Day 4 Puenta le Reina to Logrono

Day 4

Puenta le Reina to Logrono

45.65 (total 148.12)



Church - Villtuerta

It had been a hot night but my bunk was next to the window so I had a slight breeze to keep me cool. There were eight of us in the room and gentle snoring had been present but despite all of that I slept well and was ready for getting up at 5:45. We were on the road by 7:30 in the cool of the morning. I particularly noticed how loud the dawn chorus was with the joy of a new day.



More tostada's

By 9:00, after climbing fairly steadily, we had reached Villatuerta and stopped for what was to become a common order, “Tres Coffee con leche y tres tostadas, por favor.”. After breakfast we crossed the bridge and rode up the short hill to the church which was all locked up. A house nearby had the stamp for our credentials before we continued on towards Estella. As we approached Estella the A12 could be seen going up the hillside out but our road seemed to be going in a different direction and avoiding the hill. Wrong! As we went through the town there suddenly appeared a tunnel through the hillside and this was the start of a long climb of about 4 miles up through Irache (we missed the wine fountain!) on which we gained around 800 feet in height. The road then levelled out after that and Malcolm found his legs to zoom away and we lost contact for a while. We thought that we would all meet up again at Los Arcos so Chris, Ricky and myself went around the town but we could not find Malcolm, who, it turned out, had headed on to Logrono.



Los Arcos

Again we had level roads heading away from Los Arcos but the few miles going out of our next village, Torres del Rio stay with me vividly. Here we were climbing steadily up steep hills and I was effectively on my own, Chris was somewhere up front and Ricky somewhere behind. The road was very quiet with virtually no traffic. A pattern developed where the road kept going around shoulders of the hill with a climb up one shoulder and then down into the valley before climbing up again. Each descent was fast, each climb was steep. This went on for about 5 miles and in the context of mid 30’s heat under a relentless sun with very little shade. I became intensely aware that I had only half a bottle of water left and that a simple puncture could cause me great difficulty in the heat. Happily, nothing happened to cause an upset but it was great relief that I rolled down the final descent into Viana to find Chris sat waiting at the roundabout.

Once Ricky had caught up we stopped for lunch and drinks in Viana. The final approach to the town was up a steep hill with a park at the top. I spotted a water fountain and went to fill up but a man walking his dog managed to get across that the water was not good. He directed us towards the town centre through a gateway and we entered a network of narrow streets. The whole place was heaving as it was Sunday afternoon and many families were meeting to eat.  We then met the same man and his dog and who again directed us to a bar/cafe for some food.

Viana

From Viana it was a steady ride to Logrono where a pizza delivery boy led us to the aubergue on his motor scooter. Unfortunately there were two hostels and Malcolm was sat waiting at the other one. We got directions and went across but there was not enough accommodation for us so we all rode back to the first aubergue where we booked in. We ate that night in the bar next to the aubergue and where Euro 2012 was on the TV. The lady who served us in the bar kept us all entertained with her descriptions of the menu being largely “moo” and “baa”! We did have some serious discussion as Ricky was concerned that he was holding us back when we could be making faster progress. There was some recognition that we may not make Santiago but it was clear that we wanted to stay together as a group and that we wanted to enjoy the trip, being able to stop and see things as we went.

Again it was yet another early night, being in bed by 9:30 to be ready for another early start.

Viana







Day 3 Espinal to Puenta le Reina

Day 4 Saturday 23rd June 2012

Espinal to Puenta le Reina

44.96 (total 102.47)



Erro, another big hill coming up!



Although getting over the Pyrenees the hard way had been quite a buzz there was some concern about the low mileage achieved and the impact this would have on our arriving in Santiago. This was a recurrent theme as we knew that we were tight for time, especially so as we still had to arrange to get ourselves back to Bayonne and there remained many mysteries about how that would be done. When riding into Espinal we were still discussing whether or not to carry on to get a few more miles in as the guide book said the terrain was relatively flat to descending overall. Local opinion was otherwise, however, mentioning that there were some climbs ahead.

Breakfast was provided for us and after that we were away by 8:30 keen to get a few miles in the bag. The first few miles were very pleasant with plenty of downhill until we came to Erro where we met our first Spanish hill, long and steep being the order of the day. The road hair pinned its way up the Alto de Erro for a couple of miles being unrelentingly steep all of the way. There was little traffic but the odd lorry passed and I kept listening for a change in engine tone that suggested some slackening in the grade. It was a long time coming but I straight away appreciated changing the inner ring on my bike as the extra low gears gave me plenty of scope to get up the climb. We stopped a while at the summit to enjoy the views, to cool down and to drink. What I had forgotten was that we were still at high altitude being at about 3,000 feet, and it was hot too, so keeping hydrated was going to be important.

The descent from Alto de Erro didn’t disappoint either. It was long and twisty reaching speeds of 40 mph and more. Being Saturday there were lots of local riders out too with gangs riding up in the opposite direction. It was all very friendly with waves and Hola’s. Even white man van was blowing on his horn, not in anger, as in the UK, but with a friendly wave towards the Camino shell hanging from the bar bag. The rapid descent steadied into a gradual downhill just about all the way to Pamplona where we gathered together on the outskirts before entering what the guide book described as a busy and confusing city.



Church in Pamplona



The first job in Pamplona was to find a bike shop to get the broken spoke on Ricky’s back wheel replaced. We experienced real kindness from a man who guided us first to one bike shop that was closed and then to a second where the repair could be made. This took a good quarter of an hour but he declined our offer of coffee. Whilst Ricky’s wheel was being fixed we took up residence in a cafe in the park and realised we were on the Camino route out of town. We also realised just how cheap everything was with coffee and tortilla costing just €2.90.

After collecting Ricky’s fixed bike we were stood in a plaza debating what to do when we our English voices attracted a couple who had walked the Camino three years before and had since married and moved to live in a village just outside Pamplona. The girl was from Burnley and the man from Capetown. They advised us to get inside the church on the plaza quickly as they had never seen it opened before but it was open now for a wedding and was stunning inside. We did just that and they were quite correct about the beauty of the place but we had only moments before the bride arrived and the wedding commenced. We then rode back through Pamplona to the cathedral to collect their stamp on our credentials before setting out once more. It seems that we were there on a festival day as there were bands everywhere, and very loud firecrackers. In fact, most days seemed to be festival days throughout the whole trip.

Typical Pamplona street - no bulls today!

It took a while to find our way out of Pamplona and we sizzled as the temperatures went over 30 degrees. The guide book had warned about roads being upgraded and that bikes were no longer allowed on the A12 route. Being warned, we had studied maps and found a route through Cizur Menor and Cizur Mayor onto local roads but even this proved problematic as a new development had plonked a huge (and I do mean huge) car park serving office developments (all empty) where we had expected the road to be. Eventually we found a way through using the car park and a dirt road beyond it to link up to a roundabout and on to the local roads. In the meantime, Malcolm had been dissuaded from riding along the A12 and we later learnt from some people that did just that, that they had been escorted off the Autovia by a “Camino Support Vehicle”.



Aubergue in Puenta le Reina



Our next big climb was now on the horizon and covered with windmills! The Alto de Perdon (Hill of Forgiveness) was gradually getting nearer and looming large. This gave us a climb of about 1,000 feet in height gain over just a couple of kilometres making it fairly short if pretty steep. It was a slog on a very hot afternoon but once topped it was a fast, cooling descent down the other side (42mph) and from there it was downhill generally all the way to Puenta le Reina and our night’s destination.

We stopped at the first aubergue in Puenta le Reina to scrub up and wash out clothes. The aubergue had a big garden with lots of bike racks, the only down side that we had to carry the bikes through the building next morning to get on the road again.

Roman Bridge in Puenta le Reina

Puenta le Reina itself proved a good stop. We ate at a local cafe, again from the Peregrino’s menu, before having an explore of the place and a walk across the Roman bridge. It was an evening to match the day and everyone was out and about in the streets as we returned to our beds for the night

Day 2 St Jean to Espinal

St Jean to Espinal

22.97 miles (total 57.54)

On the way up

Up at 5:30. This was going to become a regular happening over the next two weeks. Breakfast in the aubergue was toast and coffee. The coffee was served in bowls and one tablespoon of coffee went into each bowl – strong stuff! As first light dawned I was outside getting the bike ready but I had time to stroll around the walls and up to the Citadel before we set off. This was magical. As the rising sun caught the mist in the valleys there was truly beautiful moment as everything lit up. Lots of photo’s were taken but photo’s do not catch the magic of the moment. St Jean is a beautiful place, though, and would be worth visiting for more than a day.

By 7:00 we were on the road and riding down the cobbles into the centre of St Jean. Malcolm had indicated the road out on the day previous and we followed walkers as they set out towards the Pyrenees. It was a good day, the sun was up and warm with a clear blue sky. A perfect day for the job in hand. Sadly, none of us had noted the comment in the Cicerone guide that we needed to head back out of St Jean on the D933 clearly signed to Pamplona to take the route up the Ibaneta Pass. We were 5 kilometres on when we realised that we were on the walkers route going straight over the top. This climbs up to about 4,750 feet (that’s 300 feet higher than Ben Nevis) and is not recommended for a bike, especially a bike carrying a full load of panniers. But by the time we had realised we were well up (or so we thought) and were not going to go back down to climb up the road.

A Welcome Break

So there followed a tortuous day where we managed to ride 13 miles in ten hours. In the course of that ten hours we met some lovely people including a young lady from Melbourne and a fellow cyclist (mtb) called Jose who stayed with us for most of the day and, indeed, was a great help in some very tough spots. We stopped for coffee at Orisson and enjoyed the views and again later at the cafe van further towards the summit. We also passed a shrine to the Madonna which was both beautiful and poignant as it had various notes and artefacts attached.

The Summit

The views from the summit, once we got there, were spectacular, especially when we look down a thousand feet or so towards the church at the head of the Pass which should have been our route! The descent to the church was twisty and quite rough. In fact, we had more problems on this day then on any other as Malcolm punctured just before the summit and Ricky broke two spokes on the descent. One of the spokes was on the drive side of the back wheel so we could not make a repair.

As we rolled down the road from the road summit we had no clear idea of where to stay. We considered stopping and looking around the monastery at Roncesvalles but we decided against as we needed to make some time up. We were also pretty tired after getting the bikes over the Col Lepoeder and were keeping an eye open for somewhere to stay. We asked at a aubergue in Burgette but there was a festival and we were told the night would be noisy. A lady in Espinal offered us Bed & Breakfast for €18 which we were pleased to accept. We had an evening meal in the restaurant in the village square and we talked to a couple who were wild camping. We also had a long conversation with a Spanish gentleman in the restaurant. In his younger days he had spent holidays in Bangor. And all followed by an early night and a good sleep ready for the next day’s ride.

day 1 Lost in France

Bayonne to St Jean Pied de Port

34.57 miles

We arrived in Bayonne about 9:00am. The bikes and bags were soon unloaded and everyone was getting set up for a days ride in the nice warm sunshine. Malcolm disappeared behind some bushes to strip off and get his cycling gear on! We only knew he was there because we could see the smoke from his pipe. We got chatting to Chris from Kendal who was also going our way and he tagged along with us for the day and then later for the next two weeks.

We did eventually get away (we were the last to leave) and there was instant disagreement about where we were and the best way out to St Jean. Our route involved crossing a six lane highway to cross a bridge which we managed to do without incident. The ride out of Bayonne was a steady rise but eventually the road quietened as we headed to a lunch stop on the A64 at Cambo le Bains. For some reason, perhaps the mountain terrain, it became very windy and there was lots of small branches littering the road but it nevertheless stayed pleasant and the roads became ever quieter as we followed the river gorge. There were large birds of prey circling in the sky and I saw a chap with a bird cocooned in some fabric as we rode on.

One unusual aspect of the ride was noticing a new type of road kill – snakes!

We arrived at St Jean mid afternoon, had our Pilgrim credentials validated and booked into the aubergue by the Pilgrim’s Office at the top of the old town by the Citadel. Later we went back down into the town to attend the Mass for Pilgrims before setting out on the Pilgrimage proper. Hardly surprising that the service was in French but the sharing of the peace was recognisable and there was some final words in English encouraging Pilgrims to enjoy the experience and to allow the Camino to affect their lives. After that it was food from the Pelligrno’s menu and bed, lights out at ten ready for a six o clock start.

Bus day

Leeds to Bayonne

Having prepared for the ride it was like going to bed on Christmas Eve as a kid, waiting for Santa to pop down the chimney. Not surprisingly. Sleep was in short supply, not helped by the Police helicopter doing a lap of honour at about 3.45 am. In any event, I was up at 5.45 am (setting a pattern for the next few weeks, as it turned out) and at Colton in plenty of time for the 6:30 pick up. Malcolm being concerned about over sleeping he had stayed with us so the two of us were up and raring to go. On top of bikes and panniers we were laden down with provisions for the journey, added to by Ricky and Christine. These supplies kept us going well into France.

Bikes and bodies were soon on the bus and we got a big send off from Sue, Christine, John and Andy. Richard ‘phoned me shortly after Le Grande Depart as he had arrived on time, but the bus had gone a few minutes before. There were only a few people on the bus as we boarded but we kept picking folk up as we journeyed south, and a friendly lot they were too; sharing stories of past trips and advice about trips being undertaken. I got talking to a chap from Rugby who had cycled the Camino a few years before. He had enjoyed it that much he had returned to walk the route later.

There were also a lot of return customers on the bus. Jason, our courier, knew many and most knew him. Two lads from the Stockton area had used the bus for the last ten years.

The journey down was a long one despite Jason attempting to land a plane on the bus as we go under the runway at Charles de Gaulle airport and then trying to enthuse is about views of the Eiffel Tower, a blip on the horizon many miles away. We ate on the bus from Jason’s excellent menu and after our last stop at about 11.45pm it was lights out. During the evening Jason had been telling us about a chap who got lost in Montpelier and could not find the pickup point. What was good was that Jason and the crew had gone to much trouble to pick him up even though it took two hours to do that. Much to my surprise I slept pretty well and awoke about 6:00am to find lots of empty seats where people had disembarked.

Final day of preparation

In exactly 12 hours time self and bike will be waiting for the European Bike Express at Colton. It is a strange mix of nerves and excitement. Just like waiting for Santa as a child!

Final preparation was a short 9 mile spin down to Roundhay Park and home again calling at Edinburgh Cycles for a couple of spokes, just in case.

Sue and I went to Caring for Life for lunch and, would you believe it, the camper van got a puncture. But you can't get better than a Kwik Fit fitter; £16 saw it fixed and back on the road again. Phew, that quickly built into a nightmare scenario in my head.

Next blogs will be from the road, we hope.

4 days to go

I cannot believe how poor the weather remains. Yesterday it was wet and cold. Today it is different, now cold and wet. And fairly breezy too. So despite being in need of a short spin, getting the bike out just does not seem sensible.

Radio - make up not needed!

Luckily there is still plenty to do. This morning I had to be up and out to be at Radio Leeds for 9.15 to do a live interview with Jake Yapp. I must admit to really enjoying the few minutes I had in there. Straight after we had arranged a breakfast at the Lord Darcy and Richard came along having recorded the interview on his iphone. The general view appears to be that it went well. I talked with Martin Patterson afterwards and we are going to see if we can get another slot when we come back as Jake mentioned that St Jean Pied de Port is one of his favourite places. It would be good if we could.

All of the bags are packed and ready to go. Travelling clothes are waiting and I can't think of anything left that I can do in physical preparation. The trip has now taken over entirely and my mind will not concentrate on anything other than cycling. Already there is talk of doing a cycling tour of northern Spain next year using Santander as the base.

Brilliant!!!!!