Patagonia NZ

Ben: “Somehow the rain didn't impact our mood. We were happy but the rain certainly added a level of complexity. We couldn’t just camp anywhere, as things started to get very damp and we needed to find a solid roof over our heads most nights to dry out our gear.”

Laura: “The north of Spain is full of steep climbs. There doesn’t seem to be any regulations on the incline of a road. On some occasions, the surface was so steep and the rain so intense that we couldn’t get traction and our tyres would spin out.”

Ben: “I think we rode 13,500 metres of positive climb just in that northern part. The last day in Galicia, we decided to cut out the north-western corner of Spain. We’d just completed a 1400-metre climb in 70 kilometres, battling a 60-kph headwind and we were exhausted. We almost lost it a couple of times, but mostly we were happy – it was a matter of adjusting our mind-set on the go.”

Laura: “We were often soaked to the bone. At the end of a day’s ride our skin was wrinkly and our gear very smelly. I think my shoes started to smell like corn chips at one point. You could smell us before you saw us. Ben decided to switch out his shoes for thongs and we gave up on wearing rain pants as we would sweat too much on the big climbs. Ben looked like he was riding to the beach on a hot summer’s day, but it meant less to dry out at the end of the day.”

Ben: “This sounds very simplistic, but a major highlight – despite being soaked, tired and disappointed with crappy surf conditions – is that we visited just about every bakery and cafe we came across without feeling too guilty. I would probably eat three croissants per morning (in addition to breakfast), along with a fresh baguette with cheese for lunch, some cookies for snacks during the day and a generous dinner in the evening. It was pure indulgence but we were burning so many calories riding.”

Laura: “At one point we realised we were actually following the ‘Camino del Norte’ which is the northern route of the Camino de Santiago. We met many pilgrims along the way, who would share a friendly wave and ‘Bon Camino!’ We decided to join the pilgrims and ride all the way to the historic Santiago de Compostela and its magnificent cathedral.”

Ben: “We didn't have much luck with the surf along the 800-kilometre stretch of the north coast. It was beautiful and stormy, but completely flat. Then we arrived in Portugal and it finally stopped raining, mostly. We were more than happy. We had good surf all the way down to Andalusia and a few interesting moments too.”

Laura: “We visited the stunning city of Porto, but were unfortunately struck down with a bout of food poisoning. We had been careful with our budget but decided to treat ourselves and go out for a special lunch and a traditional Portuguese meal. That night, around 2am we started vomiting (and all the other things that happen when you get food poisoning). The worst thing was that we were staying in a nine-bed room in a hostel. This particular room had three-tiered bunk beds and we were the lucky ones sleeping on the top beds. Pretty much licking the ceiling. Obviously, hot air rises and you're stuck in there, with all windows closed for the night. Climbing down the ladder past two other sleeping bodies, holding everything in, and trying to be as quiet as you can in an echoey bathroom. It wasn’t much fun.”

Ben: “Well it was certainly a way to make more room for the next boulangeries. We lost kgs. We were so sick. But we had to leave town as the hostel was booked out for the next night and we couldn’t face trying to find another place that could accommodate us with our bikes and trailer. So we rode the next three days in the rain and wind till we found a tiny village called São Pedro that had a beautiful little bay. We had overdone it and had nothing left in us (literally). The sun was finally shining again and so we parked the bikes for two days, rested and surfed some mini waves.

“Further south we arrived in Nazaré and were lucky to see it with both a small and big swell. Now we can say we surfed Nazaré ha ha. Even though it was probably two-to-three foot, it was powerful, and a little bit hectic. The following day it was up around 10-to-15 foot and it was such a cool experience to see it with our own eyes. Justine DuPont and all the big wave crew were in town for the Big Wave Challenge Awards. There was a real buzz in the air.”

Laura: “On that big day, we arrived at the lighthouse at dawn. The sun was rising, breaking through the stormy clouds and a faint rainbow across the sky. The ocean was truly alive. We were lucky to see Justine being pulled into a few monster waves. It was mesmerising to watch.”

Ben: “We kept riding south, through on-and-off rain. The coastline between Lisbon and Sagres is stunning. We rode for a while along a single-track at the top of the cliffs and it reminded us of Bells Beach at home.

“Along the way, we met some French cyclists at a little surf spot at the bottom of a really steep hill. One was pulling a trailer with her dog – just the trailer, the dog and its food weighed 50 kilos. That was impressive. With her was a surfer who’d come from Brittany, with his surfboard on a side-rack, and then another one with a super old bike and an even older trailer carrying his plastic surfboard. He was learning to surf as he travelled. They were riding up and down the coast, very small distances, and just surfing and having a great time. It was the first time we saw others travelling by bike with their surfboards; it was a lot of fun to hang out with them.”

Laura: “Eventually we made it to Sagres at the bottom corner of Portugal and started heading back east towards Spain. There’s some big sections of coast that feel a bit more like you're in Malibu or Miami – ultra-developed, much wealthier, and a different type of tourism. We just kept pedalling past it all.

"It got much better though, as yesterday we rode on a pristine beach at low tide for 30 kms to avoid a 150 km detour and have arrived here, in Conil de La Frontera. It’s our last stop in Europe before we head across the strait to Morocco. It's a typical Andalusian village, every building is painted white and there are fun waves, too. Life is good.”