08/15/2023 Bikepacking Spain Day 7 : Now Entering The Twilight Zone

Janet and I enjoyed an idyllic evening in front of the old stone church - talking and watching the light change while listening to cowbells. It worked out well - we slept in the church, and for the 3rd night out of 3 camping, there was lightning, rain, and thunder. It was nearby again (3-5 seconds), but we were unfazed in our divine shelter. ⛈️

All downhill morning - coffee stop on the mind. I decided to skip carrying coffee on this trip; instead, just a single shot of espresso at a shop. For the last 2months, I suffered some serious reflux (only getting 2-3 hours of sleep per night waking and choking on chyme), and I gave up all sorts of foods. Coffee was one of those things. I finally discovered that either chewing gum (all day long) or massive amounts of yogurt helped me. I don’t know which one it is because I’ve been doing both every day since! Regardless, I’m back to small doses of coffee and happy about that. ☕️

We are really loving this route. Janet designed a lot of it - including a big chunk yet to come. It’s only been 4 days, but they have all been superb so far. 💕

Janet describes the route like this: “Go up a lot, go down a lot. Get coffee at the bottom, and go back up!” ☕️

You may have heard of the French Paradox. I think it has to do with lifestyle habits where the French live long lives, but engage in “unhealthy” habits such as eating a lot of saturated fat. I think that plenty of people in this region frequently drink wine for breakfast. At least that is how it appears because I’ve see many of these glasses during what would be Coffee time in the US. Note that in this photo, I captured 3 dubious habits: Wine, cigarettes, and gambling. 🍷

You may be wondering about today’s title. When I first saw this statue, I thought it was a woman looking at her phone… which is what I was doing this afternoon thinking, “Is it too early in the US to call my sister?” That very instant, she texted me asking how I was doing. Uncanny, considering it was at least 2 hours before her normal wakeful time. I texted that I would call her… and did… two times it went to un-setup voicemail. I texted again because I’m using a new Google Voice number. I said, “That 805 number is me.” On the third call, someone answered on the first ring. She didn’t sound like my sister, so I said, “Mary, is that you?” She said, “yes. Who is this?” I said, “Brian.” She said, “My brother Brian?” I said, “Yes… but is this really Mary? You sound so different?” She insisted it was Mary… with a brother named Brian… but neither of us recognized each other’s voice! Was it Google Voice messing with us? This feels like the Twilight Zone… ☎️

The confusion continued, and after a lot of fun stuff I’d like to write-but would make this caption too long… before I disclosed my last name, she said, “I know a Mary Lucido..”. WTF? Who is this person messing with me? It still took a long time to figure out because this was so improbable… it turns out that Google Voice dug up my sister’s old work number and decided to dial that. The phone number had somehow been transferred to her co-worker (who now lives in a different state and long since departed the company). She just happens to have the same name as my sister… and a brother with my name. It was the most bizarre mind bender I think I’ve ever experienced! 🤯

Janet moves ahead on the ride and I can take my time and eat berries from the side of the road, fly the drone, take micro-doses of insulin and do a good job of managing my blood sugar. It’s working really well and I feel good having more time to carefully manage. I caught back up from one of these forays to find Janet talking to Ralph! I was excited for her to be using her Spanish (she has been so good about trying to talk to people in Spanish every chance she gets, impressing me so!). Ralph wanted to speak English, though, because he is Swiss. Oops. He told her that his doctor told him he needed to exercise because of his health problems - so he got a bike and here he is wearing cut off jeans and a baseball cap - riding through Spain. 👖

What a good day on the bikes again, despite me feeling a bit worn out. I love 💕 riding with you on single bikes as much as on the tandem. I’m so glad it’s better for your diabetes management - plus more photos of me!

Mark G.