January 2026 – Caravan Ramblings

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – The Rain in Spain falls mainly…

Everywhere this winter.

We have now been at Camping La Rosaleda for two weeks and the rain has been fairly non-stop. There have been a couple of nice days but even then, temperatures have been cold with wind-chill even colder, driven by a wicked northerly wind.

Monday was a dry day so I decided to head east on the bike. The route to Trafalgar is all on a dedicated and separated cycle path and I understand that this has been extended a few more kilometres to the coastal town of Barbate. This would be a long ride and there are some steep inclines between Trafalgar and Barbate as the road (and presumaby cycle route) heads inland and through the forest.

Let’s find out…

Leaving Trafalgar, the cycle route is still a bit of a mess through the village of Los Canos de Meca. However, once you leave the east side of the town, a fairly new cycle route makes it’s way inland and up to the top of the cliffs.

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – Cycle ride to Barbate

It was just under 30km to Barbate and I knew the last few had depleted my battery dramatically. I hoped I had enough power to assist on the route back.

After stopping for refreshements along the sea front I set off on the return leg. This time I had the full impact of a northwesterly wind and despite deploying my final layer of clothing, it was a horrid ride back. To add to the delights, my battery ran out prematurely on the outskirts of Conil. At least the remaining journey warmed me up somewhat!

I’m guessing the bike battery, which is some 9 years young, is approaching its end of life. Time for another upgrade.

Recent upgrades to the bike have worked well. A new wide-range cassette on the rear, brand new Shimano Deore rear-gearset, chain and new shifter. Also, a lightweight bike rack to replace the cheap and cheerful topeak seat-post mounted one. Finally a proper system fit for purpose – all based around the absolute best in class Ortlieb system. And some new USB C rechargeable lights, direct from AliExpress.

Whilst I was visiting Barbate on the bike, Moe went out with the ladies walking group, clocking up some 15,000 steps.

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – Rosalind out with the Ladies walking group

Later in the week a customary visit to my favourite DIY store – Leroy Merlin and the Carrefour at neaby San Fernando. Managed to buy loads of stuff we definitely didn’t need from Leroy Merlin.

Friday night was another communal meal with brother and sister Flamenco and guitar act taking to the stage. We’ve seen this couple before and they are very good. Both the guitar playing and the Flamenco dancing.

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – Flamenco Dancing at the Communal Gathering

And that’s really the highlights of Week 2 at Conil de La Frontera in the province of Cadiz in Spain.

Still seeking that opportunity to be able to liberate the shorts and vest top.

Bike Upgrades – Gearset, Lights and bags

As yet another storm barrels off the Atlantic into our Campsite in Conil, what better opportunity to document some recent upgrades and additions to my bike.

During an Autumnal visit to the New Forest, I tried out Paul’s Specialized Vado ebike. We’re comparing a 2009 Specialized Crosstrail elite conversion with a recent Vado SL, so perhaps it’s a little unfair… Anyhow, my Crosstrail faired rather well. It felt more robust and a better cycling position than the Vado but what really struck me about the new Vado, was how responsive, smooth and quick the gear changes were. This inspired the first of the upgrades.

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The original gearset on my Specialized Crosstrail elite dates back to 2009 and despite installing a wider range cassette after upgrading to a mid-drive motor, I decided it was time to rip-out all the gear components and replace with something a little more recent.

This new rear gearset is designed to work with a wide-range cassette, rather than having to bodge things with a derailleur hanger. The cassette is a Shimano Cues 10-speed matched with the M5130 read derailleur and matching link-glide chain and new shifter.

All installed with easy and it works magnificently. Smooth, quick and effortless changes.

Here’s the “shopping list”.

And in situ…

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Next up was to sort out the cargo-carrying capabilities. I’ve had a lightweight Topeak RX bag which is pretty limited in size and weight. Plus I really wanted a lightweight rack which means its easier for two of us to lift the bike onto the campervan’s bike rack.

The standout offering for this turned out to be a company / brand called Ortlieb. Known for their durability, total waterproofing and huge range, it was easier to identify the Brand I wanted than the individual components.

Things to bear in mind… There’s two systems of attaching the bags (and the early one also has two kinds of quick-release fasteners). I opted for the latest version although it now appears this is the only option which can be purchased (it is backward compatible) – known as the Rack Three.

This has a series of lugs which the latest bags attach to. But you can also attach earlier QL2.1 bags. Just the QL3.1 fittings are marginally more robust and easier to adjust.

Anyhow, after deciding on the Rack Three, I purchased a Single Gravel-Pack which is a small ultra-light bag.

In addition to this, a pair of Back Roller classics. According to the website “the absolute classic among panniers: robust and waterproof”. And they are.

Just for good measure, I added an Ortlieb Saddle-bag with flexible adapter system.

The rack was easy to fix and is robust – the bags are first rate with hi-vis highlighting.

Bike Upgrades – Ortlieb Pannier and rack system – 2025

Bike Upgrades – Ortlieb Pannier system – 2025

Back roller classic in Yellow alongside the ultra lightweight gravel pack.

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Finally some new lights from Rockbros. Intelligent brake sensing, very powerful front light and of course, USB-C charging.

I don’t want to temp fate here but Aliexpress has performed really well for over a year now with no problems.

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – First week in Conil

The weather has been a little mixed so far on this trip. Daytime high temperatures have rarely exceeded 12C or 13C and many overnight lows in the low single digits. In between this cold fine weather there has been some warmer weather, but coupled with persistent heavy rain.

Moe and I have walked into Conil a several times and sampled coffee and cake at the cafe in Atalaya park.

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – Coffee and Cake at Atalaya park cafe

My first bike ride was over to Roche and along the cycle track through the pine woods; a quick check-in to the port of Conil, to find out when one of our favourite restaurants will open. Alas, El Nautico has no information about this either at the restaurant itself nor on their Facebook page.

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – Cycle ride to Roche and Conil Port

Spain is always appreciative of abundant rain during the winter months to replenish the reservoirs and water aquafers. It won’t be disappointed with the rainfall over the last 6 weeks. It’s rained a lot since the start of December and the pine forest is starting to look like a local wetland. So wet in fact, that the Romeria San Sebastian festival, scheduled for today, 18th January (Sunday) has been postponed for a week.

Friday night at the Campsite restaurant was “Rock and Roll night”. A sell-out, as is normal. The food was plentiful (too much in reality) and just 14 Euros for a nice 3-course meal. Spaghetti Bolognese to start, Pork Knuckle for the main course and carrot cake for desert.

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – Rock & Roll night, Camping La Rosaleda

Eurotrip 15, 2026 – The calm after the storm

I think this is our 10th or 11th winter trip to Spain. We have enjoyed many smooth crossings over the Bay of Biscay coupled with some fairly unpleasant ones as well. But never have we boarded a ferry in the middle of a named storm packing Hurricane Force 12 gales. Storm Goretti arrived on the South West coastline shortly after our drive to Portsmouth and barreled along the English channel.

Boarding the Brittany Ferries LNG powered ferry, “Salamanca”, was on time and we then spent a pleasant evening / early morning in the Commodore lounge with some fellow travellers heading to our campsite near Cadiz. Sleep was easy to find and the first 10 hours of our journey were most relaxed – we hadn’t left the dock at Portsmouth!

The rest of the journey was pretty horrible. Moe was fine and made the most of the Commodore lounge food and Tapas. Myself, I found the cabin bed to be the best place to spend the next 24 hours… Needless to say, access to the Premier lounge was totally wasted on me.

Despite the delayed departure, the Captain, whilst navigating close to the UK South coast and then the French coast, managed to avoid the absolute worst of the storms and in the end, we arrived into Santander only 2.5 hrs late at 10:30am.

A very pleasant drive on excellent, quiet roads had us arriving at Caceres shortly after 17:30. Dinner at the restaurant and a 09:00 start on Saturday would have us at our final destination mid-afternoon.

Spain 2026 – Post sunset at Camping Caceres

Spain 2026 – Sunrise over Camping Caceres

This included a stop at services north of Seville to give the caravan the quick once-over.

A couple of beers at the Rosaleda bar and many of the usual suspects are already here at Camping La Rosaleda.

Another busy day today setting up the awning and all the toys and accessories. Finally, by the evening we are finished and ready to enjoy a couple of months in the Spanish winter sunshine – hopefully…