Make Time: A long bike ride from hell

So I got up yesterday and decided that I was going to ride Guillem's nice bike up to the top of Tibidabo, which is the mountain in the back of Barcelona. I took the tourist bus there on one of my first days and got pretty close to the top before retreating due to tiredness (and not wanting to pay the fee to ride the tram up to the top). So yesterday morning I got up and was ready and determined to ride the bike to the top. First I walked my bags over to my new AirBnB home, which I highlighted yesterday: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1407324. It's not the nicest place but it will do for $30-someodd dollars a night. So I drop my things and the girl who's renting me the room tells me that there is construction going on directly next door and they have to shut off the hot water from time to time. Um - what? Not cool. I don't dwell on this too much, but instead get back out on the street and head back up to Guillem's place. On the way I saw a very cool house where a lot of tourists were taking pictures. It looked like a Gaudi-style house, and after asking Guillem I found out that this was a home that Gaudi made for a private family. Now it's on public display - very ornate and beautiful (pics below). So I grab the bike - program the best route to get to Tibidabo into my phone - and head out on the road. I'm riding through the busy streets to begin with, and unfortunately it's about 5pm now so there is more traffic than I'd like to see, but I wind through it all and finally get up to the beginning of the park where Tibidabo is located. I instantly realize that this route that I took is much more steep than I had planned, and every biker that I see is completely decked out in spandex and very serious biking equipment. Ok then. So at one point I'm literally going up one of the steepest roads I've ever been on, and I just couldn't hack it anymore, so I got off and walked my bike. Humiliating - especially for a guy who's ridden bikes in SF for years, and completed the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon…twice. So I'm walking my bike and looking at the GPS tracker and it shows me that just around this next corner I should meet up with a main road and then I'm looking pretty good to get to the top. I come around the corner. I see some cars parked. I look past the cars and I don't see anything but grass. No. Please no. I am in a very residential neighborhood now, and the road dead ends with houses and apartments going up the mountain on my right and down the mountain on my left. I look left - nothing. I look right and see the beginning of a concrete staircase, so I go over to see where it leads. I kid you not, it's 400-600 steps upward. I would have taken a picture if I wasn't so annoyed/broken at that point. Of course, when I programmed the route into the GPS I used the "walking" path because there was no "bike" path option. COME ON Google Maps!!! You used to be so good to me. Now you've failed me. So I suck it up - put the bike over my shoulder - and make the slow and long walk up all these stairs. Sweating. Stopping here and there. Oh, there's a nice dog in a beautiful house to my right. I don't care. Go away dog. I'm tired now. I finally make it up to the top and immediately see spandex bikers riding by with ease. Don't look at me. Oh yeah, it would be good to mention that I'm wearing my green adidas high tops, regular pants, a dry fit shirt, and my backpack this entire journey. Not the ideal biking outfit, but I survived. I get back on the bike and wind my way up to the top of the mountain, where I took some pics and enjoyed the beautiful scenery (pics below). There is a basilica and an amusement park at the top of Tibidabo, which is a very random combination, me thinks. Anyway, I rest a bit after seeing the top of the church and then I get back on the bike and head back to town on the road I SHOULD have taken in the first place. Not that steep and very direct to the top. Ha. Classic. The ride down was nice though - very relaxing and fast. Too many cars for my liking, but I was safe and had no incident. Got back to the apartment to learn that the hot water is still not working, and so I changed clothes and went to Guillem's place to shower. Grab a quick shower (hot:) and then we grab some wine and head to Dalia's place for dinner. She's made an AMAZING chicken dish and it tastes even better after my stupid bike ride from hell. Lots of laughs with Dalia and her roommate, and then me and Guillem head back around 11:30pm. A great ending to a frustrating bike-ride-saga.

Today I've been up since about 8:30am and am going to take the train to Figueres, which is where the Dali museum is located. VERY excited to check it out, especially because it's not very nice out here in the city. Perfect day to get away and take a train ride. Off we go!!!