What started as early only to find a 9.30am bus. We own this place now … so easy to get to the railway/bus station. There is a dual purpose cycleway under the rail line (on street level) just follow and we are there easily. The bus driver was a bit cranky as 4 bikes were coming. I hope our bikes make the trip on top of each other.

We are riding the northern section of the narrow gauge railway route 1 from the volcanic town of Olot to Girona.

Bikes made it okay and we ride to the volcano Montsacopa, apparently there are 4 volcano’s around the city. We climb on the path and end up having to walk the bikes. A young school group is there and John entertains the kids by telling them we are from Australia and talking about hopping like a kangaroo. The kids then started saying ‘hello’. The views from around the crater walking trail are spectacular. The school kids are busy running down the steps to the grassed area inside the volcano.

Back to the town to start the our return on the Green Way. The path is compacted dirt and is in very good condition. We chose to go this way as it is mainly down hill. 12km of slight uphill gradient, a few spikes then about 40km downhill. Free-wheeling for a lot. It’s 32°C and quite hot but the nature of this path delivers.

This must be one of the best rail trails I’ve ridden. We are surrounded by mountains. The trail leads us through agricultural areas but mostly we are in the shade of a canopy of trees or cliff faces as the track for the train would have cut through the hills, this is where the temperature plummets I’m sure by at least 10°C. We ride through some dense forest areas and constantly see sign posted tracks veering off for hikers. This is definitely a playground for the adventure seeker.