photo affichée sur Instagram par Jean-Michel Lachance

by Jean-Michel Lachance

Last year has been filled with challenges on many levels; personal, financial, and sports. Cycling has always helped me with past challenges, and this year, I decided to give it a go with Spain!

I had recently heard about Andalusia, south of Spain, and I started to make plans to go there. I have always been pretty good with «travelling on a budget», but with the current state of economics, disastrous investments and mortgage renewal, I felt more pressed than usual to be thrifty.

In the end, I communicated with a retired couple from Cómpeta through HomeExchange and committed to their place for the beginning of my trip.

Meanwhile, I advertised my apartment on a monthly basis to help pay some of the expenses. Although I received 50+ requests, I finally accepted a request for two people only on the day of departure.

Speaking of which, I almost turn around to expel them myself. Aside from the « breaking bad » vibes, let’s just say they were a lot more than two and (found later) locked areas were forced into…

To top up the bad luck, I crashed myself on my very first ride down a tight hairpin that I was taking short to let a car pass. My hip and elbow banged up, and my rear derailleur eventually needed to be replaced (saved by rental bike).

Despite that first week hiccup, being in Spain was very positive. In the first ten days, I could do the same amount of training that I had done the previous month in the Quebec winter. Yes, I ramped up my fitness quickly, but after so many years of cycling, I know when to push on and off the brake. The first weeks were very unstructured yet challenging. Staying atop a mountain meant I had to do a minimum of 1000m daily. Thank you 11-34.

It’s incredible how much we can get humble with another country with so much to offer. From the respect given to pedestrians and cyclists to the unrivalled paved roads, it’s easy to get a little jealous and wonder how much better I could have been in my younger years if only I had trained…

To sum it up, training around Cómpeta was amazing. There, I found a quiet spot, and although a big difference in age from my hosts, we are now good friends.

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