Day 47 – EU – Spain [Moraira to Oliva]

21/01/20

39km

  From Moraira (Spain) to Oliva (Spain)

Europe

Back on the road on a rainy day, with a lucky escape from the wind and floods

I made the decision to hit the road this morning. I had studied the weather forecasts and given the route I had planned, I knew I would be ok. The route was cutting across the peninsula, inland, avoiding all coastal roads (see map at the bottom of the post).

It was raining heavily as I left and I was prepared for it. I am not bothered by the rain in general, I have good waterproof trousers and jacket. As long as I don’t get too cold, I figure I am fine.

The run started with 4km of uphill to Teulada. It was really dark, I was fitted with reflective bands. Two cars stopped ahead of me with their warning-lights on, asking me if I needed a lift to Teulada. Very kind! I declined. But I got two flat tires between km2 and km4.

As I stopped to fix the 1st flat, I ran my finger inside the outer tire, to check for anything sharp. My finger hit a thorn. I removed it. And proceeded with new inner tube replacement, pumping and rolling again.

And 500m later, it was flat again. I knew I had been stupid! I should have kept going after I found the thorn. There were two of them! Well, more DIY jobs for me tonight at the hotel…

I don’t have many pictures to share with you today. It was very grey around me, the sky was low and heavy, often breaking in rains. I kept all my devices, including my phone, well protected in waterproof pouches, hence not as many pics as usual.

I noticed most fields on the right and left of the road were flooded. As I ran parallel to the sea (yet inland) at the end of the run, I could hear the wind and the sea. But I was well protected by trees and houses.

I have been lucky. The storm is now moving away further North, but it has claimed four lives in the region of Valencia, the one I am currently crossing. I was watching the news on TV, in the little cafe where I had lunch, and the images of the storm were all over the screen, all the seaside towns along the coast have been completely flooded…

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: