We leave Girona following wide, well-compacted tracks that climb gently parallel to the Ter river. The path winds its way through farmland and forests dominated by alders, poplars, ash trees and willows, trees that thrive on the constant humidity of the river. Light filters through the leaves and the sound of water accompanies our cycling. We pass through Sant Gregori and Bonmatí, where the landscape begins to become more rural and the terrain more undulating.