6th October (sunny and mild, strong, cold wind in afternoon) 51 km

There were coming and goings in the night, but nothing that kept me up for long periods. At midnight, according to Elizabeth this morning, we had two new arrivals. A Belgian guy and his girlfriend, who we met this morning, pulled up in their car and then put up their pop up tent right behind ours. Have to say, they went about it in a very quiet and organised fashion. At 4am, a group of three guys set up down the other end of our block. What the hell are you doing setting up a tent at that time?  Even if you were going out for the night, wouldn’t you set up first?

It was past 8am when we rose, these dark mornings are terrible for making you think that you have more time than you actually do. Ju loaded the blog and I got the tent ready to dismantle. Breakfast stuff at hand, we feasted after our cuppa. The guys too were eating and we spoke of where they think they are going to head to after they see out this front that’s coming through tonight. Supposed to last for a couple of days. We really had to push on, but it was very tempting with everything available at camp, to stay with them.

Nice to catch up with Phil and Elizabeth again, but this morning it was hasta manana

Great views at the top - but what a slog to get there

Before we knew it, we were flying downa long hill, only to push our bikes up an even steeper hill.
 Pete takes  the opportunity for a breather while he pats a couple of very sturdy horses.

All set to go, we said our goodbyes to Anna and Mike, then Elizabeth and Phil and rode out of the gate. Turned a sharp right up a small lane and immediately regretted our decision to leave. Two kms later after one of the steepest climbs we’ve done in many a year, we definitely regretted it. But,…it’s onwards and most certainly ,…upwards and is likely to be so for at least a couple of weeks I  would think.  Spain, you see, is mainly made up of hills and mountains, with some coastal areas to give you a chance to cool off. Today was the first true test of these climbs. The first hour, we racked up, 6kms. Took a few photos of how high we were, but they just don’t do the climb justice.

We spy the main road in the valley by the river and hope for better riding

Our first taste of main road came when we came down a track…and that’s what it was, from the hills onto the N634. Smooth surface, not much traffic, in fact there were probably more cyclists on it than cars initially. We were just getting a drink of water, when along comes a bikepacker, an Englishman no less. He was a young guy, maybe mid twenties, from….get this Jason and Lauren….Plymouth. He was a lovely guy who offered us some Chocolat aux pain, but we declined gracefully and left him to his break as we cycled off. Cycling on this surface was great and even though we were constantly climbing, the gradient was okay.

The fishing village of Orio

Another hill climb, another spectacular view

We were working between the coast and inland riding, both hilly, when we came to Getaria. Decided a lunch break was in order and as this view over a lovely harbour and old fort also had a terrace that no one was using, we were in. Out came our sodden fly, soaked groundsheet and more than a little damp inner tent. Spread it over the terrace, hence ensuring that the tour parties didn’t get a chance to view anything from our position. An hour later, suitably full and with dry gear, we cycled off heading along the now windy coast road toward our destination for the night, of Deba and hopefully a campsite awaiting our imminent arrival.

Our lunchtime view in Getaria

There's only one way to beat helmet hair - keep your helmet on

14th century fort in Getaria

Our efforts today had been a step up from the rest of the tour so far, even the short steep climbs in the Cotswolds and Malvern Hills.

Have to comment on the amount of walkers we’ve seen today doing the Camino trail, both off the road and dangerously enough, on it. They can be solo or couples, or in groups of ten or more. I can understand the reason, but don’t get the fact that a lot of it is on these main roads, it sort of takes something away from the experience I would have thought, maybe not. In Deba, we pulled into a supermarket and whilst Julia checked directions for the camp, I went shopping. By this time it was around 4pm. The forecast for rain had stated around 6pm, but as we headed out of town to complete the supposed final 5kms to the campground, the front was coming in off the sea….and you could literally see it closing in.

Pedalling like mad along the windy coast road, Julia had mentioned that it was in fact up a hill to get to the site. Of course it is…..same as every other site.
Bit like castles really. In olden times the rulers of campgrounds used to keep the sites for selected hierarchy, they didn’t want the great unwashed dirtying their toilet blocks and singing football songs late into the night, so they built them on huge hills knowing that the higher gentry had horses and could easily get to the site. Whereas, the mob, after a few bevvies, were so pissed that they would cease to continue after the first few hundred yards uphill. Nowadays of course the gentry don’t bother with camping, they stay in places called Hotels.

Snapped a quick photo of Mutriku even though we were racing to beat the rain

We were now only a couple of kms away, staring up a friggin great hill, with the rain starting to fall. “Not now” I yelled having nearly reached our goal without getting wet. As it was we did get wet, but not soaked. Found a tent spot behind a hedge to protect us from the wind and hopefully some of the rain and whilst her ladyship showered, I blogged.

Her ladyship has now finished showering all the sweat off (and there was a lot!) and Pete’s gone to do the same.  It was so hard to leave that lovely campsite this morning – all those home comforts start to wear down your resistance and I found myself getting very homesick and not for the first time, Pete and I wondered what the hell we were doing over here. Life on the road can be very wearing for sure and after that first steep climb, I was wishing I was back lazing by the pool.  However, once we were at the top, it was such beautiful riding, high up above everyone else, with no traffic and fantastic views, it made the climb seem worthwhile.  If only we could stay up there, riding those uncrowded, well-sealed roads until the end of the day.  But we only got about 3 kms of idyllic riding before we were heading uphill again, on a road so steep we had no chance of pedalling up it and the surface had deteriorated as well.  In fact that road was so steep, I was pushing with my chest on my handlebars as well as my hands.  Then the downhill was so steep, you couldn’t enjoy whizzing down it.  In fact you had to watch carefully because the surface was so bad.  In two places they actually had a line of concrete blocks across the road – I assume to direct the water off in a heavy downpour.  So it was with relief we got off that road and onto the N634, which followed a river.

Over the last few days, we have been calculating how far we have to go with the time available and it is a huge ask – especially with the terrain we have to cover.  In a way it is good to get moving again, but it’s frustrating when you feel you’re not making much headway.  We cycled 51 km today and I wouldn’t want to do much more than that in a day with all that uphill and down dale stuff.