Cookin’ tonight!

A couple of pics from a recent late afternoon ride. “Late afternoon” here in Spain during the summer can be anytime between 5pm and 8pm…..

This is half way up a climb a few km’s outside Ainsa . . . . which is in the background.

Into the Badlands . . . .

I’ve posted from this spot before – up through the Old Town, out the back of the Castle and over to the “Mirador” – the viewpoint above the Rio Cinca.

So often when you look north you see heavy weather over on the French side of the Pyrenees.

Every village in Spain has a Fiesta once a year and this weekend is traditionally the weekend that the village of Guaso, where our Project is, holds its 4 day long Fiesta.

The church on the hilltop in Guaso is called the “Iglesia de San Salvador” (the Church of Saint Salvador) – so San Salvador, which is celebrated on August 6th (when the church celebrates the transfiguration of Jesus) is the Patron Saint of Guaso.

This year there will be a mass on Sunday but, thanks to Covid-19, no street parties, no “Ronda” (where musicians lead the crowd through the sreets of the village), no big open-air sit down evening meal and no dancin’ the night away . . . .

Last year, as you can see, we had a ball!

Summer is here for sure!

The average daytime temps at the moment hover between 30 and 34 dgrees but we peaked at 37.5 degrees the other afternoon. I believe London had similar temps that day. I know a friend of mine in Oxford had 36 degrees!

Much like when we lived in South Africa, in the summer the mornings up until around 10:30 are perfect for riding. Unlike SA we also get to go out again in the light evenings – between 7:30 and when it gets dark – currently around 9:30pm.

I do love my summer evening rides!

“Working in Spain” – Part 2.

For our first 18 months here, knowing that work was hard to come by at the best of times and being under the impression that the banks would have the financing sorted out for our Project fairly quickly, we didn’t worry about looking for proper jobs at all…….. ah those were the days!

Our plan was always, and still is, to do as much of the renovation work on the Project as possible ourselves – so once the Project build started that was going to be both of our full time jobs – 7 days a week. Once the Project was finshed and the business was up and running, then again, that would be our full time work – and being a B&B/Guesthouse it would also 7 days a week for much of the year. Neither of those scenarios were an issue for us – one thing we’re not scared of is hard work!

During our first months here, while waiting for the council to approve our planning permision and the banks to approve our loan, we actually did lots of “work” but we didn’t have jobs….

I was busy helping my new friends at “Zona Zero” clear and maintain mountain bike trails – work I loved doing – outside in the Pyrenees mountains with great weather and great people. I learned a lot about all local villages and footpaths during that time – Angel often took me to see stuff that you’d never know was there unless someone told you – and I made some good friends too.

We also both did a lot of work helping the previous owners of our Project (and our future neighbours) Ramon & Rosa with jobs around the farm. We helped them with the animals, the grape harvest, planting next years wheat – you name it we did it. Again, good hard work outside in the sunshine with our amazing sights and views – a massive change from what we were used to…..

Zona Zero has just released maps and details of 21 new XC routes – “For Bikers with the Soul of a Wolf”.

I’ll be trying them out as soon as I can find some time!

“Working in Spain” – Part 3.

Whilst out clearing trails one Autumn afternoon with my friend Angel Cheliz – the owner of the local “Intersport” bike & sports shop, we got to talking about work and, in the face of everything seemingly taking forever to proceed over here, my need to find a job.

Angel told me that with my experience I should contact the local campsites with a view to getting something the following spring for the summer season. The following February I prepared a CV, focusing on the parts of my work experience that were relevant, and within a week I started work at “Camping Ainsa” – one of the four local campsites.

For me it’s the perfect job. I generally spend a minimum of 80% of each day working outside in the sunshine doing jobs I really enjoy under the watchful eye of the Pyrenees mountains. After so long “working inside” over the years – Eskom Power Stations, R&D Labs, Customers Factories, Offices . . . . it’s a happy change. I have amazing views, fresh air and to a large extent I’m left to myself.

At the beginning of the year it’s a very physical job – lots pf grounds maintenance – fallen trees, a billion leaves to clear up, half-meter high grass to cut and sorting out whatever else Winter has thrown our way – but it’s a great way to stay in shape. Like doing Gym all day – but you get paid 🙂

During the season it can get a bit hectic – there are 26 Cabins/Chalets of various sizes – all with showers, toilets, water heaters and even furniture – just waiting to break or go wrong. Plus all the communial services, the swimming pools and the general grounds where tents & caravans park up. It keeps me busy and I get to meet lots of interesting people from all over Europe – including tons of cyclists who I can advise and sometimes even guide “out of hours”.

Work here where we live can be hard to come by. I’m fortunate in that I’m able to do a physically demanding job whilst also having the technical background to manage pretty much anything complicated that comes up.

I always thought that the job would tide me over until we can get our project built and our business running – but in fact we’re now thinking that it would be worth me keeping the job even when we’re open. Mrs Spekkie will manage our place, with my help when I’m not at work – which will generate enough income to pay for itself – and my income will support us and pay our own “non B&B related” bills.

That’s the plan anyway . . . . . .

A week or two ago we were talking to a South African investor who was seriously considering investing enough money into our Project for us to have been able to complete just over half the build. By being careful in what work we chose to carry out and by doing as much of the manual labour as possible ourselves (and with my friend Ben’s help), we calculated that we could have completed 2 (hopefully 3!) guest bedrooms with bathrooms, Lounge/Kitchen/Diner, Patios & Gardens plus a very basic room for ourselves.

The “room for ourselves” would have mean that we could move out of our rented apartment – an instant cash saving – and the 2 or 3 guest rooms would have allowed the Project to start earning it’s keep. As I’ve mentioned on here I’m currently managing to find employment for around 9 months of the year with the Campsite etc and I plan to keep doing that, even when we’re up and running ourselves, so that the Project can concentrate on paying back it’s investors and doesn’t have to support us.

The money would have been available within a month or two, which would have been the perfect time of the year for us – just as the “Season” starts to wind down and we’d be free to give the Project our full attention. . . . . everything was looking good, the numbers made sense and, amazingly, the builder we are going to use to do the “big stuff” had his van parked outside our flat on the day that the investor was due to give us his final decision……

It didn’t come off in the end, but I’m happy to say that it was not because of anything to do with us or the potential risk associated with the Project etc and on the plus side – we’ve had the opportunity to double-check our numbers and the chance of it happening cheered us up nicely for a while during what has been a pretty grim year for everyone!

We’ll take it all as a good sign and keep looking……. we only need to find one!

🙂

I’m loving the narrative of this project, do you know how long Camping Ainsa has been open as it seems very familiar but it was back in 1977 when I camped in that area!

I believe the site as it is now was built around 30 years ago. Not sure what existed in the area 20 years before that!

Working outside . . . .

Some pictures from “The Office” . . . .

During the Lockdown the boss got me a “Permission to Work” letter based on the fact that he needed me to work so that the campsite would be ready to roll once Lockdown was over.

It was strange to see the sight empty in June – the family have been running the place for 30 years and have never once seen it like this during the season before……

These are my babies . . . . first couple of hours every day are spent getting them ready . . .

I can look up at Ainsa Old Town any time I want to and remind myself of just how lucky we are living here!

I love this thread. I have happy memories of Ainsa. One summer we spent a few days exploring the Ordesa canyon and surrounding area – we might have camped at your campsite Spekkie. One day we returned to find a flash flood, but just in time before our tent and belongings floated away. We decamped up the hill to a hotel in the town, which is really pretty. My enduring memory is of a very long night we spent in the “Irish bar” – by virtue of it selling Guinness – with some very friendly locals. The hangover was worth it!

Spekkie, looking at the website for the camping, rather oddly it has the distance from Toulouse as 755km…google says 220km. Great thread by the way.

Mike-E – We do have an “Irish Bar that sells Guinness” up in the Old Town. Funnily enough I was there for a couple of drinks with Mrs Spekkie last week. We were meeting with a guy who’s over here from Brighton. The Ordesa Valley is stunning – Summer and Winter – and only half an hours drive away.

Dave – Cheers, I know their website isn’t the greatest in the world – I’ll have a look!

We used to get amazing sunsets when we lived in South Africa and the same when we lived in the UK.

Here it’s not generally so easy to see them because of the mountains but tonight was an exception . . . .

Really enjoyed our week in Ainsa! I must say I was blown away by the riding!

We rode 3 loops we found on the Z trails App and trail forks and each one was so varied and I was struggling to pick a favourite. Stunning scenery, very natural singletrack but a great variety to each ride from rocky loose tech, flowing pine needles loam, slab rock and moab style gritty grippy undulating landscape. Just amazing and we barely scratched the surface of the way marked routes.

I found the altitude gain per mile really tough in the heat though and really started thinking an ebike would be of great merit if I was visiting again.

We’ll definitely be back and I’ll be encouraging friends to consider it as an alternative to Alps trips.

*Waves at Spekkie*

Great to get back on 2 wheels to Ainsa. It’s a stunning region and we’ll definitely be back!

I found the altitude gain per mile really tough in the heat though and really started thinking an ebike would be of great merit if I was visiting again.

I would totally agree with this. We went this summer but I was with the family who are non-mountain bikers and we were staying about 40 minutes drive from Ainsa in the Chistau valley. However, I managed to sneak away for half a day to rent a bike in Ainsa and do some of the trails that link up to the town.

It was during a heatwave and although I’m used to riding in 35 degree heat (I live in Spain too), the climbs were really punishing because of the temperature and by the end of it all I was completely destroyed. An ebike would have really helped especially as some of the climbs were really techy and relentless.

Spekkie, I should’ve got in touch as I stayed in Ainsa a few times over summer on motorcycle tours but it was never planned to stop there, just ended up being a handy place to stop and I had my running kit with me.

I ran round ZZ01 Pumariello/As Cambras the first day – amazing trail run but for me on a bike it would be a long 2km push up the first climb to that ridge – as @devash says, really techy and hard to string any riding together (and I’m a strong climber!). And it’s ‘only’ a red! Says a lot that they reckon on 2-3h by bike and I ran it in 2 and a bit…
Will be back with a bike for sure (and not riding the reds!)

Embalse de Mediano from the top of el Cerro de S. Salbatore. Biggest run of the year (not saying much) was not a pretty sight but the scenery was cracking and not a single wrong turn thanks to the clear markings of @zonazerobtt route 01 – muchísimas gracias! pic.twitter.com/JX3I2ZK84z

— Bob Summers Ⓥ (@b0b_summers) August 29, 2020

Btw the manager of the Apolo hotel says hi to you and @basquemtb!

Is there a company running shuttle buses in Ainsa / Boltana? The triails are crying out for it.

@MYTI – glad you enjoyed it! As you say, you barely scratched the surface!

@Pauly – was nice to meet up! Hope we see you again soon….

@devash – yeah this year was hot at times. My car registered 37C on more than one afternoon.

@bob_summers – no worries man – I know it’s not always easy too make contact at short notice. We have the same problem when we go back to the UK. Can’t fit everything in! See you next time . . .

@the00 – yes, there are a couple . . . .

In Summary:

It has been hot at times over the summer and yes, it is a bit “hilly” here in places! Depending on what you like and what you’re capable of there is some amazing riding here – you just have to know where and when. I love it here but having lived in Suth Africa for 8 years before coming here I am used to getting up early to beat the heat in the summer, eating & resting during the afternoon and then going out again in the evening.

There are a couple of uplift companies in town, including one that does e-bikes. I guided a group for a week last year and for one day we all hired e-bikes and although like Bob, I’m not a bad climber, the ebike was fun.

The trails here are continually being added to and improved – Ainsa and Zona Zero are moving onwards and upwards – literally!

Thanks for all the commnts guys. It’s this stuff that keeps us going 🙂

Ainsa now has it’s own Pumptrack!

It opened on Friday evening and on Saturday morning the kids were testing it out!

Saturday morning the kids were testing it out!
Aye right 😉

It was the Kids – honest guv!

Last week . . . .

After 24 hrs of heavy rain and thunderstorms, the cloud that stretched from horizon to horizon disappeared overnight and we woke up to beautiful sunshine and a mist over our two rivers and the lake……

It’s nice sometimes to look up from whatever I’m working on and just enjoy the view 🙂

Pump track looks tops…

Having a few days off after working for 114 days in a row 🙂

7 days a week isn’t as bad as it sounds. Pretty much everyone here connected to tourism works a 7 day week during the summer season, as do the farmers of course. My hours varied depending on what was going on – sometimes it was a straight 7 hrs a day with evenings off, other times it was a split day – 6 hrs in the morning and a couple more later in the evening.

After we’ve had a few days off now, I’ll go back and we’ll do all the shutting down and disconnecting work that needs doing before winter.

It’s nice to be busy and see money coming in, and knowing that this sort of work is available and I have “first shout” at it, is very reassuring because when we eventually get our own place built, any supplemental income I can earn takes some of the strain off of the B&B when it first starts running.

Three days off so far and 3 days of intermittent rain so far! Nice to be catching up with all the “indoors stuff” but looking forward to getting out on the bike next week.
🙂

At the end of last year the work we’d been gradually doing to transform our sloping back garden into a terraced back garden was looking good.

The retaining walls were coming on nicely – it’s slow work but we’re getting there – the weeds and brambles were all cut back and everything was under control. Nothing grew much over Winter and then just as Spring and the sun & rain came along, everything started growing just as we went into Lockdown!

For the next 6 weeks everything grew like crazy but we were not allowed out. Then the day we were allowed out it was to go to work, not to go up to our Project. The growing continued!

Once work started it didn’t stop, until last week. Now I’m back up at our Project in Guaso starting to clear up the weeds and the brambles again so that I can start building the next walls…..

In any case, it’s nice to see ourselves making progress…..

The village of Sieste with the Pena Montenesa behind it, taken on route ZZ-018 – “Paths Of Mondebueno & Madalena”….

It’s a beautiful day – dry, warm & sunny. Long may it continue!

🙂

In between knocking the garden back into shape over the last few days, we managed to squeeze in a little hike up on the top of Zona Zero Route 10 – ZZ-010 “La Coasta Doble”.

It was a lovely day and the views are great. It’s a nice place to go for a “quick hike” because it’s only a 10 min drive from Guaso and you can drive a lot of the way up!

That terraced garden is a thing of beauty – great work!

Stunning!

Thanks guys. It has a way to go yet, but we’ll get there!

Hi Tony, long time no speak, are you going to watch the Vuelta on Saturday? Looks a tough stage, the road along the reservoirs is pretty lumpy. Unfortunately we’ll be in deepest France then as we have to return to Cornwall as Trish’s mother died last week. We’re driving via Vielha to Roscoff then ferry to Plymouth as this means having the minimum time in the UK and being in our own bubble in the camper. Quarantine restrictions allow attending the funeral but not the wake, finding a route is like threading a needle that keeps moving, no chance of the long ferry from Santander as Navarra is locked down, just praying Cataluña doesn’t do the same. Heard Huesca city is a no go area as well as Teruel and Zaragoza. Our spring lockdown project was building a new bigger pool as the old one was in a state of collapse then when things freed up, training for the Badlands race in September. Glad to see the B&B work is coming on, how’s Ramon your friendly farmer doing?

It’s a temporary structure, honest!😁

Hey Duncan! Sorry to hear about Trishes mum 🙁 Good luck with your trip.

Ramon is good. His Vineyard was wiped out this year with frost so he’s not very happy 🙁

I thought I posted this on here earlier but it obviously didn’t quite work . . . .

******************************************************************************************

I posted this on my “Buying a Property in the Pyrenees” thread. I’ll copy it here too…..

This weekend “La Vuelta a España”, which was pushed back by 2 months thanks to Covid19, will be passing right through the area we live in 🙂

We currently live in Boltaña and the race will pass through Ainsa, 6km east of here at the 100km mark and again through Fiscal, 20km west of us at the 160km mark. With luck we should be able to see the race both times. Race officials are predicting about an hour and a half of riding between the two points while they take in the “Añisclo Canyon” with its “Alto de Vio” and “Alto de Fanlo” climbs. Plenty of time for us to get from one to the other…..

The weather and temperature differences between mid August and mid October are worlds apart. The weather is currently too changeable to try and predict. Yesterday I was working in shorts and a T shirt – today I’m at home and it’s raining and cold. Overall I’d guess that this is going to be a much colder & wetter Vuelta than usual.

Stage 5 is following a different route than that which was originally released last year. It finishes in a different place – I assume because of the snow on the peaks at this time of year.

The Route:

The race will leave the town of Huesca and head east towards Barbastro. They’ll be on the “old road” not the new dual-carriageway that we would use. It’s an undulating road which, overall, descends very slightly between the two towns.

In Barbastro they will turn left (North) and head towards Ainsa. 20km outside of Barbastro they will start riding alongside the El Grado Dam (Embalse del Grado) followed by the Mediano Dam (Embalse de Mediano) which takes them all the way up to Ainsa. The Mediano Dam has an abondoned village in the middle of it – you can see the top of the church tower, even when the dam is full. Currently the dam is 3/4 empty!

Through Ainsa and 11km up to Escalona where they turn left again (West) and hit the two climbs of the day. This road is not an easy road to get any speed up on – up and down and very wiggly! The riders will have to pay attention here. It does take in some really stunning scenery though. We’ve driven it several times.

They exit the valley at the small town of Sarvise, about 145km into the stage and turn left (South) to head down to Fiscal. This road is downhill all the way to Fiscal and it’s not a bad road. From Fiscal to the finish in Sabiñanigo they will be on, for the most part, a relatively new nice wide road that includes a 3km long tunnel and a 2nd Cat climb. I would expect an all out sprint for the last 20km of the race!

Incidentally, the road from Sarvise all the way to the finish line in Sabiñanigo is the same road that they rode back on 4th September 2016 at the beginning of Stage 15 of La Vuelta – but in reverse. That was the day Nairo and Alberto dropped everyone in the first 10km of the Stage!

On Saturday Stage 5 of La Vuelta passed through Ainsa and later through Fiscal – both on our doorstep.

Saturdays Diary:

We had a coffee in Ainsa and you really wouldn’t know that a Grand Tour is about to pass through there other than there being more police than normal…..

We walked to a spot just outside Ainsa to watch the race. With the Peloton 10km away we could hear the helicopters in the distance and the first team cars and official cars started passing us….

We were at a point about 100km into a 184km race.

The break went past, then the bunch – looked like Froome was near the back of the bunch – then a little while later the back group passed.

After everyone had passed we walked back into Ainsa to jump in the car and drive a cut-through road to the second spot where we could see the race. In Ainsa lots of support vehicals were also taking the cut through road to jump ahead of the riders who were going to take about an hour and a half to do what we could do in 30 mins.

We parked in Fiscal and walked out to the Intermediate Sprint Point where we could wait for the race to catch us up. First came a breakaway of three riders – they held out to the end – then the Peloton nearly 5 mins later, followed little groups and riders for 20 minutes aftrewards!

I didn’t get pics of the riders passing – I was too busy shouting and cheering! So lots of pics of cars instead 🙂

Spare bikes by Shimano!

Summary:

We had a really nice day!

We watched the “highlights” that night on TV and it was amazing to see the area we live in from the air.

It’s easy to get used to the mountains around here and to forget just how cool this countryside is. So much that we still haven’t properly discovered!

🙂

Sunday I was able to drive 30km west of where we live to see Stage 6 of La Vuelta.

I was going to go to Sabiñanigo so that I could watch them pass twice there (they looped the town) and then up to Biescas, where the stage started, to see them pass on their way to Formigal. I could see that the weather was closing in so when I saw several team cars parked at the side of the road on a long steady climb about a third of the way around the route I realised that I was passing the feed-point and I decided to stop there and watch.