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My destination on this Sunday morning was Barbate. When I checked out, the lady on the reception suggested I ride through the natural parc, but that wasn’t the route, the route was along sand duned woodland.

There was a few kilometers of road riding, to and through Los Canos de Meca, a lovely seaside town, mostly closed, but is probably buzzing in the summer!

The very clever thing that has been done all along the Cadiz coast, over 100 years ago, to stop sand dune creep, was the planting of vegetation and pine trees that could survive in sand. Hence creating many wonderful woodland areas, with the added protection of inland areas, from on-shore winds. The Levante wind where I am at this time was an onshore wind, coming off the ocean.

A short road ride took me to a natural parc, running along the cliff tops, a sand dune woodland. I started this, what would be hike-a-bike (pushing or carrying your bike), I managed to get around 200 metres and decided I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t move the bike in the deep sand. I turned back and took a road that I thought would take me to Barbate, which it would, over the top of a mountain. But noticed on my right was a gravel road into La Breña y Marismas del Barbate Natural Park, so I took this road, thinking it would go to Barbate, alas my no-sense of direction didn’t tell me that it took me back to the sand dunes woodland!! Oh blast it I said, or something similar!!

And I learnt something from this, I give up too easily, anything for a quiet life. That had always been my personal life trait, as soon as there was trouble, I’d choose flight over fight but funnily enough not in my work life, at work I would fight,

So, I had to trudge through the sand dunes, back to where I’d gotten the first time! Then onwards for around perhaps an hour or two. For this effort, I was rewarded with beautiful views, not only of the woodland but of the ocean too.

Don’t under estimate this section, it is all uphill, a gentle incline, but becomes a little steeper at one point. Here I had to take some of the luggage off my bike and carry it up two sections, then go back for my bike. The sand was deep, the wind had died down and was now light, but the incline steep and the bike bloody heavy!

And one thing to look out for in this area are the pine tree roots, they run over the top of the sand, and in the sand. I had a nasty stumble over one of them whilst pushing my bike up the steep section. Unfortunately, the result was jarring my already injured shoulder. I felt it squelch, this means I’ve re-damaged it, and was very upset that it had happened, as I knew that if it had aggravated my supraspinatus, which is partially adrift from the bone, it would be months of pain, and the end of my ride. I also knew the symptoms wouldn’t show until the next day.

Eventually, after the steepest part, the sand becomes rideable, this was more like it. Such pretty views, cycling at a comfortable cadence. Then the trail becomes a little rocky, nothing much, easy enough to traverse. Then you come to another old fortress tower, Torre de Tajo, which is at the highest point of the hill.

I sat at the tower, admiring the beautiful sea view, had a rest and something to eat. I also had a nice chat with a German couple that were holidaying in the area, it was their last day, I felt sorry for them as they were returning to work!

After Torro de Tejo the trail becomes a roadway, semi-surfaced, from what I remember, and all downhill until Barbate! It’s around 3-4kms long, and the views are stunning, the turquoise ocean to the right, with some vegetation between you and the cliff edge, then on your left, more vegetation and more cliffs. Quite unique terrain, I’d not seen anything like it before.

I was so very pleased I’d managed to traverse the sand dune woodland, I must not give up in future, but persist and endure! Stop being a wimp!

So now I set about finding a hostel. I had decided to stay in a hostel for a couple of days, so I could keep an eye on the weather, and leave when the winds improved. Alas, Sunday was going to be the best day, from then on the winds were ramping up, to a maximum of nearly 60 knots on Tuesday/Wednesday.

After a bit of faffing, trying to get into Hostal Mediterraneo, I gave up and went to Hostal Barbate. I think the former must be closed, although the restaurant was open, so I’m not sure what was going on there. But so glad I got into Hostal Barbate, the hosts are so lovely, it’s a young couple that run it and the tapas bar too. I’ve yet to learn their names, they are always so busy because the tapas bar is rammed from breakfast to dinner! It seems really popular with the locals.

On arrival in my room, I slavered my shoulder in Fisiocreme, something I swear by, and had no pain that night. In the morning it was uncomfortable and weak, but there was no pain in the supraspinatus, which was promising. When I damaged my shoulder originally, in 2014, it pulled the muscle from the bone and also did some damage in the rotator cuff and to my shoulder blade. And it was this shoulder blade that was uncomfortable now. Usually when this happens, which can occur just swatting a fly, something comes out of position, and I’ve never been able to put it back into place on purpose, usually it just happens, with a click, when rolling over in bed, sometimes taking weeks. Luckily for me, this happened on Wednesday night, I just need to take care of it for a while and she’s a good’un!

Currently I’m writing this in a tapas bar in Barbate, an off-season seaside town, but still bustling with people meeting for their midday tapas and coffee. The tapas bar I’m in sits in a pedestrianised Calle, along which are many fixed stalls selling fruit, veg, beer, coffee, provisions, all sorts. The stalls are on the outside wall of an indoor market, where again there are stalls selling meat, fish and veg.

By the time I walk home, at 14:30, all is quiet, siesta time. I wonder what they do for those three hours? It’s a long day isn’t it, it’s like work is woven into their lives in a different way than a nine to five in the UK. I love it, and could certainly live this way.

I had spent the week writing and editing videos, waiting for the Levante wind to die down, 60 knots would flatten my tent I think. I cooked my own food in my room, and did very little at all really. I’d been down to the beach a couple of times, but it’s not much fun in the strong winds! It is now Saturday, I’ve been in Bar-bat-ay 7 nights. It's been a big dent in the budget but I can't complain at 20 euros a night. The winds have been at around 20-30 knots today, but tomorrow they should be less than 20 so I have decided to resume my ride tomorrow, Sunday…….onwards!