| Day # | 48 | State of Legs | :-) |
| Distance (miles) | Distance (km) | Ascent (feet) | Ascent (metres) | Punctures | |
| Today | 58 miles | km | 1762 feet | metres | 0 |
| Trip Totals | 2174 miles | km | 93016 feet | metres | 0 |
| Today's Route |
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| Route So Far |
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Travelogue
I'm back on the road again today and..... I almost had my first real problem with the bike and then..... I did have my first real problem with the bike!
I started early, before sunrise at about 6 a.m. The town of Tafalla was not as quiet as I expected! There were lots of young people about, all dressed in the white with red scarves that I'd seen in the day time. Apparently fiesta means party hard if you're a youngster! I suspect they had been up all night.
I proceeded through quiet farmland.
I detoured into the town of Lerin looking for coffee and failing to find any. I did see more partying youngsters though, singing and still drinking in the streets. And there were high wooden fences up, indicating bull running had taken place. And what I'm fairly certain was a bull fighting ring, which The Mule insisted on being photographed in.
Further on I managed to find an open bar and stopped for coffee. Whilst I was sat at my table, by chance I noticed something on or in my rear tyre.
I got out my tool kit and investigated.
I extracted a 2cm piece of very stiff wire. Luckily it was embedded almost horizontally in the surface of the tyre. I don't yet know if it penetrated the tyre but as luck would have it, I didn't have a puncture. A lucky escape for sure. The tyre is of course damaged.
Coincidentally, yesterday when I was planning the next week, I'd made the decision that at my next rest day which should be in Leon, I'd change the rear tyre for the spare I bought in Perpignan. Clearly this now has to happen!
The remainder of the ride to Logroño was not particularly pleasant. I'd originally planned to take a more circuitous and perhaps more bike friendly route but the only place I found with accommodation was a longer ride than I had an appetite for so I planned a new, more direct route which shortened the ride considerably. However, it put me on major roads most of the way and there were a lot of large trucks. They passed at a safe distance but it wasn't pleasant. The road should have been fast but I was stuck, cycling into a headwind for hours. Hard work.
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| Caves? |
I arrived at the campsite at mid-day and was glad to find that they had a space for me.
After pitching the tent, with the bags unloaded, I rode into town, less than a mile away to find food. I bought bread, olives, tomatoes, sardines and more and headed back towards the campsite.
And then I heard "TWANG"! I wasn't sure what had made the noise at first but knew it had come from the bike. Seconds later, I knew. A spoke nipple on the front wheel had sheared.
I carry spare spoke nipples and spokes but these are for emergency repairs which might get me to a town. What I cannot do is "true" the wheel after the repair and the front wheel of The Mule is quite deformed already. I'm really lucky this happened in a town large enough to have not one, but several bike shops. I can't ride the bike so will be pushing it into town in a couple of hours when shops open again to see if anyone can help and how long it will take.
I could be in Logroño for some time!
Update:
I pushed The Mule to literally the nearest bike shop identified by Google Maps, waited for them to open at 4:30 for their afternoon/evening period and was the first customer in. I explained the issue and said getting the wheel fixed was my priority. But I also asked for my rear tyre to be replaced with the spare I'd bought if possible.
To my amazement they said they could do both immediately and it would be ready today before they closed! Hallelujah!!!
I walked back to the campsite and 90 minutes later got a text saying the bike was ready. Fantastic. I picked it up and brought it back to the tent. Here it is with the new Hutchinson gravel tyre on the rear.
I messaged home to share the great news and that I wouldn't have to change my plan. And two minutes later, I heard POP WOOSH!!!
Using Google Translate I'd explained at the shop that I was using expensive and slightly delicate thermoplastic inner tubes and that you had to be really careful with them :-)
Evidently the front tube was pinched when it was refitted. I took the wheel off and the tube out and there's a small tear, quite close to the valve unfortunately as that's a tricky spot to repair. I've patched it using the specialised Tubolito repair kit but I'm not confident it will hold. So the Tubolito is now packed in the big bag with my tent and tools and I've fitted one of my two butyl tubes instead. So far it's holding air. Fingers crossed it continues to!
It's all part of the adventure.
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