I knew today would be difficult as there was a large climb in the middle, but it wasn’t anything too silly. So I got up early to allow plenty of time for the ride. The rain was predicted to be done by 8 or 9am.
At 9am it was still pouring down as it had for all of the previous day – so I waited. By 9:30, I’d had enough and set off, with the first stop being the bakery around the corner. Ten minutes after leaving the bakery, the rain was done and I started to enjoy the magnificent day.
I knew today would be difficult as there was a large climb in the middle,but it wasn’t anything too silly. So I got up early to allow plenty of time for the ride. The rain was predicted to be done by 8 or 9am.
Bilbao is a hilly place and leaving to the south meant climbing some steep hills. I was nearing the top when I saw that the road ahead was closed for resurfacing.
The safety guy let me through as long as I walked along the footpath. No problem ! That is, until the footpath disappeared and the bitumen machine covered the whole width of the narrowing road. There was just no way through and the road crew weren’t going to help.
I was really frustrated after all the effort, but I had to turn back and work out an alternative route. It was only later that I realised how close I was to the top. I was already late but had to take a much longer way to get around and over the hills.
Having finally made it to the top I had to join the Camino Santiago walking track down a steep slope and along for a couple of kms of slush. About 10 kms later I’d still only done 20kms. And it was now midday. I made it to a village, Sodupe, and there was a coffee shop right there, just begging to serve me a cortado which is Spanish for macchiato and noisette (French). I could have put my head down and smashed out a few kilometres to make up for lost time, but that would have been counterproductive with the upcoming climb. I thought relaxing and talking to the people in the coffee shop was much more fun.
From there, I was on fairly quiet roads for the rest of the day. And what a day it turned out to be. As I made it toward the hills and the big climb, I could see the amazing cliffs and rocky outcrops that I’d spend the next couple of hours gawking at.
It certainly wasn’t easy at all, but it was rewarding and oh so beautiful. I couldn’t work out where the road went as I was almost surrounded by cliffs, until I spotted a road halfway up one of the cliffs. It was pretty gentle climbing but relentless. I reached the top at 4pm after a hundred stops for photos.
What remained of the ride was 33kms of even gentler downhill. I was so pleased to reach the top, but also realised that there was a long way to go and I was pretty fatigued already. While the scenery was less stunning, it was still really nice and as the light faded along with any traffic, I began to enjoy it even more.
In the morning, I’d been riding in a T-shirt in 10 degrees, but things started to cool down. There was rain in an adjacent valley but I thought I was safe as I was riding into a headwind. The rain clouds began to get closer and with 4kms to go, I felt the first raindrops. While it got steadily heavier, it never really bothered me until I pulled in under the awning of the hotel. That’s when it started pouring. I couldn’t believe my luck.
It was getting quite cold by now (6pm and dark) and luckily the hotel had a restaurant downstairs. The place is very simple and frequented by locals. The restaurant had some great reviews, so I lashed out and had a steak – can’t remember the last time. It was fantastic. Now, I’ll have to change my tune. As I ride past a herd of cows, all staring at me, I often tell them to relax, as I hardly eat beef at all. Not so anymore.
What a fantastic day. I was now very tired and sore but definitely not hungry.
