Prior days on the road

So heres the gist of the situation in spain.  Hot, hilly, but really really beautiful. I was told prior to leaving that the ride from madrid to barcelona wasnt that nice, being deserty and all. But the fact of the matter was that for the majority of the way the roads were well built and the traffis was low. As far as im concerned that makes for a good trip and it was.  However the heat was another factor. Not exactly sure what the temperature was but id guess somewhere between "i had no idea heat like this existed and man, thats some heat". Water was by far my best friend along the way 6 to 10 liters a day. Yeah, thats metric talk. The hills were no joke either but  still a smaller kinder version than those to be found in italy where every town seems to be located at the highest point they could possibly find. You go down from one just to climb back up to another. Anyway, Back to spain. The roads and signs are fairy easy to follow and. Ow much more appreciatrd and respected after the ridiculas maze of signage in france and italy. More to come on that topic later. I get mad just thinking about it. Rrrrrrr.

The coast of spain from a bit south of tarrazona to barcelona is very nice and lively albiet the water being a good deal more than chilly.  For the most part it was leiserly riding sprinkled with some spanish fiesta ombiance.