Instead of spending the week in the US with my son, I spent it at home with the flu to add to the miserable start of February. But all was not lost; we continued to enjoy our new family member Mochi, and later in the week the first professional race of the season, the Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana, passed through the very roads on which I cycle almost daily.
6_1
When we bought our house in 2018, we left the “beware of the dog” tile on the gate. Well, now we do have a dog in the house, although he is not much of a guard dog:
6_2
Mochi loves to play in the garden:
6_3
6_4
Our daughter came home from visiting a friend in the countryside with a bag of freshly harvested artichokes, a crop widely grown around here. My wife, trying to tend to my severe case of man-flu, concocted this delicious dinner from those artichokes. Having fruit and veg of this quality is one of the blessings of living in Spain:
6_5
I was not officially sick during the week–I continued working, but from home, albeit at a somewhat more relaxed pace. But as the week went on, I started feeling better, and on Thursday I drove to a spot between Aigues and Relleu to watch the first professional cycling event of the season, the Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana, pass by a spot to which I often cycle myself. Under normal circumstances I would have cycled there, like these guys, but this week I was unable to drag myself up there on two wheels:
6_6
Some of the spectators looked for a higher vantage point:
6_7
Finally, the first signs that the peleton is approaching:
6_8
The police car at the head of the race:
6_9
Finally, the cyclists appeared. A group of 5 riders had escaped from the main bunch:
6_10
A closer view of three of the escapees. Matyas Kopecky (Novo Nordisk), Quentin Bezza (Wagner Bazin WB), and an unidenfied rider from Burgos Burpellet. Those guys are not household names; while several of the World Tour teams participate in this race, the biggest stars are absent:
6_11
A couple of minutes later, the peleton appears:
6_12
The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe leading the bunch, with Mateo Sobrero in front:
6_13
Movistar, the main Spanish World Tour team:
6_14
The Kern Pharma team:
6_15
The caravan of team cars follows the peleton:
6_16
Afterwards, I drove a couple of km down the road:
6_17
I love seeing the blooming almond trees:
6_18
And I always enjoy looking at this beautiful house set among the almond trees:
6_19
I finished the day on our beach, looking towards El Campello. Because of the location of the town, the buildings are nicely illuminated by the sun both at sunrise and at sunset:
