In spite of my earlier plans to travel via Gerona, In the cold light of the following day its seemed like a very indirect and uncertain route so I decided to take the main drag north to the border. The autovia was lightly trafficked and the only excursion I made into a local large town was disappointing..
When I came to choice of going via Ripoll or Olot I thought I’d take the later, given the opportunity to do the upper section of the ‘Rail Trai,’ and both being the same distance of 32kms.
My choice lured me into the hardest bike ride I ever had, 120km in one day all (but for the last 16km) up steep inclines. This was because having been lured this was I was confronted with the sign that bikes were not allowed through tunnels, had to exit there go over the top above.
Thinking I’d obey the law for once and that the narrow tunnels might be dangerous, I took the ‘pretty’ route. If ever i was going to die of a heart attack it was that day. But it turns out it was Osama Bin Ladin’s big day instead.
I finally reached Olot just before dark and found the campsite where I was charged only 15 Euros for a beer, a Coke and a bottle of wine, so thirsty as I was. The campsite turned out to be so dismal I think I was overcharged for the camping component. Neither hot water nor wi-fi was on offer, and the place was almost empty apart from me, and like some forlorn abandoned refugee camp.
The Manager complained of the poor local economy; new apartments projects abandoned, and oddly for this remote part of the country a very high migrant population who insisted on maintaining their traditional dress. I don’t beleive he expected they all wear the Catalan equivalent of flamenco gear but he said he thought they might all try a little harder to integrate with their host country and culture..
All odd really ‘cos on leaving the town I realised it was Volcano country with rich red soils and lots of enormous haciendas.
His other news for me was that the ‘Rail Trail’ (Ruta del Ferro) between Olot and near to Ripoll was not yet opened. Had I read the fine print (so obvious now) back in Barcelona I would have known. Such a pity the young lady in the Tourist Office didn’t mention it to me.
