The high point...

Here's the bike at the top of the Col Du Tourmalet - it's at 2115 metres and was quite cold. I was determined to get to the top of this mountain pass and was really pleased when I made it.

Going down was much faster thatn going up - my bike computer said that I reached nearly 45 mph (miles per hour) on the way down!

Orange shirt - the local's favourite

Am I in prison or just reflected??

The people in this part of France loved the orange shirt - it was the team colours of their region's Tour De France team, Euskadi!!

Biggest bicycle in the world??

Is this the biggest bicycle ever??

It was in a town called Eaux Bonnes just below the Col D'Aubisque, a very high and very steep hill!!

In Barcelona...

The journey from France was long, but I´ve arrived in Barcelona.

A taxi took me from the bottom of the Col d´Aspin to the nearest train station, at Lannemezan.

From Lannemezan I caught a train to Toulouse.

From Toulouse another train took me to Cerebere, a small seaside tomwn on the French-Spanish border. Arrived there at about 21.00 (9 o´clock).

I was booked on to a train at 6 o´clock the following morning to go to Port Bou, the Spanish equivalent of Cerbere a few miles down the coast. But I wanted to get some extra time in the morning - so a friendly barman flagged down a truck and I was stuffed (bike and all) into the cab for the journey to Port Bou - I felt as though I was being smuggle across the border.

This morning, I caught the 08.10 train from Port Bou to Barcelona... arring here at about 11.30.

And the final step of the journey was another taxi ride to the hotel.

Time for a rest I think??

Tired, tired, tired...

I can´t remember the last time I felt this physically exhausted. Despite the cycling my legs actually feel quite good, it´s just the rest of me that´s struggling to keep up!

I finished cycling at about midday yesterday and have been travelling to Barcelona since, so I haven´t properly recharged the batteries. So the plan is to leave the bike in it´s bag until tomorrow morning and then go for a whizz up the coast - a nice flat cycle ride by the sea with a cafe stop will make a pleasant change to the mountains.

No pictures?

The hotel computer won´t let me add any photos - if I can´t find another internet cafe that will let me add some, then I promise that I´ll get them loaded for next week.

The problem with mountains...

... is that when you´re cycling into the mountains, every little downhill has a much bigger uphill to follow... it´s very frustrating :-(