On day 2 we rode from Sitges on the coast, to the foothills of the Pyrenees, a total of 150km with a total elevation gain of 2,375m. My Garmin malfuntioned and was completely dead when we departed. I had plugged it in over night and charged it until it read: "Charging Complete". However, it would not turn on so I had no data for this leg of the trip. Fortunately, I was able to log on the the Garmin web site in the evening and found out how to reset my computer. Two other guys on the ride needed to do this on various other legs of the ride.
Lots of gradual climbs with comfortable weather for the first 100km. The roads in this region of Spain are very well maintained. Clean road surface with well pruned vegetation. Little motor vehicle traffic with plenty of room to goof off on the road.
Beautiful scenery heading up to the foothills. Poppies were everywhere.
With about 50km to go, my right hamstring tightened up. One of the few disadvantages of renting a bike. I thought that my bike was dialed in with pretty much the same measurements as my bike at home. Nonetheless, I was worried. Thankfully, my body adapted and this was the only day that my leg bothered me. From the half-way point on, rain was threatening us. It started pouring with about 30km to go and we all put our rain jackets on.
For about 5km, this is what we rode on. Mud! The asphalt surface had been torn up for re-surfacing and the sub-grade provided a challenging ride. When we arrived at the hotel in Solsona, I took a shower with all of my clothes on to get rid of the red mud all over. This was the beginning of the rain for the rest of the trip!
This was a challenging ride and we had not even started climbing in the Pyrenees yet!
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