our lives: Once when we are young, and maybe once again if we become wealthy enough to own an e-bike. 🚲

I found some escargot! Don’t worry, I didn’t eat it, sheesh, you really thought that? 🙄 🐌

A couple of awesome tunnels so finish the day off - on the edge of a cliff! 😎

So nice, I am transported by the pictures and Zen text. Yes, the Europeans live with a lot of rules. Germans are foremost in pushing them on you, but the French do it too. Not to even mention the Swiss...

Jonathan ∑.