Day 12. Ripoll to Olot

Wow what different riding compared to Los Ojos Negros!

Decrepit, but with a solar panel on the roof

Cow with bell

We breakfasted at the hotel and set out under coolish partly sunny skies. The first part of the ride was from Ripoll to Sant Joan de les Abadesses, about ten kilometers of slightly uphill riding through mostly farmland.

We saw donkeys, cattle and sheep and saw lots of farm workers and other users of the path, mostly on foot. This alpine region looks like parts of northern Italy or even Switzerland.



The surface was quite different to Los Ojos Negros also. For large sections it was sandy and not bound together. So a smooth ride but more rolling resistance than we had experienced down south.

At  Sant Joan de les Abadesses the route moves off the rail trail (which continues on for another ten kilometers). We initially had to do some casting about to find the route down to the centre of town, over the quaint angular footbridge and then along the main street for one hundred metres or so to the turnoff. There we stopped at a bar for coffees and to use los servicios before tacking the next segment.

Footbridge on the route in Olot

A local dianthus on the side of the road

This segment is a quiet secondary road that winds up and up to the pass at Col de Santigosa. As we climbed higher we rode into the cloud so it was quite cool and pleasant for climbing. Even when you couldn't see far the sound of clanking bells on the sheep and cattle told you that farms were just off the edge of the road.

Along the way I stopped to snack on red currants and blackberries. The blackberries were not as good as the ones down south. We saw a couple of other cyclists and only very few cars on this road. None of the climb was steep but it didn't let up so most were glad for a break at the pass.

As experienced by some

As it actually is

Then it was downhill on slightly slippery road still in the cloud. You wouldn't call it rain but we still got wet. At a fork in the road we regrouped and had to remove Christine's chain guard which was preventing the front derailleur from moving onto the big ring. So the demon descender didn't get to set any new speed records :-(

The road kept on dropping and there was a lovely fast section almost into Olot. We managed to make the correct turn and joined the dedicated cycle route though town, although we soon left it to continue down the main street to find some lunch. This ended up surprisingly well! We found a nice looking restaurant, run by an Indian family that served mostly Spanish food. The menu del dia was fabulous, with many lovely choices. For first course I chose the potato blinis which were stuffed with a slice of morcella. Sensational! I think all eight of us were happy with the outcome. There was one token Indian dish on the menu (a chicken curry) but we talked to the waiter who was quite happy to be using English and he said they tone it down a lot for Spanish tastes.

We then rode out through town to Hotel Can Blanc which was down a quiet road with a very agritourismo feel, including a large restaurant, La Deu with nice grounds next door, which we used for dinner. This must be a popular destination for Barcelona residents to go for weekends. We checked in, and after the usual cyclist preoccupations (showers, washing and beer) we spend a relaxing afternoon. There were a couple of light showers in the afternoon and while we were having dinner it rained quite heavily, but luckily it let up for us to get back to the hotel about 200m away.