Saturday, November 5, 2016

The Home Stretch

Day 14: Triacastela – Santiago de Compostela
Time: 8:26:29
Distance: 136.7km
Average Speed: 16.2km/h

Today we were on a mission. Over 2000m of climbing and 140km+ distance (the distance above is from Strava). We stayed in the town of Triacastela which was no craic and exactly what we needed. Both of us were asleep before 10. We hit the road shortly after 7 and did the first hour in the dark. Lots of rain didn't help. To save time we opted to live on short breaks of biscuits and chocolate but after 80km I was fading and needed some real food in Melide. We met a Polish man on the route several times who had started from Krakow on a 25 year old bike. He'll continue to Fatima and Lourdes before returning to Poland cycling. The last 10km into Santiago were complicated with about 1km on a dirt track. Arriving at the cathedral in Santiago gave a sense of achievement but we didn't stay long and left the bikes in a shop up the road to be boxed for tomorrow. Several recovery beers were had in the bars of the old town. I was so hungry that I ate an octopus. Great times!

Jerry's final thoughts: A great trip with great friends. I covered over 1000km and probably climbed more metres than Mount Everest. I thought that the climbing was out of the way after Basque but it continued all the way to Santiago. The toughest climbs for me were Urkiola and O Cebreiro. The best scenery was probably around the Basque coast and Logrono area. Great credit must go to Leeroy who may need a new knee after this trip after battling through a lot of pain without complaint. The same too for Abraham who broke his wrist but kept on going. Thanks also to John and Romain who joined the Basque stages and to my brother David who let me stay on my couch for a few nights.

Buen Camino!

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Iron Cross and O Cebreiro

Day 13: Foncebadon – Triacastela
Time: 6:24:55
Distance: 99.3km
Average Speed: 15.5km/h

We started out at 9 and the first stop after 2km was the Cruz hierro (Iron cross) which is one of the highest points on the Camino Frances. I found out last night that pilgrims traditionally carry a stone there from where they started the Camino. When they throw the stone at the cross their sins are forgiven. The next 50km to Villafranca del bierzo weren't difficult but afterwards the roads starting to rise. The major challenge of the day was the climb up to O Cebreiro which took a few hours. The climbing continued for another few kilometers before a 10km descent into Triacastela where we took the first room we could find.


Crazy mountain village

Day 12: Leon – Foncebadon
Time: 5:02:12
Distance: 75.01km
Average Speed: 14.9km/h

Both tail lights we started with have now been smashed so we waited for a bike shop to open to replace them and put more air in the tires. Our bikes were stored in a garage up the road from the hostel that was like a maze inside. Because of all this we left pretty late today. We spent most of the day climbing and ended up in Foncebadon as soon as it was dark. This is one of the most insane villages I've ever been to. There are no roads and a family of goats were running around the back of the hostel. The hostel was completely full of pilgrims with about a quarter being Korean. A Korean wrote a book about the Camino which has inspired a lot of Koreans to walk across Spain. We arrived just in time for a cold shower and dinner. The ear plugs that I packed were very useful for sleeping in the dorm.

Leon

Day 11: Sahagun – Leon
Time: 3:37:58
Distance: 57.9km
Average Speed: 15.9km/h

After a few too many pacharan today was a bit of a struggle even though it was a relatively easy 70km. Our hostel in Leon was in the center of town and really easy to find with great views of the Fon Santo Domingo square from the common room. Tapas is free when you buy a drink in Leon so we went on a bit of a pub crawl starting off in 4 Lions brewery and continuing to a place that sold 14% Austrian beer. Just as we were walking home we met a university professor putting a coin in the wall beside the church. We asked him what it was for and after a few minutes chatting asked him if he wanted to go for a beer. After the first beer he offered us a quick tour of Leon and brought us up a tower for a view of the city.


Tuesday, November 1, 2016

It was all going well until the pacharan

Day 10: Burgos – Sahagun
Time: 6:18:06
Distance: 121.9km
Average Speed: 19.4km/h

The pilgrim hostel we stayed in kicked everyone out before 8 so we were on the road early. Today was mostly flat so it wasn't difficult to make up ground. We covered so much ground that tomorrow will be a relatively easy 70km. Rolling into Sahagun it looked a bit like a ghost town but we found some bars and just found out tomorrow is a holiday. We now know that the locals aren't alcoholics boozing hard on a Monday.


Sunday, October 30, 2016

Camino Frances

Day 9: Logrono – Burgos
Time: 7:22:41
Distance: 123.8km
Average Speed: 16.8km/h

We had a big night in the town in Logrono last night but still managed to get on the road by around 10. The first stop was Navarrete where we ate very poor croissants and met an Irish lad living in Vitoria Gasteiz walking a few days of the Camino. The rest of the day was almost all uphill. The inclines weren't massive but it was enough to slow us down. A few kilometers outside of Burgos we were running out of daylight but luckily there was a gravel bike path all the way into the city which made things safer. At one point I saw a massive pothole up ahead which looked like it could break a spoke. I jammed on the breaks without saying anything. Leeroy couldn't stop in time so my back light got smashed. Other than that there was no other damage so we got off lightly. We'll stay in the pilgrim hostel in Burgos tonight with a 10pm curfew, which might not be a bad thing.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Last day in la Rioja

Day 8: Logrono – Logrono
Time: 2:10:49
Distance: 42.3km
Average Speed: 19.4km/h

I set out on the same route that myself and Leeroy will go on tomorrow getting as far as Navarrete. I stopped at a bodega but then realised that I'd forgotten my wallet and couldn't buy any wine. On the wine tour yesterday I was told that this year's harvest was too big so a lot of grapes would be picked then left on the ground to rot over th winter. This made me feel less guilty about stealing more grapes. Leeroy arrives tonight and we'll assemble his bike as soon as he gets in. The target for tomorrow is 125km to Burgos.