Beaches
As I write this, I’m on a warm sandy beach in Sant Pol de Mar on the Mediterranean coast in the evening. Our group is watching the fireworks dancing above the town. Somebody asked whether they were ‘eco-fireworks’. We thought about it, then gave a small ‘woop’ for the next green one. A firework after our own hearts.
As the locals serenaded us with guitars, an oboe, tuba and stunning voices , and gave us beer, I thought, “I could get used to this degrowth lifestyle”. I am also enjoying all of the Spanish accents pronouncing ‘beach’, it makes me feel like I’m hanging out with Snoop Doggy Dog in a rap video when everyone around me is saying what sounds like, “let’s go down on this bich”.
Hitchbiking
i was born and raised in London, and completed my sponsored hitchbike from my home in London to Barcelona (1000km) yesterday.
My high point would be being picked up by a Miss Universe contestant, and her husband, a professional World’s Strongest Man competitor who has bodyguarded Tony Blair and won the World Powerlifting Championship. I graciously declined his kind offer of an arm wrestle. That said, when we had a photo taken at the end of our 600km drive, he did lift me up a good foot off the ground with one arm without warning me first.
Wild fruit
As we tour through Spain, I am loving the abundant wild food. Along the road are delicious, ripe wild plums (prunus avium); in London the plums are weeks away from being edible. On the coastal mountains, we found wild cabbage (brassica oleracea) which has a real fiery kick to its flavour. It became part of a delicious bike tour curry.
Pledges
I’ve been inspired by people along the way, who have promised to improve their impact on the world, in honour of my travels. I have had people promise to move their money to an ethical bank that doesn’t invest in weapons, to bake a cake with free range organic eggs for their mum and to tell a friend how much they mean to them. I have also had pledges I have been surprised at, such as a cyclist at DIY bike workshop 56a in London who pledged to stop picking his nose, and a mechanic who pledged to ask his mum to bake him a cake.
To see the pledges, take a peek at http://is.gd/samsbikeadventure
Call the police
Among the places we’ve stayed is a local sports centre, which we was unlocked for us by local police. They said we should let them know the next morning when they could lock it up again. This lead to some hilarity as a bike tour member saw that we were all ready to leave the building to get on our way, and called out to us, “get out of the building because I’m calling the police!”