[goldenboy]

Here's a few photos from a ride going from Gibraltar to Huelva in Spain last March. The beaches are all public so the plan was to ride as much of the 'playas' and avoiding roads/towns as much as possible. Access to the water isn't always public and it's not all sandy shoreline so with the help of satellite images a guesstimated route for workarounds was hastily planned out. There was a little singletrack, long quiet coasts, lots of pushing through soft sand and thorny bushwacking. Good old fashioned FUNishment. The distance was around 400km and took three nights. Timing for tides and a ferry crossing over to the Doñana wildlife preserve dictated some travel times and dates.

(first post from my phone, hope it works )

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[xcguy]

Cool. How did your bike/gear work out? Would you have changed anything?

 

[goldenboy]

Cool. How did your bike/gear work out? Would you have changed anything?

The old Salsa Mukluk worked great for all conditions. The salt and sand are killers so a spray-on protective layer that doesn't attract dirt would be nice. Keeping a chain brush handy worked.

I didn't bring the frame bag and wish I would have for the extra food and water.

I re-engineered the seat bag straps around the seat post to reduce swag swing. It works great and is adjustable to load size. The fast clip that came with the bag had previously failed and was replaced, but the other side broke on this trip and I didn't have a replacement. I carry one now.

Since the country is full of plants with thorns the tubes have plenty of sealant in them, even still, I managed to get a finger size hole through the old endomorph tire and tube. I was denied access to one section of beach by a man in a Spanish military uniform. There were steep cliffs blocking me in and I don't like to ride 'out and backs'. Fortunately I could see a faint arroyo drainage on Google satellite maps that went through an old burn area torwards an access road. All of the shrubbery were burnt down like sharp little pugle sticks poking out of the ground. The amount cactus needles still stuck in the tire was crazy. It took an hour to pull them all out beefier fitting a new tube in.

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[DIRTJUNKIE]

Good stuff goldenboy, thanks for sharing such a beautiful part of the world.

 

[goldenboy]

Good stuff goldenboy, thanks for sharing such a beautiful part of the world.

It's beautiful and harsh. The heat and the spiky plants can be overwhelming but the beaches and lifestyle are great. Plus it's cheap.

Just to clarify on the seat bag. The broken buckle is 'user error'. I've added another adjustable buckle to the end of the roll top strap. It goes around the seat post and pulls the roll top up higher and tighter, reducing the sway, but adding sideways stress. It works great, I've ridden a lot rodeos with the upgrade so the part was well worn anyway.

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[tfinator]

Awesome, thanks for the report

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