Vacation - Vuelta a Espana

During the culmination of the heat with daily +38C in Madrid I took a week-long vacation from work in The Club by Radisson Hotel Group and did a cycling trip with the main goal to discover and learn more about Northern Spain and get a breeze of some fresh air.?

Within 7 days of cycling I went on an adventure and covered 1,210 km distance within ~55 total hrs of cycling, 13.509 km of altitude gained and a nice loop Madrid - Avila - Zamora - Burgos - Santander - Bilbao - Pamplona - Zaragoza - back to Madrid. By duration almost a typical work week, although I wasn’t working, still realized often rules overlap in different areas of life, and so many ideas work similar in Revenue Management as in bike-packing adventure trip:?

1. Planning and preparation is key: I created a rough plan with places to visit, potential daily distance, did a full check of the bicycle, packed and repacked maintaining luggage weight to minimum with bicycle tools, some sports nutrition and only basic clothing, but also being ready for?weather ranging from chilly rain, wind and crazy heat, which all happened. Although I didn’t have plenty of cycling kilometers in my legs this year, endurance from previous years training and overall decent fitness level helped me to enjoy this adventure.?
2. Having the right tools. Packing all necessary tools for basic bike problems, taking only the most necessary and best quality cycling clothing by X-BIONIC? and 4Cyclists - which can help during heat, but protect from winds and rain. Used Kamoot app for easy route preparation, taking smaller and bicycle friendly roads, Garmin fenix sports watch for navigation, my best help - a Giant TCR advanced road bike, best serviced by friend Edijs.?
3. Being open to new ideas. During the ride weather conditions changed with stronger wind, crazy rain in Cantabria, sightseeing took longer than expected, I added a few new stops on the way - Pamplona San Fermin festival, couple new local towns, meeting some local riders. Sprinting away from dogs in the remote mountain roads while going uphill at 15% gradient, descending from ~2 km altitude to sea level Santander through mountain twisty roads, plenty of adventures to write a book.?
4. Realistic forecasting but ambitious goals: due to changing weather conditions, a little heavier bike bag than anticipated, not as strong legs in the mountains, rain, steeper hills, sometimes I had to adjust route, but it all worked out. Also, traveling solo allowed me to be more flexible, booking last minute deals on hotels and hostels and saved me some money, was plenty of fun (e.g. sleeping in a room with an orchestra of snoring hikers). High goals can be too challenging to reach but at least maximizes what I was able to see and explore within one week.?

And again I reminded myself that traveling by bicycle is so much fun!