Ottawa to Barcelona

11 Aug Ottawa to Barcelona

Posted at 08:24h in archive by Prashant Gopal

Earlier in the year there were rumblings in Ottawa of a possible trip to Barcelona. Barcelona is obviously known as THE destination for an endless array of unbelievable spots and beautiful beaches, things that don’t immediately come to mind when you think of Ottawa. A few people had tentatively agreed, and as the summer crept closer, plans seemed to solidify, the fever swept the city, and the crew grew larger. Before long, it had ballooned in to a ten man Spanish holiday. Riders included Rich Redmond, Chris Chitaroni, (Crazy Fucking) Steve Moreau, Nick Stupich, Chris Bryan, Jay Leroux, Kyle Lafleur and Joe Delongchamp (Ace) from Sudbury, and ex-Ottawa residents Jeff Bedard and Marc Boudreau.

Rich Redmond sent me a variety of riding, partying, and tourist photos from the trip, and a point form account of his impression of Barcelona. Click below to check it all out.

Party scene is amazing and the vibes are just right. No testosterone or ginos. Just adventurous travellers all on the same page.
Clubs are packed serve booze until 6am!
The city is truly a skatepark with interesting spots in between all the famous ones spots are so good, that four hours of sleep doesn’t hurt at all.
Fresh food was everywhere.
You can haggle anything there. I haggled a beer guy so bad, he gave me his 6 pack for free.
No fat people. Except for Jeff. Beaches were great and water was warm.
The sun was not as strong as Ottawa and it was not even as close to as hot as back home.
I got a clip of somebody throwing a wine bottle from a high rise at Kyle and it nearly taking his life.
Cops tried to take our bikes for cash.
Tranny hooker picked Ginger’s pocket for his iphone.
I nearly got robbed with Nick, but challenged the guy and he backed off.
We then got Chris and searched for the said thieves to lay a beatdown. Couldn’t find them and settled for beer bombing the hookers and pimps instead. Amazing payback.
Skaters are dicks worldwide.
Chris had the best crash I have ever witnessed on tape at that double hump Dennis Enarson spot.
10 people are hard to get moving, but the laughs were nonstop and worth every single moment.
Hostels are fun, but junk at the same time.
Everyone in Barcelona was willing to sell you more than beer and samosas.
Buying equipment from Best Buy and then returning it when you get home is key to having all the expensive gear.
It was amazing and now I am back to reality. Home sweet home, but I miss my friends.
That’s all I can think of for now.

A glimpse of the room. Boudreau only slept in his bed 2 nights while I was there. He was too lazy to clear off his bed. The other nights, all the bikes were in a big pile where Boudreau is pictured here.

Myself, Jeff, and Boudreau after the monsoon we went through. This is the women’s washroom which we used as our own.

Here pictured is James Hetfield (Kyle Lafleur) after a night of hard partying.

A closeup of Boudreau here. The girls from France wore really red lipstick as you can see. This time he was sleeping on the balcony space. A space fit for a purse sized dog.

Crazy Fucking Steve doesn’t use his brakes for lawnmowers. My new fisheye lens didn’t let me down.

Chris Chitaroni with a mean shitfooted table affectionately known as a “Landozyne”.

Chris again, this time with a trademark indown on the amazing sea wall.

Sad for good reason. This spot is amazing! Boudreau, Jeff, and Ginger (also semi hurt as he recovers from ACL surgery).

Racer Jay Leroux carves the seawall’s 3rd storey.

Ten Pack’s finest – Joe Dirt (Jeff Bedard). Poor Jeff wrecked his ankle on day 1 of the trip. He kept himself busy with cigarette and alcohol addictions. He also kept the group crying with laughter. Jeff has the best cat calls.