After I booked the Air B&B and flight for a cycling trip to Girona, Spain, I looked into renting a bike ahead of time for the week I'd be staying there. Eat, Sleep, Cycle had a fairly expansive presence on the internet because of all they have to offer, from the delectable goodies, coffees, and teas in their cafe (and live music on Friday nights) to a variety of clothing available from their retail kit shop (including a high end eponymous line of clothing) to a separate retail store for bikes, components, and accessories, to descriptions of rental bikes available from their separate rental bike shop, to a helpful list of recommended road and gravel routes throughout the region (which are available as downloadable maps for cycling computers). The online process for choosing a rental bike and then booking it was easy and quick, and they had a number of different kinds of bikes available, all very high end with sticker prices in the thousands. However, I had paid more per day for lesser bikes that I'd rented in the U.S. I booked my Basso Astra and looked forward to a fun week of intrepid exploration and spectacular riding.
Which is indeed what I ended up experiencing, but only after my iPhone was stolen by a pickpocket as I boarded the train from Barcelona to Girona. That first day was miserable as I made my way to the Air B&B by asking locals and cafe employees directions and taking notes on the only paper I had with me--the pages of a book of crossword puzzles I'd picked up at the airport (I wouldn't even have had a pen if it weren't for that). I found my way to the Eat, Sleep, Cycle cycling hub centrally located on the edge of the old city where employees were immediately helpful when I'd mentioned my stolen phone. Mike gave me the wifi password so I could finally connect my computer to the internet, and the barista brought over a large bottle of cold water. As I was unable to load my maps onto my cycling computer without the companion app on my phone, Mike would later hook up my cycling computer via cable to the store desk top and sync whatever routes I wanted onto my device. If it weren't for that, I would have been lost--unable to follow the intricate directions needed to successfully navigate these multi hour loops. The mechanics in the rental bike shop were laid back and extremely helpful with the initial bike fit and any questions or concerns I had later in the week (they even advised I stop in midweek so they could swap out the batteries for the electronic shifting system). Employees in the retail clothing store gave me an immediate 10% off on E.S.C. brand items. The bib shorts and jersey that I got there are the most well-made and high-quality that I've ever owned. And they were priced competitively, even without the 10% off, less expensive than similar but more poorly made items from several other bike stores in the old quarter. The city block that E.S.C. takes up, with its cafe, outdoor seating, equipment shop, touring office, clothing shop, and rental shop, is truly a hub where any cyclist can spend much of their waking day when not actually on the bike, eating, drinking, shopping, and hanging out with other cyclists. When I return to Girona, I will definitely rent from E.S.C. again, and I look forward to picking up more clothing to add to what's becoming a high end collection of kit. read more
