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The Running of the Bulls
Whilst in Switzerland people stand in the streets as they watch the cows go up the mountains and come back down the Spanish enjoy a more extreme version with the same species. I was in the same street as the bulls were running up and down whilst in Spain and this was a fun experience.
I watched as the locals stood in the street chatting. One guy was dancing as he chatted to one group of girls whilst to my right some more girls were having a conversation. On the balcony close to the pharmacy I could see the staff in their white coats watching the activities from a safe vantage point. Further down the street a daughter was holding a four year old child. The child was watching what was going below.
A group of men started to pay attention, then a few more were spotted running up the street closely followed by a few bulls. One of these bulls was very powerfully built, with yellowish hair on it’s back. It was powerfully built. Now those that had been chatting were paying attention. Some of them climbed up the rejas whilst others climbed up the wooden devices that had been placed there to allow people to escape to safety. The bulls passed and a guy in an orange suit was chasing the bulls with a stick. One bull slipped and suddenly the guy in the orange t-shirt had a bull behind him. He dodged it in time.
It’s at this moment that a few people clapped at the prowess of this particular runner’s actions. They were having fun. The people went back to chatting waiting for when the bulls would come back the same way in a short while.
This was just one of the vantage points. In another street you could see lots of cages. They weren’t there to keep the bulls in. In fact these cages were designed so that a grown person could fit through the bars. As the bulls would come running down the street so they would run through the bars, to safety.
Some of the younger men were more daring. One in particular, with a pink sweater was going towards the bulls, waving this object at the bull and getting it to charge him. At the last minute he would dodge out of the way of the bull. He did this quite a few times, keeping the bulls active.
At this point it was amusing to see the locals. Some of the cages were designed so that wooden planks could be put across the top. Chairs had been placed there so that the locals could watch the activities comfortably. They were eating sunflower seeds and throwing the shells down. As a result some of those below would get the occasional shell falling on them.
The whole show was fun. I filmed these activities and I’ve started editing that footage to provide you with some fun video of a typically Spanish form of entertainment. This event had been going on for a week and it gave me a new appreciation of Spanish culture. If you’re close to a town as this event is taking place you should definitely take the time to watch it.
Cycling in Spain
When people think of cycling in Spain they think of the seaside and they think of the coast. They think of long flat roads and short climbs. I made the mistake of thinking that so when I arrived in Spain I went cycling but every direction I tried involved climbing steep gradients. The first ride I did took me to the top of the Cumbre Del Sol and I felt that it was hard but I didn’t mind as I expected it to feel like a climb.
It’s when I tried to ride in other directions that I came up to the steep gradients and started to understand the challenge of riding in such a landscape. In Switzerland you can have 12km climbs but they’re at shallow gradients most of the way with the occasional steep gradient. Roads with steep gradients are usually closed in Switzerland. In Spain they don’t have such an issue with ice and snow so they can build steep hills. The hills are so steep that I considered using normal shoes so that I could dismount easily if I ran out of steam. I continued with clipped pedals.
I was using the Komoot app for one route and it asked me to go up consecutive steep gradients. I dismounted and walked up a short bit before getting to another flat bit of road. As I walked up that steep gradient I saw a scooter descending my way and as he applied the brakes to slow down a bit he hit a wet patch of road and the scooter slid for a distance downhill. I believe I made the right decision to dismount at this point.
I eventually reached my destination after studying the map on the app and ignoring directions.
Aside from the painful uphills there are some very nice downhills. This one is going down to the sea through Fanadix, not an Asterix character. This was an excellent and pleasant descent. I only went down this road twice and as I saw that there were some wet patches I didn’t go at full speed. It’s the type of descent you see idealised in road and cycling programs. I love when you have roads that are wide enough for traffic to go uphill and downhill because it feels safer than two-way roads that are only a car width wide.
When I cycle I try to take secondary roads as much as possible for two reasons. The first of these is that there is less traffic so you can enjoy the landscape and see places that people following main roads cannot see and the second reason is that when you’re going up a steep gradient it’s nice to be able to take up the entire road. This is something that I tried in Switzerland and adopt on most of my rides. It’s safer. Before this spot I was going up a steep gradient and sticking to the right of the road when I saw a car coming down the other way. The driver could have continued down safely but she was courteous and stopped, letting me progress up the hill.
This landscape reminds me of Mont Sur Rolle. Spanish terraced vineyards looking towards the sea. In Switzerland vines are given cables to grow on but in Spain at this time of year vines are cut so you see the vineyards unblemished by metal cables.
It’s nice to cycle in Spain but I noticed that I could easily do three to five hundred metres of climbing on every bike ride up steep gradients. You need strong legs for the gradients. In Switzerland it’s rare for me to stand up as I pedal but in Spain it’s almost a requirement. It is a good place to perfect your climbing technique. I will explore more routes next time I go.
A Walk By The Mediterranean
We can’t all head to the mountains and the slopes that lack snow. Some of us head south to the coast. The weather is good and the air is warm enough. It is warm enough for me, not just to consider swimming but to actually do it.
The sea is blue and green as usual with waves breaking. I saw a few orange buoys but I am unsure about whether they are for diving boats or swimmers. Usually for divers they are not so visible.
Dive sites are more stealthy.
The path is clear and easy to follow. It is green and white.
I went for a swim today. I went in an unheated pool, rather than the sea. I could go to the sea but that requires driving and organisation. Swimming in a pool doesn’t.
I don’t like getting into cold water. It tingles. I managed to swim for about ten minutes but if I put my head and brought it back up then it felt cold. I like to be warm. Swimming in cold water when I am not hot to start with, goes against my natural instincts.
I try to alternate between walking, cycling and swimming, to work different parts of the body.
In Switzerland the number of Covid sick is going up and the government is doing nothing to slow it down or stop it. It is allowing people to fall sick despite one fifth of people who fall sick developing long Covid. I am tired of the pandemic, but not enough to give up on maintaining safe habits like wearing a mask, social distancing and more. For as long as I do not fall sick with long Covid there is hope. It is worth staying Covid free, despite the social isolation it results in.