The Maresme coast north of Barcelona has a particular rhythm: sea on one side, a railway line hugging the beach, then the N-II, then a strip of town climbing up towards wooded hills. Canet de Mar fits the pattern exactly. It is a working town rather than a resort, with a long sandy beach reached through underpasses beneath the tracks, and that is the reason it appears on these rides: it is one of the easier places along this coast to stop, swim and dry off in the sun before carrying on.
Canet has a surprisingly strong link to Catalan modernisme. Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the architect of the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de Sant Pau, had family ties to the town and spent a great deal of time here; his house is now a museum, and several buildings around Canet show the same love of brick, tile and ornament. If the beach is too busy, a short walk through the old streets is a good use of half an hour.
The riding along the N-II itself is honest rather than thrilling. It is a coast road through a chain of towns, with roundabouts, traffic lights, delivery vans and a 50 limit much of the way. Where it opens up between towns the views over the sea are pleasant, especially early on a summer morning when the light is low and the beach cleaners are still at work. The better riding is inland. Small roads climb from Canet and its neighbours into the hills of Montnegre i el Corredor, a natural park of cork oak, pine and holm oak, where narrow lanes twist between farms and you can go a long while without seeing another vehicle.
The beach shelves fairly quickly and the water can be choppy when the wind is from the east, so pick a calm day if you want a proper swim. Showers and beach bars appear in season. Fuel and food are easy in Canet and in Arenys de Mar next door, which also has a working fishing port and fish auction. Avoid the coast on summer Sunday evenings, when everyone in Barcelona seems to be heading home along the same road at the same moment.