Day 63: Lepe to Matalascañas | 84km
3 August 2026
The first thing I discovered when I woke up was that the power cord of the fridge where I’d put the sad McDonald’s burger I bought for breakfast yesterday wasn’t connected, meaning my burger had to go straight in the trash. It probably would’ve been fine, but I didn’t want to take any risks since I was already feeling pretty nauseous. I thought back to what I had eaten and drank and remembered that the water I had in Portugal yesterday tasted a bit weird. My head pounded and I had cold sweats. The distance or elevation wasn’t particularly challenging under usual conditions, but with how I was feeling, I wondered how I’d be able to cover it, especially without breakfast.
Thankfully, it was cloudy and cool when I rolled out of Lepe, so the first few hours of the ride were manageable. I passed Huelva, where I hoped to find a breakfast spot open, but my route went around the centre, which is situated on top of a hill, and the detour up a steep hill felt too demanding in my state. Instead, I found a gas station outside the city, but when I arrived, it was closed despite the information I found online. With no other choice, I kept going another 15km until I came across a supermarket. I wasn’t hungry and my stomach was hurting a bit for the first time on the journey, but I forced myself to eat a couple of empanadas and drink some yoghurt to fill up. It continues to baffle me how much my body is able to keep going despite the very insufficient nutrition and food of the last couple of days. Like I said, I didn’t want to eat, but as long as I could keep the food down, it would be necessary for the coming days. Fueling is not only an instant thing. You fuel for future you, so no food today can mean insufficient energy tomorrow.
I kept my head down and just kept going until I arrived in Matalascañas, the final town before Doñana National Park, one of Europe’s most important wetlands, where marshes, dunes, forests and beaches come together and provide a habitat for an extraordinary range of wildlife. I’d stay here to rest up for tomorrow’s big challenge: riding 33km on a beach.
I found a homestay on a booking website, so I contacted the owner over text and got a cheap room in the basement of their family home. It was comfortable enough for one night, and minutes after cleaning up, I passed out on the bed for two hours, still wrapped in my towel. It felt like one of the most necessary and well-deserved naps of my life, and although my head was still hurting when I woke up, I felt a tiny bit better.
After said great nap, I took my bike, with the bags unloaded, to the beach in search of food and quickly found a spot right on the beach walk. I still wasn’t hungry but forced myself to eat some overpriced fish and a potato salad while enjoying the views of the beach I’ll tackle tomorrow, quietly hoping the low tide will pack the sand very hard to make cycling easier. It’s a shame I haven’t felt healthy these last few days because I really want to enjoy the final stretch, but now I just want to get to the end. Even if I don’t feel well tomorrow, there’s nothing preventing me from crossing that beach and making it to Cádiz, which will be my final stop before pushing on to Tarifa.