Cycling Sistas European Tour

chopped wood pile is fallen tree

2009-05-28T14:10:00.000-04:00

The Mezmorizing Mobile of Drying Spandex

2008-11-27T06:56:00.002-05:00

old western playing here

2008-11-27T04:34:00.007-05:00

On a dusty road, rising out of alhama de granada, we came upon an abandoned casa, and we shouted into the canyons below hooooolaaaaaa

The sun setting at one of the most beautiful and
magical camping spots we found, in a valley by a small river named Rio Frio.

Goats crossing Rio Frio in the morning.

At the base of the mountains where Rio Frio begins, lies an abandonded village with a few broken down houses and a mill.

Some more goats we met along the way...

We spent a night in an olive grove in the mountains, sleeping under the protective branches of an olive tree.

Sun rising in the olive grove.

At this point in the ride, we felt like we were in an epic film. We bravely rode our donkeys(bikes) into the bright andalucian sun.

Oh those ondulating green hills...

After we left Rio Frio, we had a climb ahead of us! This is at the top of the mountains, before heading down into the beauty of the gorges at El Chorro.

WOW!! El Chorro surprised us with its gorgeous cliffs. We had no idea what we were coming into until we rounded the bend and saw this!

The rocks here are amazing, dizzying in fact. It was as if we stumbled upon the Yosemite of Spain.

Incredible caves awaited us around the next bend.

Monique, of course, climbs them!

In retrospect we should have holed up in a warm cave in the valley of wonders. The wind picked up and the clouds moved in quick as we climbed out of the national park. We thought about camping on the banks of this lake but were detered by the ominous clouds and our lack of whiskey. We needed something to warm our bellies.

AHHHH!! Our first snow of the trip!!! This was on the ride between El Burgo and Ronda, 24 kilometers, the majority of which is straight up until we hit "El Puerto del Viento" (The door of the wind) at 1190 meters. We were actually thankful for the uphill ride in the snow - it kept us warm!

A view near the top...brrrrr!

We were excited to capture the beauty of the snow on our bags. After a few hours of riding in the cold wind, the snow had piled up on our panniers and, by this time, we were in no mood for taking pictures. :)

Into Granada and our bike to Alhama de Granada

2008-11-21T12:36:00.006-05:00

on route to Granada we spent a night in the desert, with sheep!

Sadly, Nadia and Annie were held captive in the back of a rental van for 4 hours, kidnapped by two locos, Bryan and Monique.

floating on an island of our stuff

Granada's blinding light

The gardens around the palace Alhambra

The entrance to Alhambra

view of Granada from the top of Alhambra

The Harem

(sorry Bryan)

the snowy peak of the Sierra Nevada looming over Granada

Leaving Granada we picked up a friend, named by us, Trip. Trip followed us for miles despite our request he stay behind.

We tried to carry him with us...

Stunned, we camped by this gorgeous lake in the mountains

Thermal springs!

Seafood soup!

Valencia

2008-11-13T09:48:00.005-05:00

The first wild pomegranate tree we found on our ride to Valencia. We took the mountain route inland for a few days to avoid nasty coastal traffic. The climb was totally worth it for the remoteness and beautiful views. One night we found a great camping spot in the middle of a rosemary field, near an almond orchard and under some pine trees.

Or map features of picture of this lovely Roman arch. We road a ways out to see the famous handywork only to feel a bit gypped. "Who ever said Rome wasn't built in a day, didn't see this."-Monique Milleson

Ah, Velencia! This city is so beautiful we could eat it. The train station looks like a wedding cake, actually most of the buildings look like wedding cakes.

And Bryan!

Unbelieveable graffiti

back to our ride to Valencia

another extremely weird campsite

don't be shy

BOO!

Greetings from an Outsider in Gandia

2008-11-13T09:12:00.004-05:00

I´ve been asked to write a guest entry for my friends here and i´m hoping to offer a bit more of an outside perspective to the irregular updates that we´ve all been following over the months. I arrived in Spain on the 6th and, though I wouldn´t consider myself a ¨sista,¨ I did bring my bicycle and I like to think of myself as an honorary member of this elite unit.

My impressions of the trip are too many to name here, but I´ll share some of what I´ve witnessed since I arrived.

Most of the entries that I´ve read here seem, in a word, soft. Make no mistake, there is nothing soft about these girls. Riding down a coastal highway on a bike strapped with fifty pounds is not for the faint of heart. This occurs to me when a cargo truck blows by at seventy kilometers an hour, leaving a margin between collision and a blast of disarming wind at about three feet.

Many in Spain seem to view them, in passing and in conversation, with undeniable admiration. Some seem to think they´re crazy. Some might not be far off on that. They´ve all begun talking to inanimate objects including their food, bikes, and some of the more charming trees. Nadia won´t stop going on about ham sandwiches. I don´t believe they´re crazy, but simply dancing on that fine line between bravery and insanity. This is not a dance that one does on such a grand stage without a bit of practice and, if I know anything about my friends, I´d say they´re well rehearsed.

I´d like to say more about my reasons for putting my trust in this lot, but I´ll probably save that for another time. The one thing I will say is that Spain is beautiful, my guides are extremely experienced and I know that I´m in good hands.

That´s it for now. Beun viaje.

bryan

Our radio interview in Barcelona

2008-11-09T04:48:00.002-05:00

Click on the link below to hear our interview on Radio Bronka, 104.5fm Barcelona, with Annie, Monique, and two of the Biciosos, Sebastian and Lalo. It´s all in Spanish, but features some great bicycling music. We weren´t kidding when we said the festival was full of bike nerds.

http://www.archive.org/download/FtbRadioshowencuentroBiciosxsYCyclingSisters/20081103-FUCK_THE_BASTARDS_64kb.mp3

More from Can Masdeu

2008-11-07T07:05:00.004-05:00

If only every bathroom had such a nice view! And they use their poop to nourish the garden, and now ours too! They wait two years for the human waste to compost and then use it on the non-consumable plants.

extended living space outside

The Latrine

Claudio posing in front of the solar powered outdoor shower

Monique as Vanna White displaying the homemade solar oven

cycle powered washer

homemade solar panels

solar cooker!

one sock wonder, Pablo

gardens

on a walk we saw this strange conglomeration of things on a balcony

view from Can Masdeu

Nadia gazing upon Barcelona from the surrounding mountains

Barcelona is wheel friendly, I mean it wheely is!

2008-10-28T17:46:00.003-04:00

Can Masdeu, the intentional community where we are staying until Saturday with the very generous 25 people who live here. Located at the top of a hill overlooking the city, surrounded by a park, Can Masdeu was once a leper hospital.

Bustin' out the slack line!

Our sadness after Julita's departure back to the US. Notice we are sitting under a horse's ass, this is to illuminate how we feel now that Julia is gone.

Sending Julia off.

On a brighter note, here is a shot of Monique's new bitchin' haircut...the mullhawk!!!!!! Oh and her new name is Mona Barcelona.

A glimpse of the mountains on our ride around Barcelona.

¡Critical Mass (Masa Critica)! en Barcelona

2008-10-28T17:29:00.002-04:00

On our ride to Barcelona we joined two other bike nomads. They informed us of the weekend´s critical mass ride and three day bicycle fiesta! What a coincidence...or is it? The Biciosos, a free bicycle collective, hosted us and many other international bike nerds. They organized food, housing, parties, tattoos, calf muscle contest, dancing, concerts and of course, bike rides. We had the ultimate tour of Barcelona.

on route to España

2008-10-28T17:23:00.002-04:00

alternate exercise

2008-10-21T07:48:00.002-04:00

fill 'er up!

2008-10-21T07:31:00.002-04:00

some of julia's photos

2008-10-21T07:13:00.003-04:00

"we're not lost!"
wild camping in southern germany
munich
a night on a pier near Cannes, France
that is a REAL background!

Older shots from Germany and a few from Italy

2008-10-21T07:08:00.003-04:00

On a slanted train to Genoa. I don't remember where, Germany (click on image to see the up close version)

a short stop in Bolonga, Italy

German birds are surprisingly comfortable around humans.

Hooray for Frankfurt. (Annie, Mo, Jody, Julia, Nad)

view of Papenheim, Germany

an old magical tree

Botanical Garden in Munich

More from France

2008-10-21T06:36:00.003-04:00

Our cycling crew!

Amy in Perpignon. It was wonderful to be around Amy and relax in her hotel room.

Annie expressing her French side.

Drawing, listening to music, drinking wine, and loving being together.

a day in the park, planning our next journey through the Pyrenees.

J'ai deux baguettes!!!!

(for Amanda, Chelsea, and Elizabeth)

Vive la France!

2008-10-21T06:24:00.001-04:00

Reunited and it feels so good!!!

2008-10-20T08:47:00.003-04:00

Hi there. This is Annie again with a brief update and sorry, no pictures again, sadly, considering the last three weeks has been the most beautiful riding of the journey so far, by far. I am writing from Perpignon, France, about 200km north of Barcelona. We will be in Spain momentarily!!!
So while Monique and Nadia were hanging out in Germany and Julia entertained herself in Berlin, Jody and I jumped a train for Florence from Munich, through little Austrian towns in the Alps, and followed the sunshine south. In Florence, I met up with my old friend Wilmer from Ecuador, and we walked around town eating gelato, cathcing up and siteseeing. Poor Jody got the horrible stomach flu that all of us girls had already had, so as he was recovering in the hostel, I was out eating amazing Italian food with old friends. Sorry JoJo!! :) The next day, Jody still being a bit ill, we took a train again to Pisa, where we took the necessary photos in front of the leaning tower and then biked 20 km into Viareggio, where we were treated to the most openhearted hospitality from Wilmer's best friend, Abdul, who is originally from Morroco. After two days of fresh pasries and coffee in the morning, meals, and accompanied walks about town, Jody and I headed out along the Tuscan coast and climbed a few mountains along our way. Being just the two of us, we worked ourselves up to 100km days and kicked it out, winding up and down the cliffs of the SS1, the highway running along the coast. One day we spent climbing uphill the entire day, and camped at very near the top of a mountain, completely surrounded by clouds. When we awoke in the morning and climbed the rest of the way up the mountain, through the clouds, we were treated with an incredible downhill ride; where Jody clocked nearly 60km an hour. What took us a day to climb took less than half hour to descend. Now down along the flat coast again, we stopped in little tourist towns along the way for espresso, gelato, or a quick dip in the water. At night we found great camping spots, one a closed down campground right on the beach. What a lovely sight to unzip the tent in the morning and watch the sun rise over the ocean. After a week or so of hard cord biking, more 80 to 100km days, Julia met us in San Remo, and that day we biked through three countries, from Italy into France, through Monaco, and back into France. The camping in these days was amazing as well, once in a tiny little park up on the cliffs with an amazing view of Monte Carlo, where we had to carry our fully loading touring bikes up and down about six flights of stairs. Not for the faint of heart, friends. Another night we seemed to be out of luck for a spot to sleep, sat on a park bench along the boardwalk, got some beers and watched the sun set, wondering what we would do. We ended up biking a bit more and came upon a long concrete pier. Perfect. We biked out to the end and slept peacefully out under under the stars and left at daybreak in the morning.
After passing through Nice and Cannes, still along the coastal highway, the roads forced us up and inland a bit. By this time, Monique and Nadia had caught up with us on the trains and we reunited in the small french town of Le Luc - hugs and kisses all around!!!!!! We must've been a site, all decked out in spandex and hugging wildly in front of a small cafe where Julia, Jody, and I had been waiting.
Since then, we have biked through the beautiful French countryside and camped on the outskirts of vineyards, sneaking a grape or two from the vines, down in the marshlands very reminiscent of the Mississippi Delta, where we saw flamingos and wild horses, and in beautiful pine forests, cooking up some great grub in the evenings over the fire. I even invested in a small espressso maker after all the indulgences in Italy, so now we get our espressos in the morning and after lunch. Since its been warm, we've been able to sleep under the stars, which is a glad change from Germany. Now, no matter what happens - we get lost, we're pressed to find a spot to camp, we run out of food or have finicky gears - we always say, "Hey, at least it's warm!"
Now here we are, finally getting a few days rest in Perpignon. Yesterday, we met up with Aimee, a friend of Nadia, Monique, and Julia and spent the entire day with her, eating, sleeping, and cafe hopping. Jody and I went for nearly 20 days of straight hardcore biking and our bodies are releeeeeived to finally have a rest. We're going to need it to climb the Pyrenees into Spain though!!
Here's hoping everyone is happy and well at home!! I imagine the fall for you now, everyone raking leaves, carving pumpkins, drinking cider and eating lots of apples. Happy trails everyone, and there will be pictures soon, promise!

From the Mediterranean: Monaco, France!

2008-10-11T08:28:00.003-04:00

A quick update! Monique and I are in Nice, France searching for the rest of our friends who are supposedly somewhere near. We had a wirlwind journey through Ferrara, Italy- Bolonga-Genova-and now we're here, hot on the trail of Julia, Jody and Annie. We will fill you in on the nitty gritty details later. But for now we must go enjoy the beach cause it's a heat up in here.

au revoir,
Nadia

Grandma's garden , wild mushrooms and more from Nürnberg

2008-10-07T06:19:00.007-04:00

Florian 's family are a wonderful though perhaps not typical German family, they have a beautiful home and garden with everything froms apples to bees and Grandma, though she spoke no English, gave Nadia and I the grand tour, sampling as we walked.

it was sort of fairytale with mushrooms the size of your head and smiling people everywhere,minature houses and german being spoken. a charming time and essential in getting to know and love germany better.

Florian's parents cutting up the mushrooms from their days forage.

Crazy nutcrackers at the toy museum which had an amazing collection of old wooden dolls and minatures.

unfortunately, no magic ones.

at a rock and roll disco

Oktoberfest, Munchen 200ß

2008-10-07T05:51:00.004-04:00

So basically Oktoberfest is like an international peprally, with the Italians taking the prize for the loudest and longest cheers, and the German's with most school spirit. The french are pretty tame and the Austrailians are just plain drunk. Not many American's here so Monique and I tried our best to represent. Too bad the beer is way to expensive, although you do get the experience of drinking out of a liter mug. Really the beer is much better on a real German's couch. Florian and his friends, shown above, though not Bavarian know how to have a good time. As for Julia, she had to scratch her undying itch and head up to Berlin for the week. We've heard from her and she's having a blast staying up 48 hours at electonica clubs. Jody and Annie headed to Italy and are currently riding North from Florance to Genoa. We will all meet up this weekend somewhere along the Mediterreanian.

tschüss!

Nürnberg

2008-10-03T15:06:00.004-04:00

Nürnberg

Monique and I (Nadia) are staying the weekend at her friend Florian's house.

and more...

2008-10-03T14:51:00.003-04:00

Monique scales the castle wall

View of the Rhine river from a castle in Marksburg

Our campsite in Munich. There are people from all over Europe, as well as Australia and the US, who are here for Oktoberfest. It's like a festival/refugee camp really.

Morning!

tent life and the land of apples

2008-10-03T13:10:00.001-04:00

Munich or bust!

2008-09-24T07:48:00.002-04:00

Greetings from Rothenburg, Germany!
This is Annie. Sorry that I have no pictures to share, the internet cafe we are in doesn´t have the capability. It´s a shame, cause we got some beauts! (More spandex than you can imagine!)
So we´ve ridden about 700km so far, going south down the Rhine River from Njimegen, Holland into Germany. We picked up the Main River in Mainz and then connected up to the Tauber River which took us into Rothenberg last night. We now are heading southeast along the Altmuhl River towards Munich, another 350km or so. We´ve been wild camping for the most part, every few days we break down and set up at a regular campground for the sake of hot showers and the occasional kitchen and biergarten (just how it sounds folks, beer garden!). Survival is the name of the game; our days are focused on riding, eating, and sleeping with laughter and silliness splattered about. Some stories from the road:
- While stopped outside a boat docking area, some partygoers came out to invite us in. We ended up camping there and crashing an end of the season all-out boat party, complete with Hanau, the local liquor (aka moonshine), an awards ceremony, and the best german cuisine yet. They invited us back for next year´s party. Favorite quote, ´´You´re drinking apfelwein (apple wine)? Don´t air out in our toilet. Many small things will come out of your butt.´´
- Sundays can be a problem for locating an open shop or restaurant for food. One Sunday, hungry and cranky in a small town, we came upon an old man and asked if he knew of anywhere to get food. He not speaking a word of english, and us not a word of german, he brought us to a bar where we loaded up on beer and fries. After disappearing for awhile, he returned with his accordion in hand and played us some wonderful tunes with a faraway look on his face. Everyone in the bar applauded, all 8 of us.
- It´s just the girls for now. Our Australian friend Jody hurt his ankle and is resting up in Guzenhausen, where we will meet him in a day or two. Happy recovery Jody!
- We toured a castle in Marksburg, complete with torture chamber, chastity belts, and armour from as far back as the first century.
- It´s been cold, but beautiful, a little rainy as well. Our rides lately have been really hilly, which means massive thighs and beautiful views of the valleys below. Oh gosh, and our stomachs are full of apples since there are apple trees a plenty. Was Johnny Appleseed German?
- I wish I could include pictures of the beautiful places we´ve been camping...along the rivers where we filter our water and take baths (if we´re brave enough), with raging fires over which we cook our meals, surrounded by trees, wilderness, and those darn stinging nettles. As you can imagine, we are a little grimey, and Nadia smells like a skunk (just her jacket really, which got sprayed).
Those are the stories for now, friends. Sorry again for the lack of pictures, we´ll fix that soon.
Next stop, Munich for OKTOBERFEST!!! Hope all is well back home!

three riding down the Rhine, one left behind :)

2008-09-12T11:02:00.002-04:00

hi friends,

It's Nadia here to give you an actual update using words instead of pictures. I have plenty of time to write since I decided to stay in Holland with my family for a few days. Annie, Mo, Julia and new addition Jody from Australia left Holland Thursday morning to bike down the Rhine river into Germany. I plan to catch up with them on Sunday or Monday by train. It should only take a four to five hour train ride to meet them in Kohl, Germany. Although I'd rather be biking with my sistas I'm staying in Nijmegen to recover from my knife wound :) I was able to do shorter rides with them in Holland one handed but wasn't feeling up for a one handed 70 mile ride! I tried to take my stitches out with the help of one of my aunties on Tuesday but was entirely grossed out when I saw that the cut was still open at the top. The next day I took two more out but wasn't able to get the fourth one out. It was stuck and hurt way too much to continue. Luckily I was able to visit the 'house doctor' of my uncle yesterday and she quite calmly pulled the rest out in a matter of minutes. And even though I don't have international health insurance she gave me a consultation and did the job for 20 euro... thank you to the Dutch socialist health care system.
I got a call from Annie a couple hours ago. She said they went 70 miles yesterday and wild camped along the Rhine. They went for an evening dip in the river, which loosened up their muscles and was very refreshing. Today however has been rainy and cool. They called me from a small town coffee shop where they were drying off and warming up. Our convo was cut short by the automated dutch lady saying they were running out of phone minutes. Their adventure is going well and I cannot wait to be riding with them. I'm hoping by Monday I will be able to put pressure on my palm again and move my finger enough to hold on to the handle bars. Until then I get to spend quality time with my mom's side of the family. The best is meeting my cousin's daughter Fae, who is almost two. She is adorable and has already given me the name "Na Na."

Much love from the Netherlands,
Nadia

Nadia's cousins!

2008-09-11T07:36:00.003-04:00

Here is Jeroen standing in the kitchen of his Rotterdam flat where he lives with his girlfriend Marijlein. Check out that awesome red stove. The top folds down when your not using it.

a view from Jeroen's livingroom. He had a great party last saturday night filled with mid twenty year old drunk Dutch kids singing Michael Jackson, Offspring, and Ace of Base karaoke at the top of their lungs. Oh and you bet we were a part of that! It was momentarily interupted by an old Dutch lady in a long red coat, waving a finger and yelling up at us from the street level. I couldn't understand her but I'm pretty sure she was pissed. Ooops.

My youngest cousin Bobby(16) with his girlfriend in Nijmegen where he lives in the attic room of Eddie and Carla's house, my aunt and uncle. They are cute, no?

Geared up on route from Delft to Rotterdam, Holland

2008-09-11T07:25:00.003-04:00

Moniqe and Annie on a bike trail along Holland's extremely green and flat landscape.

Annie is very curious about these haapy cows.

Holland is under sea level. These canals are everywhere! Holland= half land half waterways.

A bit more of Amsterdam

2008-09-10T18:13:00.003-04:00

we had to act the part
since we hit up the red light district
which made us hungry.

what is the difference between a blond and a croquet?
A croquet has brains...

Rotterdam

2008-09-10T17:53:00.003-04:00

This is the water heating device for the sink.

Delft, the New Church, the Old Church

2008-09-10T17:00:00.003-04:00

We traveled to the Ronstad to visit Nadia´s cousins. Nadia and Monique are in front of the Old Church in the town of Delft. Delft is like a quiet, miniature version of Amsterdam with canals, sinking off kilter buildings and cyclists. (it is vaguely apparent that the church is at a slight angle behind them)

And here is the rest of us in front of the New Church! The Royal family of Willem of Orange is buried here. Willem stopped the Spanish invasion in the 1600s! Woohoo!

Hank's Harring stand

2008-09-07T09:28:00.002-04:00

We tried Hollandise special harring, which is cured with salt and eaten with onions and pickles. Tasty!

The steep stairs to our room in Amsterdam

2008-09-07T08:32:00.002-04:00

This was our hostel in Amsterdam

2008-09-07T08:24:00.002-04:00

Bob's youth hostel! We were lucky to get a room all to ourselves with four beds. We just had to turn the other cheek to avoid the small curly black hairs in our sheets. Blessed is the person who invented the sleeping bag.

Arrival!

2008-09-07T07:58:00.002-04:00

We arrived at Schiphol airport at 7 am dutch time (midnight for us). We spent a few hours rebuilding our bikes, evoking the curiousity of some. At some point we were told to move but mostly people tried to help us and watch us work. The airport staff was the most interested.

Routes!

2008-09-02T09:51:00.005-04:00

Here are two potential routes. The blue line follows the Rhine River south and connects to the Danube River heading east. The yellow line hits Berlin and takes us south to Prague. Both stop in Budapest, where we tentatively plan to hop a train to Genoa where Nadia's family lives, and we'll resume cycling along the mediterranean coasts of France and Spain.

Yellow line: 1,037 miles

Blue line (northern): 1,123 miles

Mediterranean route: 1,234 miles

We've discovered some great cycle routes, many car free!:

Rhine Cycle Route: http://www.velorouterhin.eu/en/

Danube Cycle Route: http://www.mayq.com/Best_european_trips/Danube/Danube.htm

Prague-Vienna Greenway: http://www.pragueviennagreenways.org/

River Elbe Cycle Route (Berlin to Prague): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Cycle_Route

Prost!

A minor delay

2008-09-01T18:31:00.003-04:00

4 days before departure and I cut my hand! 11 stitches!
Looks like Monique, Julia, Annie and I will have to take time out for medicinal healing in one of Amsterdam's lovely coffee shops until I get theses stitches out. I'm already feeling better thanks to my wonderful friends and family. Thanks for the arnica Velga!

Julia and Monique

2008-08-27T13:29:00.002-04:00

Julia Murray

Mo Mo Milleson

Countdown to September 3rd!

2008-08-26T11:42:00.001-04:00

Here we go, friends - Amsterdam to Morocco via Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budpest, and the Mediterranean coasts. Do we look ready to

cycle thousands of miles across europe.....?