Day 4: Gracia, Park Guell, and bike riding

[Kirsten]
Day 4 was the first day where I was completely in love with this vacation. Everything we did, everything we saw seemed to be straight out of a postcard, like someone had planned things just so, just for our enjoyment. Our first task of the day was to ‘explore the neighborhood of Gracia’; a rather vague description, which gave us a whole bunch of freedom as to how to spend our morning. We had heard great things about Gracia, (especially about it’s ‘beautiful little plazas’) from various websites, especially during our initial hotel search. Rick Steves devoted only a few lines to it, so we were, essentially, plan-less. I liked this.

So Brian found what we thought was the most centrally located Gracia metro stop, we hopped on the train (groggily, at least in my case. I can’t believe it but I’m STILL fighting off the jet-lag!) and arrived in the late morning. We hadn’t had our café con leche yet, so that was the first item on our agenda. We meandered along a rather busy street, no plazas in sight. Brian suggested we go uphill (that Brian, always wanting to climb hills) so we tried it – still no plazas – no nothing, really. So we turned left and went back down….and down some more, and then some more. We suddenly found ourselves in the most beautiful little plaza. For an early morning Sunday, the place was bumpin’. There had to have been at least 4 cafes with 20+ tables for outdoor seating, but there was no space free. Brian and I actually had to wait awkwardly on the sidelines until one party left. We enjoyed our (teeny) coffees in the shade of a big church, which sat on the north side of the square. It was a beautiful, beautiful setting. Right before we got up, we pulled out our map – because that’s what we do – and identified about 5 other plazas in the general vicinity that we wanted to hit before heading uphill to Park Guell. We were soon up and on our way.

Our cafe con leche spot in a Gracia plaza

The other plazas were just as beautiful as the first. In the second plaza we found some kind of anarchy rally going on (we think). It was interesting to see it because we had been noticing, in the last couple of days, a specific kind of ‘sub-culture’ that exists in Barcelona. Not sure what they stand for, but the look is very grungy-ish – hair is mostly in dreads or a mullet, or sometimes a combination of the two. Anyways, many of these folks were in attendance at the rally.

We continued on our journey and began to look for a market at which to buy some food for a picnic in Park Guell. There was just one problem – it was Sunday, and everything was closed. We did have some success though – I’m going to let Brian write about it because our food findings left quite an impression on him J.

[Brian]
Kirsten spotted a nice bakery and suggested that we grab a loaf. We did and they closed for siesta right after we walked out. This bread turned out to be the best bread I’ve ever had – or at least the one I enjoyed the most in my life up to this point. We then stumbled across a fruit and vegetable shop where we picked up some nectarines, plums, cherries, apricots and fresh pineapple and papaya juice. Finally, we picked up some Edam cheese and bee-lined it to the Park de Guell.

Brian with the juice

"Bicing" Rental Bike, which seem to be very popular in Barcelona.

The park was one of my favorite things we had done yet on this trip. Despite being an incredibly touristy place, the architecture and colors were delightful. In the lower 1/3 of the park musicians were about as plentiful as squirrels in Central Park. Every trail or set of stairs we walked had its own soundtrack – in one part, beautiful Spanish guitar. In another part, an annoying electric guitar player playing Beatles and Sting covers (fortunately, there were less of the latter).

Me with the best loaf of bread I can remember. This was our picnic lunch in Guell.

The day was hot and we came upon an oasis of cool shade under a cave of rock pillars with a gentleman playing the most amazing classical music. His name: Miguel Aldunce. We soaked up the music for several songs and got his CD (which most of the musicians in the park have on display for sale [10 euro]).

Window in Gaudi's home, which was located in Park Guell

(Kirsten)

One other thing about the park – we had a great picnic. We climbed up to about the third tier (the park includes about 4, the 4th consisting of hiking and running trails and some great overlooks) and sat on a bench and totally chowed. Unfortunately, we had to listen to the electric guitar guy mentioned above for most of it, but, luckily, we were seated by a section of the pathway characterized by ‘loose rocks’ – this caused many, many people to slip. It was hilarious. By the end of lunch we were predicting who would slip – so much fun!

Kirsten on upper lever in Park de GuellMosaic ceiling in Park de Guell

absolutely crazy woman singing (and blowing into a harmonica) for change in Guell.

a welcome bathroom in Guell

Bike Rental in Barcelona

(Brian)
Kirsten was hip on renting a bike and riding to explore two places:

1) Parc de la Ciutadella – this has been described as the ‘Central Park’ of Barcelona but it’s quite small and not really central.

on the way to Ciutadella

hippies in Ciutadella

2) The Beaches of Barcelona (mainly along the road: Pg. Marítim Barceloneta) – these beaches are incredibly crowded and equally lively.

Kirsten on Maritim Barceloneta

(Kirsten)
What a busy day! We were exhausted. Since we were so tired and our goal was to wake up early the next day, we decided we’d return home, drop off our stuff, and find someplace local to eat. We ended up eating at a cheesy, Chinese-run restaurant on some busy street, so we ate a variety of fried foods to the tune of motocicletas – not our best restaurant pick by any means. But we were full, tired, and that was what counted – we fell right to sleep!

Day 1: Travel to and 1st day in BCN

(Kirsten) 

Later that night, Brian and I went on a walk. We didn't really know where we were (or where we were headed) but we figured we'd explore the area. We found what looked like a main street and followed that down until we came upon this gigantic sculpture which sat in the middle of a traffic circle. 

View of Plaza de Cataluyna (with the Historical Museum of Catalunya in the background)

We continued in the same direction and eventually found ourselves in front of the Historical Museum of Catalunya, which faces back to our hotel from the top of a pretty big hill. Directly in front of the museum were these incredible fountains. When we approached, we saw the fountains were actually performing - there was a good crowd watching the fountains, which were spraying in synch with some music that was playing. It was a neat show to catch - and completely unexpected, which is always fun!

Alpine Hill Climb Time Trial

This morning I rolled out to the Alpine Hill Climb. My legs felt heavy despite a generous amount of rest ordered upon me by my coach, Greg Choat, after Sunday's Bear Mountain suffer-fest (see previous post).

My stomach was upset and I am coming down with a cough so my spirits weren't high. Despite this, I put on my 12/27 cassette and started with a very slow 20 min. warm up across the bridge and onto 9W. I alternated between ramping up my power and returning to an easy rest pace about 4 times; each time I ramped up the power, it was to a higher wattage. I concluded the warm up with a 4 min. steady effort at around 330W; for me it helps to introduce this effort to my legs and heart so the TT wouldn't be my body's first daily exposure to it.

I checked in and after getting help pinning my number on, I had about 10 min. to roll around the parking lot where I introduced my legs to the high cadence (about 110-120) I was intending to employ in the effort.

I was sandwinched between two strong Adler riders (Matt Cuttler and Chris Chaput) in the start-time roster. We started 1:30 apart. Tron Witt got me situated at the line and I took off fully seated. My girlfriend, Kirsten, was waiting about 3/4 the way up; she enjoys coming to my races and helping me any way she can. I asked her to watch for Chaput (who started before me) and time the distance between the two of us. When I passed her, she yelled out 1:30 exactly; Chaput and I were going up at the same pace.

I knew I had to step it up so with about 150 meters of climbing to go and another 150m of flat, I got out of the saddle, shifted several times, and put forth a moderate sprinting effort I could hold for 300m and didn't let up until the line. I didn't leave the small chain ring the entire time.

Out of breath and at the line, I was told my finishing time was 5:04 and that I most likely got 2nd place, behind Chaput. I rode home content but was later called and told that I actually won it with a time of 4:56 (unoffical). Good news and $75 in my pocket to take my girl out for dinner tonight.

Kudos to the Jonathan Adler Racing Team for making this an enjoyable TT experience and especially to Kirsten for giving me the information I needed to encourage the extra effort at the end.