My time in San Sebastian flew by and this morning I was heading west towards Bilbao. After yesterday’s stunning weather, today was destined to be wet, wet and wet.
I had stayed in the very nice Pension Easo but my room backed on the an apartment with a large family. The noise kept me awake until midnight each night. It wasn’t that they were making a huge amount of noise, it’s just that the walls must have been super thin. They had recessed the bedhead into the wall, so I suspect there was no sound insulation and that meant that I heard every single sound next door. At least they were quiet by midnight. I’d heard it all – laughing, crying, arguments, kids running around, shooting games being played. However, I was still tired by the time I left.
It was cool but not raining when I left but that didn’t last long. The drizzle started when I left the bakery a few kms from the Pension. It would get a little heavier and hang around for most of the day except for about an hour in total.
Again, it was that fine rain that drenched me immediately.
In no time at all, I was climbing up some steep hills. The cloud was higher today and I got some nice views of the countryside. But those hills… And again, any downhills weren’t enjoyable because of the wet roads.
I’m going to find a bike shop in Bilbao to bleed my brakes because on the steepest descents, I was pumping them to get some stopping power.
I made a wrong turn going down a steep hill and that’s something I hate – retracing my steps uphill. I had no choice though. You simply have to accept your fate at times like that.
The reason I missed the turn, was that the ‘road’ was a grassy, very muddy, overgrown track which had me testing the waterproof-ness.of my shoes in the mud and slush. I love riding trails, but on days like today ? Nope.
The trail dumped me into the middle of a vineyard and I descended the steep hill to a path by the river – a welcome change. The path may have been nice, but I knew I had another ‘needle’ to get over before Zarautz.
It’s a nice town. I felt like I’d done the day’s work before I realised I’d ridden only 23 kms. So, I checked my options over lunch, chose Deba as a destination and booked a room. I’ll need a room to dry everything out 😁
That meant some more climbing, but I was immediately half way home with only 24 kms to go.
As I came I into Zumaia, a bus passed me and pulled up to let some passengers out. I was on the shared footpath / bikepath, so I stopped so that I didn’t run into any of the passengers getting off the bus. As I stopped, my left leg solidly collected my rear vision mirror and knocked it out of its socket and onto the road. No probs, I’ll quickly park the bike and pick up, then put it back on.
As I crouched to get it, the bus took off and ran over it. Aaaaagggghhh ! It was like a scene from a movie.
A lot of the rest of the day was on a secondary road. I was lucky though. After about 5kms on the road, there was some roadwork with traffic controlled by lights. Past there, it meant I’d get about 5 cars in a row, every 5 minutes. The drivers were as good as the French. Maybe they were French.
Regardless, the climb was picturesque and it didn’t rain for most of it. The descent however was fantastic. The road was newly surfaced. That to me says ‘major bike race through here’. And sure enough, the writing was on the road halfway down. The last part was along the coast, with stunning cliffs and finally, the nice town of Deba.
‘This moment’ is resting tonight in the nice dry garage and I’m in the town having some dinner. I’m people watching in a place in the main square. Lots of old people here for pre-dinner drinks, and in no hurry to eat. Two old guys opposite me, have their routine sorted out.
They started with a coffee each. (They’re of an age where sleep could happen suddenly). Next, one guy had a zero alcohol beer and the other guy had water. Then the first guy had a glass of wine and the other had a beer. It was remote control – they hardly spoke, but knew what to get next.
Unfortunately, after 950 metres of climbing today, I may also be a victim of sudden sleep, so I can’t hang around and see the next order.
This seems a very friendly place. I bet it is full of tourists in summer, and perhaps the time for the locals is now.
PS. The next order was the same as the last.
