Join me on my solo ride around Torrevieja and let’s find out if it’s safe, enjoyable and what are the pros and cons of solo cycling as a woman in South Costa Blanca.
Here’s the Strava link for the ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/16230325876
[https://restaurantguru.com/Los-Sabores-Torrevieja[link restaurand Los Sabores]
#CostaBlancaCycling, #SoloFemaleTravel, #CyclingSpain, #WomenWhoRide, #BikeAdventure, #TravelVlog, #CyclingLife, #RoadCycling, #FemaleCyclist, #SpainTravel
Hi everyone. Welcome back to for another video. Oh my god, it’s so windy. So, today it’s Wednesday. Sebastian is working and I have a day off. So, I thought it might might be a good idea to go on a solo bike ride. I am 11.5 kilometers into my ride. The weather is okay. I mean, it’s really warm. I had a jacket on earlier and I um realized pretty quickly that uh it’s it wasn’t a good idea because I got so hot. So, I took the jacket off. The weather is actually nice, but the wind is crazy. Um I really hope you can hear something because I’m using the microphone from the camera and uh I’m not sure if uh if it’s that good, especially in the in windy condition. I stopped a bit for some water and uh I am uh surrounded by orange trees and uh the oranges are almost ready here as well. It’s full of orange trees everywhere. My ride today it’s supposed to be around uh 55 kilometers. Uh hopefully this wind will not get will not become a problem. Sorry. We have been in uh London over the weekend. So, um we are a bit tired and uh quite happy to be back here because the weather was absolutely crazy. It rained every day and it was cold. Uh the temperature in Spain is amazing right now. Uh today I think there are there will be 28° now. I think there are 24 something like that. And uh tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I think the temperature will be around 30° which for end of to end of October I think it’s absolutely fantastic. I mean I know the weather in other parts of Europe is terrible right now and uh yes we will um enjoy the sun uh as much as we can uh because temperature will drop a bit here as well but I mean it’s almost the end of October so what can you expect? This is actually the first time I’m cycling alone. Uh the reason for that is that I really enjoy cycling with Sebastian. But um I uh I wanted to cycle alone once and uh also give you my thoughts when it comes to cycling alone as a female in Spain because from what I’ve seen until now, uh it’s quite safe. But I want to check if it’s also safe when you are actually cycling alone because as I said, it’s my first time as well. Uh it’s also my first time cycling during the week. I we usually go out during weekends because we work during the week. And uh the main difference I’ve noticed is that it’s um more crowded. Let’s say there are way more cars because of course people are are working and going from one one place to another. There are also lots of cyclists which I definitely didn’t expect to see, especially on a Wednesday. But um I mean it’s great. I uh I enjoy seeing other cyclists and I like the fact that this sport is so popular and I’m happy about that. Um but um yes, like I said, um I think it’s very safe to cycle in Spain as a female alone. I uh also cycled in London a few times before we moved. I actually got my bike just a few days before moving to Spain, but uh I still got the chance to cycle for uh for a bit. Uh we went mostly from our home to central London. I also cycled with one of Sebastian Sebastian’s bikes. And um the difference between cycling in London and cycling in Spain is just um gigantic. I mean you cannot compare it. It’s so much safer in Spain. Drivers are very nice and uh I very careful as well. And I think they are even more careful with female cyclists than they are with male cyclists. uh whenever me and Sebastian are going together, if he’s in at the front and I’m at the back, when a car over takes us, it usually gives me more space than it gives him. So, uh yeah, I think they are more careful with uh with women’s in uh in general. So, yeah, that’s a nice thing. But yeah, let’s continue and uh see you at my next stop. Hey. Hi. again. So I am now in Roales. It’s a very cute little town. I have been through Al Moradi. I think it’s pronounced uh Danova Diaba. And now I’m in Roal. The wind is absolutely crazy. Uh there are there were some times when I thought it will just take my bike, but um yeah. Well, it is what it is. So after I turned right after Los Montes, uh I was on my way to Almoradi and there was a kind of um small climb, let’s say. It was around 5% gradient. I know uh it might sound like nothing if you’re used to climb climbing, but uh I’m not. And uh I wasn’t on my bike for some time because we had some family over and then we went to uh the UK for the weekend. And uh I’m not in the best shape, let’s say. And that climb was was a nightmare to be honest. But um the truth is that the truth is that after that climb, everything went so smoothly and the ride seemed like a like a joke. No, but it um it felt super easy. So um well, at least I have that. As for the cycling alone part, it went so well, so smoothly. It was better than I expected to be honest. When I left the house, I was a bit um anxious, let’s say, maybe afraid because um first of all, I not sure I can fix a puncture. So um fingers crossed nothing will happen. Um, but um I I mean I know how it’s supposed to be done, but the problem is it’s uh very hard for me to take the tires off my um bike wheels because they are carbon carbon fiber and um that’s a real challenge. So if um god forbid anything happens, I will most probably call Sebastian to come and help me. Um there are also a lot of cyclists. I’m not sure I have ever seen that many cyclists. Uh maybe it’s also because it’s earlier. We usually go on our bike rides a bit uh late and now it’s I think it’s around 12 or 12 something. So I know most people like to go in the morning. I think it’s better in a way in the morning because then you have that good energy that uh cycling gives you for the rest of your day. We usually go around noon. We go out around noon and come back during the evening, sometimes during the night. Uh, which is also good, but sometimes it’s hard to sleep because you have so much energy from the from the sports. Everyone is different and we all have um our preferences. But um it’s very nice to cycle alone. I don’t think I would have um I didn’t think I would have said that. Of course, I prefer cycling with Sebastian. And uh another thing is that I’m familiar with this roads. I’m not sure I would be this happy to cycle alone uh somewhere new. The sun is kind of strong. I I was started to think that uh maybe it would have been better to apply some sunscreen. I only have it on my face. Hopefully I won’t get um burnt again like I uh like I did when we went to Morsia. Uh I didn’t think that the sun will be so strong in October 20 22nd of of October but well um I’m quite happy about that. So uh yeah I’m uh only I think 20 something kilometers away from home. So uh hopefully the sun will be will not be as strong by the time I get home. So I will not get funny funny tan lines. But yeah, we’ll see about that. So, um yeah, I will continue my ride now and um I I don’t know uh see you or talk to you in in a few kilometers, I guess. Hi again. So, I decided to cut my uh ride a bit short because to be honest, I was kind of hungry. And uh look who I met for lunch. Hey guys. Yeah, thankfully I work uh I work fairly close to to home. So I’m able to meet Paola for lunch which is which is really good. And uh we will go to our favorite Chinese restaurant which also happens to be around 5 minutes away from our house. So yeah, we’ll have some some lunch. Yeah, you definitely need some lunch. I’m so hungry. I only had the banana and the coffee before I went out. And the total ride was around 47 km with the tiny climb. Yeah, I wanted to be a bit longer, but I got kind of hungry and I decided to cut it short. Maybe some other day. Otherwise, I would have taken my lunch break at what? At 3. So, yeah, not great for me either cuz I had two two apples before this, but I didn’t cycle. So, yeah. How was it? Uh, great actually. It was amazing. Way better than I expected it. I was a bit um a bit scared. Let’s let’s be honest. I was a bit scared of before I left the house, but it was way better than I expected. And I didn’t feel in danger danger for even one second. Like it felt so safe. All the all the journey felt so safe. Okay. I can imagine the roads were busier because on weekends when we cycle together, they’re relatively quiet. So yes, they were very busy. Very busy. Right. Yes. The ones in between like super small cities, they were all right. But um bigger ones they were quite busy. Lot of cars, a lot of uh lorries. Did you have a bike lane for most of the journey you did today or uh I would say for half Okay. For around half. That’s not too bad. Um sometimes I just um I missed it. I missed the entrance on the bike lane. So I had to go on the Yeah, it happens. It happens to us when we cycle together as well. Yeah, I was a bit worried for you, but Oh, no. Don’t worry. You’re cute. But don’t worry. I was all right. Okay, let’s have some lunch then. Yes. Let’s see you guys. See you. Hi. Hi again. Actually, uh I arrived back home. The food was abs absolutely delicious. It always is. We highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever into. And of course, if you like Chinese food, we can leave the name of the place in the description if someone is interested. Uh some stats from today. The total distance was 47 km. Uh the average speed was 23.5 km an hour. The average moving time was 1 hour 59 minutes and 15 seconds to be extremely specific. I enjoyed the ride today. I would definitely do it again, but to be honest, I prefer riding with Sebastian. It’s uh way nicer in general and it’s more fun. Even though sometimes we don’t really get to to talk because we usually don’t ride next to each other because we don’t want to get in the way of cars and um we just think it’s um it’s safer in general for us first of all to stay on the side of the road. But um yes, as a as an experience it was nice. I highly recommend uh cycling in Spain in general of course but also as a female cyclist and I highly recommend cycling alone. I think overall Spain is a very safe country. Uh, of course I can only speak for this region which is Costabalanca and for the Valencian community which uh this region is part of. I think it’s extremely safe even for um just walking and going out. I uh have no problems walking alone at any time of the day or night and I don’t have the need to look over my shoulders like it was the case in London. Uh maybe it’s not really uh fair to compare them because London is a huge city and to is a small city but uh safety is very important for me at least. So um I’m quite happy with with our decision of uh of moving here. Um the infrastructure in Spain is also great. Uh the state of the roads is very good. you don’t really have potholes like again like it was the case in the UK and you have a lot of bike lanes. Uh sometimes you can miss the entrance on a bike lane like it was the case for me today. But um even if that happens the roads roads are usually wide enough so um everyone has space and like I previously mentioned the drivers are uh very nice and um they uh they are careful with cyclists um especially with female cyclists. So that’s always a a plus. So thank you very much for coming u along with me. Thank you for riding with me. Uh if you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. And uh if you enjoy our content, please subscribe to our channel if you want to. Uh that will really help us. And um yeah, see you in our next video and probably with Sebastian as well. Thank you. Bye.