Day 35 Royan to Surgeres

Day 35. Royan to Surgeres. 76.28kms cycled. 4.26 hours cycling. 38.78 km/h max speed. 17.14 km/h average speed. Weather – overcast, raining and cold.

I just love how the French get their priorities right. It’s Sunday here today – gee the weeks are flying by – and as usual everything is shut … except every patisserie/boulangerie in France.

  Over the course of the day I had good reason to visit three in different villages and on each occasion had to wait in a queue to be served. Alright, if you really must know, two were to buy baguettes and the other to get my daily rich custard slice - just the thought of them gets me pedalling harder.

  The first stop for a breakfast baguette was in a small village not long after leaving Royan, and the second about three hours later, but it was the third that had me laughing to myself.

  Technically it wasn’t a shop at all. With rain persisting just about all day, I stopped in a bus shelter for a rest and a break from the drizzling rain.

  Next thing I know a small van pulls up right next to me and the lady starts honking the horn. Before you know it people just appeared from everywhere and started queuing for her baked goodies.

  Not one to miss out, I joined the queue. It was one of those moments that I wished someone else was there with me to take a photograph.

  There I was with about 8 or 9 ladies and elderly men all eagerly waiting to get their baguettes.

  To say that I must have stood out was an understatement with my bright red rainbird waterproof jacket and waterproof cycling pants on, plus two supermarket bags over my shoes to stop my feet from getting wet.

  The lady behind me engaged me in an animated conversation after I greeted her with a bonjour. She must have thought I was French, so started talking about goodness knows what with me just trying to nod at what I thought were the appropriate moments.

  She only stopped talking when it was my turn to be served after which I said goodbye with a very pleasant au revoir and we parted the best of friends.

  I think I laughed to myself for the next 10 or so kilometres. It was definitely one of those moments that make a trip like this all the more memorable.

  I must admit though, that it was one of the high points in what was otherwise a very miserable day weather-wise. Heavy rain persisted all night, but I was determined to press on rain or no rain.

  With major freeways that don’t allow bikes on them seemingly everywhere in this part of France, the day was spent zigzagging across the countryside. But considering the terrible weather conditions I was much happier on the small country roads than out in the French amateur grand prix anyway.

  My day finished in Surgeres, a quaint village with a very historic cathedral and old palace as the central feature which I wandered around after setting up my tent in the local campground.

  If it doesn’t rain again – which it is threatening to do – I intend to go out to what looked like a nice restaurant in town for dinner. 

I have also just realised that it is day 35 ... the 1/2 way mark of my cycling adventure. A milestone indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

captions. Pic 1: One of the few good sights on a very blreak day. Pic 2: And they even had fllowers over the bridge. Pics 4&5: The old church and palace in Surgeres

    

Day 34 Sightseeing in Royan

Well, this will be very short and sweet today. Basically all I have done is sleep, sleep some more and then just for the heck of it had another sleep.
I guess I really did need that break.
Anyway, between sleeps I had a bit of look around a wet and overcast Royan this morning, so the best I can offer today are a few interesting piccies.
It is a lovely modern town, which by all accounts was bombed very heavily during the Second World War and was extensively rebuilt in the 1950s.
It was unusual to see a large modern church as the centre point of a French town, as I am used to seeing centuries old structures in virtually every town I pass.
I think I have worked out my route to Nantes and the Loire Valley, but will have to negotiate quite a few busy areas traffic-wise by the look of it.
The next few days should prove quite interesting as it looks like quite a diverse area I will be travelling through.

captions: Pic 1: A restaurant on the waterfront that specialises in moules (mussels). There is about 1 kilometre of restaurants side by side... how do they all make a living???????? Pic 2: Royan's modern new church. Pic 3&4: Impressive waterfront mansions. Pic 5&6: These structures fascinated me I think they must be for fishermen to lift their catches from boats at high tide. Pic 7: The towns marina

Day 33 le Gurp to Royan

Day 33. le Gurp to Royan 29.01 kms cycled. 1.59 hours cycling. 29.09 km/h max speed. 14.55 km/h average speed. Weather – sunny but quite cool.

After eight straight days cycling in France including the crossing of the Pyrenees, it’s time for a rest!!!

  For one reason or another planned rest days over the past three days didn’t eventuate, so I didn’t give myself the opportunity to change my mind and keep pedalling … I booked and paid for 2 nights at a lovely campground in Royan.

  But seriously, the ride from the Pyrenees to here has been enjoyable, but a solid grind, so a day off before the 240 km trip to the Loire River is just what was needed.

  I am a firm believer in listening to your body and my body was definitely telling me to back off when I got on the bike today. As a result I only cycled the 25+ kms to the ferry which takes you over the sea passage from Pointe de Grave to Royan before calling it a day.

  So basically there is virtually nothing to report today. It has basically been a day of getting things in order – doing clothes washing, finding a supermarket and the ever elusive internet connection which I finally tracked down at McDonalds.

  Oh, I also found a couple of patisserie shops where I just had to try some of their goodies.

  I don’t think my body knows what is going on. On one hand it wants to lose weight because of all the long hours of exercise I am doing, but on the other hand it wants to load it on because of the ridiculously rich slices etc – plus baguettes – I am eating.

  At the moment it seems to be a line ball. I’m threatening to drop another notch on my belt, but maybe it won’t happen after all.

  Royan is a very sophisticated town overlooking the water. They are preparing for a major festival that will happen over the weekend, so it is a pity I will just miss it.

  Along the waterfront there are dozens of upmarket restaurants and shops that are way out of my budget range. I had a quick look today, but will take a longer stroll around town tomorrow.

  My basic French is getting better, I can now greet, ask if they speak English, say goodbye and generally make myself understood – on occasions.

  If you make a bit of an effort to meet and greet the French up front, they are very accommodating and do their best to help wherever possible despite the language gap.

captions. Pic 1: I just love these French menu boards. Pic 2: the ferry docking at Royan. Pic 3: Royan cafe late afternoon

Day 32 Lacanau Ocean to Le Gurp

Day 32. Lacanau Ocean to Le Gurp. 90.66 kms cycled. 5.07 hours cycling. 40.83 km/h max speed. 17.68 km/h average speed. Weather – Overcast, few showers and cool.

Basically today boiled down to a day of a lot of cycling for not enough gain.
With the weather once again overcast and cool, it definitely wasn’t worth hanging around Lacanau Ocean for a day … basically all these beachside villages are summer destinations and out of season they are deserted.
So I hit the road, or should that be track, with high expectations of reaching Pointe de Grave and the ferry crossing over the la Gironde inlet.
But after making good time to Carcans Plage, a check of my map obtained the previous day from the local tourist office revealed some not too interesting reading.
The track to Hourtin Plage, the next little village about 15 kms further north, was closed for 2010 due to its poor condition.
For probably the first time on the trip I didn’t closely look at my route for the next day the previous night, and now had to pay the price.
The result was a major detour of about 40 kms on roads that had no shoulder for cyclists and quite frankly were dangerous to ride on.
Into the bargain consistent showers made the riding even more treacherous and didn’t do anything to improve my spirits.
And to darken my mood even further, the same map given to me by the tourist bureau showed an alternative way to Hourtin Plage off the road, but it turned out to be a 6 or 7 km dead end. Why would tourist offices give out maps with wrong information and not advise people that tracks are closed?
Anyway, I basically decided to cycle as far as I could, which I did and ended up in le Gurp (a 4 building village on the beach that doesn’t even rate a mention on most maps) for the night.
After making a beeline for the municipal campground I discovered it was closed, but set up camp nonetheless, there was no way I could cycle any further.
I must admit I will be glad to be finally out of these never ending pine forests tomorrow and cycling again through little old villages with lots of French character. I guess I have seen enough deserted surf side holiday destinations … they must be full of people in July and August, but at this time of the year they are ghost towns.
Considering the distance I have cycled so far in France, I don’t have that much further to go to reach St Nazaire where the Loire River flows into the Atlantic and the start of my much anticipated journey along the Loire valley.

captions; Pic 1: A nice ocean shot on a terrible weather day. Pic 2: The track that just went on and on. Pic 3: An oh so French cafe.

Day 31. Biscarrosse-Plage to Lacanau Ocean

Day 31. Biscarrosse-Plage to Lacanau Ocean. 81.81 kms cycled. 4.54 hours cycling. 45.62 km/h max speed. 16.64 km/h average speed. Weather – cloudy with showers.

I have very quickly discovered that when you are cycle touring nothing can be planned too far in advance.

  As of last night I had full intentions of staying at Biscarrosse-Plage for the day, going to the beach and generally relaxing. But an overnight thunderstorm, a change of weather and a plague of earwigs quickly put an end to those plans.

  After consistent overnight rain I woke to a dreary day that certainly wasn’t beach weather. On top of that the campground I was staying at was in the grip of a horrible earwig epidemic. They were everywhere and in everything.

  I put my panniers under the outside cover of the tent each night and up until now everything has been fine. They stay dry if it rains and aren’t visible to anyone from the outside.

  But I certainly didn’t bank on a plague of earwigs taking up residence in them. All were full of the bloody things, meaning that I had to take ever item out, shake out all the earwigs and repack.

  Basically the decision to move on wasn’t hard to make at that stage!!!

  Anyway I set out for Arcachon through the endless pine forests, with the occasional detour to check that the Atalantic Ocean was still there on the other side of the sand dunes.

  I had read about Arcachon and was looking forward to having a walk around the town before catching the ferry across to the other side of Bassin d’Arcachon (the bay) to continue my ride north.

  But for the first time on the trip I really felt burdened by my bicycle and all my worldly possessions. I just couldn’t find anywhere that I felt safe to leave everything while I walked around and there were so many people on the streets it just wasn’t practical to push the bike around.

  In the end I gave up and put Arcachon on the ‘must go back there someday’ list, because it really did look like a lovely town on the edge of the bay.

  Instead I just made it to the wharf in time to catch the midday ferry across the bay. The ferry ride cuts out about 60km of riding through fairly boring country, so as far as I was concerned the 10.50 Euro charge was well worth it.

 With showers persisting I pushed on through the endless pine forests, with Lacanau Ocean my target for the day. At this stage the weather seems to be on the improve so I may stay put for a day here, but this time I will make the call in the morning.

   I just finished putting up my tent in another lovely campground complete with water fun park, restaurant and full on recreation ground and was still finding earwigs in everything. They are disgusting little things.

captions. Pic 1: This is an amazing coastline that just goes on forever unbroken. Pic 2: Isn't that the best ever sign for a restaurant on the beachfront. Pic 3: My bike and other on the ferry crossing.

Day 30 Cap de l'Homy-Plage to Biscarrosse-Plage

Day 30. Cap de l’Homy-Plage to Biscarrosse-Plage. 82.2 kms cycled. 4.35 hours cycling. 41.26 km/h max speed. 17.86 km/h average speed. Weather – overcast but hot.

As I sit here contemplating what scintillating things to write today with baguette in one hand and vino in the other by the beach at beautiful Biscarrosse-Plage, I have decided it is time to stay put for a day.
Yes, it looks so good here and the beach is so inviting, that I think it is time to have my first of what I expect will be quite a few days off the bicycle in France.
With the huge hills of Portugal and Spain behind me, I think it is time to kick back for a while and go into holiday mode. After all, come to think of it, I am on holidays and it is time to have some R&R.
And what better place to do it than at Biscarrosse, a holiday destination for surfers and holiday-makers from near and far.
I don’t know why, but the whole Atlantic Coast seems to remind me of the surf scene in Australia back in the ‘70s. It’s very basic, very underdeveloped and very, very inviting.
Today’s riding was also very enjoyable along 80 kms of bicycle tracks and well away from all the traffic. At one stage while enjoying a block of chocolate while riding next to a large lake, I started to think ‘how lucky am I, this is just fantastic’.
Anyway, the kilometres just flew past on the nearly flat terrain. So much so, that once again I clocked up more kms than I had expected … another reason for deciding to take tomorrow off for a swim at the beach and to have a good look around.
I have booked into an up-market camping ground about 1 kilometre from the beach and have stocked up again on my food rations after finally eating all my Portuguese and Spanish stocks.
That bottle of wine I bought at the supermarket today is waiting so until tomorrow it is over and out from Biscarrosse.

captions. Pic 1: My surfy neighbours Pic 2: Sunset over the Atlantic Pic 3: Sap collecting from pines trees is a huge industry in this part of the world.

Day 29 Saubion to Cap de l'Homy-Plage

Day 29. Saubion to Cap de l’Homy-Plage. 72.85kms cycled. 4.26 hours cycling. 40.40 max speed. 16.38km/h average speed. Weather – sunny and hot.

Just as luck would have it, the sunny hot weather has hit this part of France and I am at the beach lapping it up!!

  In many ways it almost seems like I am back at home on the Gold Coast, with surf shops, surfboards and that unmistakable beach culture evident everywhere.

  The campground where I am staying at a pinprick of a place on the map called Cap de l’Homy-Plage is full of young surfers and in fact reminds me very much of the old campground at Noosa way back in 1970s. Surfboards everywhere, lots of old Kombi-like camp vehicles and situated just behind the sand dunes.

  But anyway, back to the start of the day. My first port of call was to the tourist office in Seignosse where I was delighted to find out that yes, there is a dedicated bike track all the way north to Nantes and beyond.

  For just 2 Euro I was able to get a detailed strip map which takes me to the Bordeaux area, where I will have to get another map for the next leg of my trip north.

  So it was with a real spring in my step that I headed off after firstly checking out the beach at Seignosse.

  For the first 40 or so kilometres the track was a good couple of metres wide, perfect for bikes going in either direction to pass each other. Given it was a public holiday there were many, many people of all ages out cycling.

  For most of the way the track is completely separate from the road, but still links up to many of the villages along the way. Most of the popular beach spots are about a one kilometre ride from the track, so I spent much of my time exploring each of the beaches as I came to them.

  As a result my 72 kilometres for the day was probably more like 62 in actual distance gained, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless.

  When the track got further away from the popular, more densely populated areas it reduced in size and wasn’t as smooth to ride on which made for a somewhat uncomfortable ride. Hopefully it improves further along. If it remains rough I may ride some sections on the road, but will just wait and see.

  What strikes me most about the French and the beach is that they are (a) totally non-sun smart and (b) totally uninhibited.

  Virtually no-one wears a hat, they obviously do not use sunscreen and as a result there are huge numbers of very badly sunburnt beachgoers. Where I go looking for the shade, they expose as much skin as possible to the sun.

  This includes the women, with going topless seemingly the norm … it all makes a trip to the beach that much more interesting!!

  I certainly didn’t think I would have a beach experience on this trip, it just goes to show that when you are cycle touring you just never, never know.

captions: Pics 1&2 The famous Hossegar beach Pic 3: The bike track north Pic 4: The beach again Pic 5: The track through the pine forest

Day 28 St Palais to Saubion

Day 28 St Palais to Saubion. 60.1 kms cycled. 3.59 hours cycling. 59.8 km/h max speed. 16.7 km/h average speed. Weather – perfect for cycling sunny and warm with no wind.

Well, I’m now just a few kilometres away from the Atlantic Coast and the start of a whole new cycling adventure north towards Nantes.
With my energy reserves replenished after hitting the wall the previous day, I had close to a perfect day’s cycling from St Palais.
With the wind tending to pick up every afternoon, I got myself organised nice and early and was on the road before 8am to hopefully beat any wind dramas. And what a beautiful morning it was in the French countryside.
While the cycling was tough with many steep climbs and just as steep descents, it was a perfect Sunday morning, with no traffic and views everywhere in the Pyrenees foothills that tended to ease the strain on the legs.
As a result I made relatively good time and was in Peyrehorade – what was going to be my destination for the day - basically before I knew it. What seemed to be a fairly unremarkable town had a patisserie shop with the most amazing array of cakes, slices etc etc.
Yes and I made the most of it, after all this is France and I have been hanging out to get descent bread and those magnificent custard slices. After all, there are no such things as calories when you are cycle touring.
Full to the brim I headed off to St Vincent de Tyrosse where I planned to camp for the night. About 5kms from town and with extremely heavy traffic passing (it is a long holiday weekend here in France and everyone it seems was off to the beach) another cyclist came up behind me and shadowed me all the way into town.
At the lights he said something in French, to which I replied in English and he immediately said “ah, you are Australian”.
Anyway, it turns out that he is a geologist who worked in Australia for a few years in the 1970s and has a very soft spot for Australia and Australians in general.
And we were just one block from his house (read mansion). Before I knew it we were sitting in his back yard enjoying a bottle of wine, talking about everything Australian and French and generally relaxing after a great day’s cycling.
I was able to glean some information about the walk/cycle track north from him, but more importantly he headed me in the right direction to a fantastic campground in the next village for the night and the location of the tourist office where I will go first thing in the morning (as long as they are open on public holidays).
So there you have it. I am writing this from the side of a pool area complete with spas, water slides and more.
You certainly never know what is around the corner when you are cycle touring!!

captions. Pic 1: Views forever. Pic 2: An old chateau along the way. Pic 3&4 The fantastic patisserie shop. Pic 5. Mike, my French cycling buddy. Pic 6: The pool area at the campground

Day 27 St Jean Pied de`Port to St Palais

Day 27. St Jean Pied de Port to St Palais. 32.64 kms cycled. 2.01 hours cycling. 46.55 km/h max speed. 16.13 km/h average speed. Weather – sunny and warm.

Not much to report today. Basically I think the effort of crossing the Pyrenees took its toll on me because once I started cycling today I had absolutely no energy.

  Thankfully I had planned an easy day, because the 32 km trip to St Palais was as much as I was up to.

  The French countryside looks magnificent at this time of the year, with everything green, blossoms everywhere and it seems like everyone is enjoying finally having some good weather after a long and cold winter.

  I guess my news for the day relates to the route I have decided to take to Nantes on the Loire River, the starting point for my west to east crossing of France.

  After using skype in a café prior to leaving St Jean Pied de Port, two French brothers (sorry I have forgotten their names) approached me and asked where I had come from/was going to.

  We ended up having an interesting discussion about cycle touring and more importantly as it turned out, the best route for me to take north to Nantes.

  By all accounts there is a specific walking and cycling track that opened about two years ago that virtually goes the full length of the Atlantic coast from Biarritz in the south to near Nantes and possibly beyond.

  And according to the brothers it is a magnificent route free of traffic and extremely picturesque. So rather than continue on roads and battle with traffic for the 400-plus km trip, I have decided to give it a go.

  As a result I will now head to Hossegor on the coast where I will hopefully be able to obtain information from the local tourist office and maps specific to the track. 

  Apparently there are a couple of ferry crossings along the way to get across large inlets (in particular the one that goes down to Bordeaux), so it should definitely be a different experience.

  Also, there are apparently camping areas along the track specifically set up for walkers and cyclists, so it sounds just perfect.

  While I would miss cycling through the French countryside and seeing all the old villages along the way if I use the track, I reason that I will see more than enough villages etc once I do the west – east crossing.

  Maybe some of my Australian-based research assistants could do some internet detective work to hopefully find out some more details about the track for me. If you can find any info either email it or send me the link, thanks.

  I have booked into a council camping ground for the night and will hopefully be feeling more energetic tomorrow for the trip to Peyrehorade, with Hossegar now the target the following day.

caption: My French friends who suggested the coastal route to Nantes

Day 26 Pamplona (Spain) to St Jean Pied de Port (France)

Day 26 Pamplona (Spain) to St Jean Pied de Port (France). 82.95 Kms cycled. 5.32 hours cycling. 49.5 km/h max speed. 14.94 km/h average speed. Weather – perfect for cycling sunny and about 20 degrees.

Well, I’ve made it. I’m finally in France after crossing the Pyrenees on a perfect Spring day. And what a day it was … tough and exhilarating all rolled into one and very, very satisfying.
And it is sooooooooo good to be in France!!!!!! The cultural difference between Spain and France is just so huge, but there is one thing both countries have very much in common and that is their border, the magnificent Pyrenees.
The only problem I had all day was constant traffic on the route I took over the mountains. With many passes still closed by late spring snow, the route to St Jean Pied de Port has had all traffic over the mountains channelled onto it.
But not even cars and trucks going past me could take away the thrill of successfully completing the climb, seeing that magnificent view from the top and enjoying the longest and steepest downhill ride I have ever had on a bicycle.
Actually, the route to St Jean Pied de Port is three mountain climbs. The first is to about up to 850 metres, the road then plunges down into the valleys before climbing again to 900 metres before once again going down and finally climbing again to the final peak at over 1000 metres.
The first two climbs were a bit of an anti climax because trees obscured the views at the top, but the third was fantastic with views as far as you could see towards France.
There is a small chapel at the top that is a magnet for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who pass by, and obviously for cyclists like me who thank God that they made it!!
It isn’t the highest pass over the Pyrenees by a long way, but my legs certainly knew they had had enough when I finally made it to the top of that third mountain.
The scenery on the downhill descent was amazing; in fact I think I took more photos of that section than I have anywhere else on the trip.
About 20 kms from the peak I finally crossed into France, and couldn’t you tell that you had crossed borders. Obviously the architecture is different, but everything is so orderly and how can I put it, so French.
As soon as I arrived in St Jean Pied de Port my first call was to the local bike shop to fix an annoying problem with my gears, then onto the municipal campground before wandering around town.
And what an absolutely beautiful place it is. The town is absolutely full of pilgrims (it is a major meeting point on the way to Santiago), plus there are hundreds of other tourists from all around world going by the many different languages I can hear around the campground.
My next job is to work out my route for the next few days. I have been so consumed with travelling through Portugal and Spain up until now that I haven’t really studied the French map in any detail.
But now it has my full attention and I must admit I am really looking forward to the next 5 or so weeks in France.


captions. Pic 1: More pilgrims - I have seen thousands. Pic 2: Distant views (I have heaps more) Pic 3: I made it!!!!! Pic 4: Some of the crosses left at the pass by Pilgrims Pic 5: As good as you are going to get to a Welcome to France sign Pic 6: St Jean Pied de Port. Pic 7: One for Rayleen. A shop that only sells espadrilles

Day 25 Sightseeing in Pamplona

It’s hard to believe, but I have now finished stage two – crossing Spain - of my across Europe journey from the south of Portugal to The Netherlands.

  Tomorrow morning I set out from Pamplona to cross the Pyrenees and into France, probably the country I have been looking forward to the most to cycle across.

  With about 50 kilometres in Spain to go tomorrow before I finally cross into France, I will have done a total of 1368 kilometres since I set out from Faro on April 26.

  In that time I have had just about everything thrown at me weather and terrain-wise, but am pleased to report I am fit and raring to go on the next 4 to 5 week stage across France.

  Due to the terrible weather in encountered in Spain I don’t believe I saw the country I cycled through in the best conditions, but was still amazed by many of the sights I saw.

  Without doubt the Sierra de la Demanda National Park was the highlight of the trip so far, and by coincidence that day provided by far the best weather I enjoyed during my 9 days cycling in Spain.

  I am afraid my body clock just doesn’t fit in with the Spanish lifestyle. They get up late in the morning, eat lunch late and then shut down during the middle of the day and don’t eat dinner until after 9pm at night.

  Me, by contrast, likes to get going early, eat at a reasonable time in the middle of the day and just can’t get used to eating so late at night.

  France I know will be a different story, so I am certainly looking forward to that.

  Like I did in Portugal, I ran into many lovely and accommodating people everywhere I went in Spain and had many funny moments trying to make myself understood. It is amazing how many animated conversations it is possible to have with complete strangers, with neither participant able to understand one word spoken.

  This was certainly the case with the sheep shepherd who asked me to have a look at his radio that wasn’t working. We had a great talk … he didn’t care that I didn’t understand and I certainly enjoyed the interaction at a tough time of the trip.

  And today I had a wonderful talk with two brothers who did speak broken English in the Pamplona bike shop. Both are proud Basques and spoke with such pride about the country I have travelled through lately, Pamplona and the pass over into France. It really inspired me to get going again!!!

 

Today has been spent both sightseeing and attending to business around Pamplona, a lovely and historic town that is probably most famous for the annual running of the bulls festival.

  The old town where I am staying is a maze of streets that go in every direction full of every type of shop you would expect to see in a major city.

  Much of my time was spent tracking down internet access - a major drama – organising a service for my bike, making a dental appointment to replace a crown that came out and finding a shop that sells maps and camp stove fuel.

  So as you can imagine I spent hours walking around the town, so by the end of the day I felt I knew its layout pretty well.

  The visit to the dentist was an interesting experience. I’m not keen on dentists at the best of times, so it was somewhat disconcerting to get a dentist who had no idea of English and who insisted on going into great detail to tell me what she was going to do to solve my problem.

  My instinct was to get up and leave, but all I did was nod in agreement to everything I couldn’t understand and off she went to work.

  Anyway, I think all went well, the crown is back in place and I was relatively pleased with the 75 Euro bill at the end.

  It’s now time to head off to find somewhere to eat. Yes, it’s after 9pm and the restaurants will finally be open.

  captions. Pic 1: Looking out from the balcony of my hostel Pic 2: The centre square of the old town early morning. Pic 3: Historical monument Pic 4: One of many signs on the running of the bulls route. Pic 5: A running of the bulls statue Pic 6: Another sign at the entrance to the bull ring. The bulls are herded through here at the end of the run through the streets.

Day 24 Estella to Pamplona

Day 24. Estella to Pamplona. 52.22kms cycled. 3.52 hours cycling. 51.12 km/h max speed. 13.47km/h average speed. Weather – sunny and hazy with a fierce north east headwind.


Well, I am finally in Pamplona writing this from the balcony of a lovely hostel (2 star) in the old city overlooking part of the course for the annual running of the bulls festival.
  From first impressions Pamplona is a lovely old city with plenty to see and do … and that’s my agenda for tomorrow.
  But boy, was it an ordeal to get here. I knew I was in trouble when I woke to a fierce wind blowing, and you guessed it, it was coming straight from the direction I was heading.
  The wind hadn’t beaten me in Portugal and there was no way it was going to beat me in Spain, I reasoned. How wrong was I !!!!
  As the morning wore on the wind got stronger and stronger; the cycling tougher and tougher, to the point where it was almost dangerous to continue.
  I was constantly being buffeted about by the wind, so much so that I had to be extremely careful going downhill to make sure that rogue blasts of wind from the side didn’t blow me over.
  Into the bargain the country leading into Pamplona is extremely hilly, with the going as a result tough indeed.
  So much so, that I have to admit that one particularly long and steep hill in combination with the wind right in my face finally did defeat me.
  I had been quite proud of the fact that I hadn’t had to push the bike at any stage of the trip up to now. Well, the only way I was ever going to get up that bloody hill, I’m afraid, was to push. And I can tell you it was the longest 3.1km (yes I clocked every step) I have ever walked in my life.
  Even pushing the bike I had to stop on numerous occasions as the wind howled around me. After finally making it to the top, I then had to basically crawl down the other side at about 15km/h, as the wind was too strong to safely cycle any faster.
  Anyway, after much effort I finally made it to the outskirts of Pamplona only to be channelled onto another major freeway where cyclists aren’t allowed. For the life of me I couldn’t find an alternative, so like the previous day in Logrono I just went on it anyway and hoped no-one would stop me along the way.
Bad idea!!!!!!!!!!! Within 2 or 3 kms a Guarda Civil car (the police) pulled up alongside and made it clear they wanted me to stop.
  Mental images of me being locked up in a Spanish cell flashed through my mind, but fortunately the two police officers couldn’t be more accommodating.
  Obviously I wasn’t the first cyclist to have the same problem, so they indicated for me to follow them to the next exit.
  So picture this. Here I am on my bike trailing a police car with its lights flashing down the service lane of a major freeway. I don’t know whether I felt like an idiot or someone important.
  Finally at the exit they explained in broken English and pointed to where I should go and promptly went on their way.
  The remainder of the trip into Pamplona was fortunately uneventful, although I must admit I was mighty pleased to finally find the old city and secure a room for the night.
  To say I had had enough of the wind, hills and the police for one day is an understatement of monumental proportions!!

captions: Pics 1&2 Pilgrims everywhere. Pic 3: Half way up the dreaded hill along with the wind that defeated me. Pic 4: Alovely old bride in one of the many towns I passed through