Jeremy Nagel: It's all downhill from here 19/12

Things just keep getting better and better! Today was fantastic. We left the Albergue at 10 and were greeted by blue skies and sunshine (and also a horrendous smell of rotting fish coming from the industrial estate on the other side of the river).

It was such nice weather that it actually presented me with a problem. With no need to wear my usual motley collection of jackets and jumpers, I was struggling to find room for all my stuff in the panniers (this was also another reminder that I had brought far too many clothes – we haven't used a washing machine all trip and I still have a few items of clothing I haven't worn yet). Eventually I managed to cram it all in somehow, and after buying a few provisions at the 'supermercado', we were off.

I was feeling a bit sluggish at first, but we were going at a more sensible pace this morning, so it didn't matter too much. We were on a 'red road' (denoting heavy traffic), but it really wasn't too bad. Spanish drivers seem to be pretty considerate anyway. There are signs on some roads telling drivers to leave at least a 1.5m gap between themselves and cyclists, and all of them seem to follow that rule. Quite a few even go right over to the shoulder of the other lane, apparently worried that we might suddenly swerve into them. I almost feel as if it's a sly jab at my bike handling skills:P

After 10km, we started up one of those long climbs that I've been writing about over the last few days. This one lasted 8km, bringing us up to 850m above sea level. I felt a lot stronger up the hills than in previous stoushes, keeping a good rhythm and speed all the way up in spite of a headwind. It could've simply been because I had just given my chain a quick go-over with some lubricant, but I think I'm starting to grow some mountain legs:) Luke had to walk up some of it, but I think he's getting fitter too.

The view from the top

So this is where Santa gets his reindeers!

Pyrenees in the distance

We stopped for a while to recover and then began the loong descent that awaited us. It was the best yet! I maxed out at 61km per hour (2kph off my alltime record!) after cross winds convinced me to back off a little bit. The steep part of the downhill lasted about 10km, so once again, we were rewarded with a bit more than we gave uphill. I sometimes think riding a bike in this part of the world is quite a good metaphor for life. There are the tough stretches uphill, where you just wish it would go more quickly and be over with, and then you have a really nice downhill that so revives your spirits that you're mentally prepared for the next long slog upwards.

The only 'downside' to the downhill was that my front disc brake started scraping almost immediately after I went round the first turn. It happens every time I encounter a steep descent and is really starting to bother me. It doesn't really slow me down, but the horrible screeching sound of metal disc on brake pad both irritates the hell out of me and makes me worry about the brake pad being worn down prematurely. It's all due to the front pannier racks, which go through the wheel 'skewer'. At first I thought this was quite convenient, as it means that it's simple to take the racks on and off, but the amount of time it saves has now been far outweighed by the amount of time I've spent fixing the brakes so they don't scrape. I'm going to stop at the next bike store we find and see if they can do something about it. Perhaps it would be best to buy a new rack.

It was taking longer than usual to fix the brake and I was getting really frustrated with it, to the point where I was taking it out on Luke, so I asked him to ride ahead and let me do it on my own. We're getting on really well right now. It's tough being with the same person 24/7. It really goes beyond friendship I think because you're together at all times, good mood or bad mood. For a while, some really inane things about him annoyed me like the noises he makes when he eats and breathes (and I'm sure some of my idiosyncrasies bug/bugged him as well), but I've learnt to suppress those feelings now. It made me realise that I'm quite an intolerant person when it comes to things like that and it's a part of my personality that I'm not proud of. Hopefully these three months will make me a much more accepting person.

Eventually I got the brake positioned to my liking and rolled off to discover – joy of joys – a tailwind! Wahooo, away we went! Even up hills, I was still maintaining 15kph (normally I'd do about 7) and it felt great! I hit the crest of the final climb of the day to discover that the final 25km to our destination in Ejea were ever so slightly downhill. On a normal bike, that might not have meant much, but with 25km of baggage and the associated increase in momentum and cross-sectional surface area with which to catch the tail wind, we picked up speed and zoomed down at an incredible pace. I still can't believe it – we actually averaged 45kph for that 25km stretch of road! Drivers were looking at us in amazement as they went past, befuddled by the fact that we were approaching the speed limit. At one point, a tractor pulled onto the road, and we saw the driver turn around in fright to see us drafting off him at 50kph.

It was so much fun, yet again another great day on the roads:) It was almost a shame to stop when we still had three hours of daylight to go, but after 65km we were both feeling a bit sore, so we stopped at a supermarket and got a few things for dinner. I then proceeded to sit down in the parking lot and eat my lunch of avocado and tomato on bread while Luke stood against the opposite pillar and tried to disassociate himself from the hobo image I was giving off:P

Tonight we're staying in a youth hostel on the outskirts of town. It's pretty good value at 15 euros a night, but amusingly, we're the only people staying in the whole facility. They haven't had a visitor in 9 days according to the hostel log. I guess it's not a very popular tourist spot in winter time. It's nice for us though, not having to share a room and being able to leave our things all over the floor again:P We were even able to have a hot meal tonight – microwaved cannolini beans with tinned vegies (probably lacking any nutritional value whatsoever) and tomato sauce, along with some toast. Life is good:)