Cyclist, Mark Krieger and his wife Roz set off on another of their many fascinating journeys throughout Europe, this time around Spain and Portugal's Iberian Peninsula. Following the footsteps of the Tour de France and Spain's Vuelta a España through the Pyrénées, Mark recalls many of cycling's memorable moments; some inspirational, and some that the sport would rather forget. Across the border into Spain, summer is approaching, a time when Catalonians are in festival mode. Travelling west...

As I drew closer to the town of Pont-de- Vaux... I found myself thinking of some of the places Id passed through. There were so many tiny hamlets, villages and larger towns, some vibrant and fine-looking, others lifeless, run down and in dire need of repair. Then there were, of course, the countless numbers of French people who had helped me piece together the jigsaw of roads along my way. The places I was riding through werent quite the same, but there was that unmistakable pungent smell ...