Over 60 miles... about 100 kilometers.

  I had no idea what to expect, all I knew was that I was going South, and has a couch to stay in Tarragona. I didn't know what roads to take, I didn't know how much stuff to bring and how much to leave behind, I didn't know how fast I could travel on two wheels and the power of my untrained legs. My heart was set on travel south by bike, so I hopped on and started pedaling.

  The night before was a tough one for my Au Pair family. Little Dani woke up around crying for no apparent reason and refused to go to sleep for hours. Additionally I had a lot of last-minute loose ends and organization to do before hitting the road, so about 5 hours of sleep was all I afforded myself before getting up. I steamed up a big head of broccoli to take on my ride and helped get Dani to nursery, so his exhausted mother could rest up.

  By 10am, I was finally rolling out of the apartment building in Sant Vincenç dels Horts. The bike felt heavy, especially really heavy in the back with all of my things strapped on-- I could barely pick it up, which concerned me a little bit!

  My steering was unexpectedly wobbly at first, trying to get used to my new vehicle. First, I rode towards the coast, where I would have to hit the major roadway that would lead south. I found a 4-lane highway and pedaled up to it. There were cars and giant box trucks speeding by, which otherwise would have scared the crap out of me if I wasn't so already pumped up on adrenaline.

  About 20 minutes of biking and yelling random things to myself (completely subdued by the noise of roaring traffic), two moto-cops pulled up to my side and flagged me over. I wasn't too worried because as far as I knew, I wasn't doing anything illegal (and as I mentioned earlier, I was too pumped with excitement to let anything stop me).

  "Como te llamas?... De donde eres? ...Adonde vas?" (what is your name, where are you from, where are you going?). They questioned me, and I answered straightforwardly with confidence.

  "Tarragona es muy lejos" (Tarragona is very far), they told me. They looked at me with skepticism, probably not thinking that I would reach my destination. But they were friendly and helpful when telling me that I was not allowed to ride my bike up here (on this highway, which they call "autopista"). Then they proceeded to escort me to the nearest exit, where they directed me onto the correct, smaller road which I was to follow.

  Yikes, my bicycling trip wasn't even an hour old, and I had already been stopped by coppers! From then, things went pretty smooth though. There sun was strong on my face and skin, I had to crawl up several never-ending hills with cars trying to pass me with a 3-foot shoulder, and I learned that one 20-oz bottle of water was about about one swallow's worth of what I needed.

  But I didn't get lost and didn't die, so hey I think I did alright by me.

  I received encouragement along the way: Two serious road bikers that passed me encouraged me on grueling uphills, "venga venga!" (come on come on!); a group of a dozen construction workers whistled at me from a far; and a group of hooligans leaned out the windows and doors of a moving white van to whistle and hoot at me. I relished it all. When you've been biking all day in the hot sun with at least 50 pounds of gear, almost distraction is appreciated.

  I bicycled for approximately 7-8 hours yesterday, stopping about 4 times, once for a much needed siesta in a supermarket parking lot (where I downed a liter of juice and bread loaf, and napped in the sun for about 40 minutes).

  I covered 60 miles. 95 kilometers. Holy crap. That's maybe double the amount that I've ever done before in my life.

  It hurt, and I wasn't sure if I would reach my goal of Tarragona, but I just kept on trucking. Because as people say, your body is capable of much more than you think. It's all in the head.

In Tarragona I met up with a couch surfer who walked me about 30 minutes around town and to welcomed me into her home where I took immediate advantage of a shower and liquids.

  Today is friday and the next couch I have planned is in Tortosa, another 50 miles south. I'm pretty sure that I cannot/ do not want to do that much today, especially since it's already 11am and I need to tune up my bicycle and ditch a lot of things (I do not need three pairs of pants and clogs to bicycle do I???). Hopefully I can find a place part of the way to Tortosa to sleep in tonight, I think I can manage 20 miles of cycling, if I can find a couch somewhere...

  So that's what's up with my adventures for now! I'm living my dream and I'll keep you posted!   Ciao for now!