If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought I was on a stunningly beautiful remote Greek island. White stucco buildings clung to the craggy hillside, precipitously dropping into an azure ocean, but there I was pedaling into the postcard perfect coastal village of Lafranc with ultra cyclist Jack Thompson, at the start of our three day credit card bike packing journey along the Costa Brava of Spain to grab a coffee and a snack. Translated as the “wild or rough” coast, the Costa Brava lies in the Catalonia region of north east Spain, just 65 miles from Barcelona, and its history dates as far back as the 1st Century BC, which means that its network of paved roads, bike paths, and gravel make it an ideal location to explore on two wheels.
How did I end up in this gorgeous part of the world? Well, in my role as GU Energy Labs’ Elite athlete manager, I get to work with some really amazing humans, one of whom is Jack Thompson, who goes by Jack Ultra Cyclist, a nickname born out of his many herculean two wheeled feats of endurance. We met in 2022 and late last year began scheming this “work” trip together since we both love creating content that inspires folks to get out and explore. A professional ultra-cyclist born in Perth Western Australia, Jack relocated to Girona, Spain in 2019. Referred to in the media as ‘The Most Extreme Cyclist on Earth,’ Jack pushes the boundary of what is humanly possible on a bike, exploring the limits of human physiology both physically and mentally. Jack holds multiple Guinness World Records and Fastest Known Times (FKT’s) around the globe and is an active and passionate advocate for mental health disorders. As just an example, his Space Odyssey project in 2022, which raised over $500,000 for three mental health non-profits, saw him ride 1,000,000 meters of elevation and Everest (climb 29,031 ft) 52 times on 52 different climbs. To say that I was a tad intimidated to spend three days credit card bike packing the hilly Costa Brava with him would be the understatement of the century.
The beauty of bike packing is that you’re forced to boil your life down to the bare essentials to get you through your adventure, which creates an almost Zen-like security in the simplicity of it all, and the fact that we were staying in hotels along the way meant that we could travel light. With bikes loaded we began our journey from the village where Jack lives, Santa Cristina d’Aro, just north of the coastal town of Platja d’Aro, following a buff gravel path all the way to the coast, where we began a zig and zag of bike paths, paved roads, back alleys, and dirt lot cut throughs as we worked our way up the Costa Brava.Turns out that not only is Jack a world class athlete, but he’s also a blood hound when it comes to finding, and creating, dynamic and challenging routes.
Prior to my arrival I had mistakenly assumed that my high school Spanish, bits of which are still lodged in my brain somewhere, would help me navigate my time here, but I failed to research that the citizens of Girona, and the Costa Brava, are part of Catalan, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain with its own linguistic and cultural identity. That meant my basic Spanish skills, while moderately helpful, left me awkwardly relying on my sign language, or pantomime skills, in multiple situations, or most often, leaning on Jack’s Catalan to communicate with the locals. I could understand way more than I could communicate, which didn’t really help the situation, so I usually fell back on hitting folks with the Catalan greeting Bon Dia, which means “good morning or good day”, as a show of respect and my desire to engage in some small way.
On a trip like this, the only limitations are your sense of adventure and the setting sun. Your pedal strokes dictate the pace of the day, so when the only clock ticking is nightfall, it opens up opportunities for mid-ride coffees at local cafes, unplanned seaside stops for paella, unexpected route detours, and so much more. Sometimes not having a clear plan is the best one, and not being tied to a schedule, or arrival deadline, allows you to pick and choose your adventure as each day presents itself.
History oozed from every nook and cranny of the towns we pedaled through, each place having a unique style, and character, of its own. Like wrinkles on a weathered face that’s seen a good life, and give it unimaginable beauty, the ancient plazas and buildings are a montage of architectural simplicity. Many of the villages are a muted palette of pastel buildings jammed together along winding, narrow cobbled streets, their terra-cotta roofs covered in colorful lichen, giving each its own distinct patina. Our first day concluded with a patchwork quilt of rice fields, vineyards, side roads, coastal bike paths, and an endless network of dirt roads that meandered their way through the low lying farmland along the Costa Brava between L’Escala and our final destination for the day, the port city of Roses, where we grabbed an ocean view hotel room for the night.
Upon leaving Roses, we trace the edges of the craggy coastline, pedaling beneath the Castell de la Trinitat, just one of the many ancient castles that dot the landscape here. The pavement ended suddenly and we’re greeted with a precipitous gravel climb that provided mind blowing views of the Mediterranean and the snow capped Pyrenees to the north. After a ripping descent on buttery tarmac, we dropped into Montjoi where the pavement ended for good and Cap Creus National Park began, Catalonia’s first maritime natural park that gives this unique coastal zone extreme environmental protections due to its history, complex geology, and diverse flora. The rocks here were pushed up when the Pyrenees were formed and are mostly metamorphic schists which turn a golden color in the Mediterranean sun, making the surrounding hillsides glow. We pedaled through a landscape that ancient cultures meticulously terraced so they could farm the rugged, and steep, coastline, and rolled past ancient Roman ruins, wondering to ourselves what it would’ve been like to live here back then.
The coastal hamlet of Cadaques, where Salvador Dali lived and worked from 1930 to 1982, is where we stop for lunch, pulling up at an open air seaside cafe and ravenously devoured one of the best plates of paella I have ever eaten. The town’s bleached white buildings glowed in the mid-day sun and the blue trimmed doors, and other unique architectural features, made this coastal village a sensory feast for the eyes.The character of the Cadaquesencs, as the locals are known, has been forged by piracy, contraband, isolation, bad luck, and the Tramuntana, the maddening north wind that pummels this part of the Costa Brava, which, thankfully, was not present on this day. Speaking of pirates, Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, was kidnapped by pirates near town and was held in Algiers for five years before a monastic order raised his ransom. With bulging bellies from a very satisfying lunch, we sluggishly climbed out of town and made our way to our final destination of the day, the lighthouse located at the most easterly point on the mainland of Spain and the Iberian peninsula.
By the third day of our credit card bike packing adventure there’s a rote rhythm to our morning routine: make sure all devices have been charged during the night, put on the same street clothes we’ve been wearing for the past two days, hit the hotel breakfast, stuff our faces, and pockets, with pastries, drink at least two cups of coffee, update our socials, check the weather, fill bottles, kit up, pack our bike bags with a well practiced perfection now, and triple check that they are cinched down and secure. The coastal village of Lança is our final launching spot and within less than a mile we’re on a steep gravel road heading up into the sparsely wooded hills. This day’s route may’ve been Jack’s crowning navigational achievement, which is saying a lot because the past two days have been amazing, but the third day’s route is simply out of this world good. Our 92 mile ride back to Santa Cristina d’Aro combined the best of the best in terms of what the Costa Brava has when it comes to mixed terrain riding. We pedaled our way through vineyards, ancient villages, olive orchards, dairy farms, and rice fields. We pedaled on buff roads the size of golf paths that transition to gravel without warning and for no reason. We dipped and dove through a Mediterranean landscape filled with scrub oak and views of the southern terminus of the Pyrennees. After a quick lunch in Cisitella, we turned the pace up a notch as we tried to outrun a storm that had been shadowing us menacingly since the early afternoon and ended up not making it, but at least it was a warm rain that accompanied us into Girona. An intricate network of bike paths help us navigate the cityscape and eventually spit us out at the foot of Jack’s hill in Santa Cristina d’Aro, where we catch the final light of the day, having squeezed every moment possible out of it. Legs tired, hearts full, deeper friendship formed, and minds blown by the expanse of our three day experience, we reluctantly stop pedaling at his gate, not wanting this Costa Brava adventure to actually be over.
While the pedaling part of our adventure was amazing, it was actually the time off the bike in Girona and other small towns we visited along the Costa Brava that proved, quite possibly, to be the biggest blessing of this trip because it gave me a deeper perspective into the slow, or tranquilo, lifestyle that’s celebrated in Spain. With a work day that’s punctuated by a mid-afternoon two to three hour break or siesta, where people tend to go home for lunch, spend time with their family or relax during this time, life here in Spain moves at a less frenetic pace. Every evening I witnessed large packs of youth, friends, families, and extended families, walking the streets, circling the local plazas, talking animatedly, catching up on the day’s happenings, connecting on a deeper level. No one had their face buried in a phone, no one was distracted from the present moment, which emphasized the high priority that Spanish culture places on human interactions. During my time in Spain it became crystal clear to me that Spaniards value a healthy work-life balance, often prioritizing leisure and personal connections over other activities. This approach highlights not just working but also embracing life outside of work. It’s the Spanish belief in cherishing relationships, relaxation, and the pursuit of happiness. They prioritize living life at a slower pace, much like bike packing forces you to do, and make it a point to live a slower, more connected life.
We all lead busy lives and it is too common to get caught up in that wave of work and life and not take care of ourselves with a little down time. We only get so many moments with others in our daily lives, which means that it’s ever so important to grab ahold of the present and make it count. Our time is precious, especially when we have the chance to have meaningful experiences, or adventures with others, so finding time in our hectic schedules to make this trip for Jack and I wasn’t easy, but was well worth it. Time well spent with others is a gift to both parties, which was by far the biggest takeaway from this incredible credit card bike packing adventure along the Costa Brava.