| Day # | 46 | State of Legs | :-| |
| Distance (miles) | Distance (km) | Ascent (feet) | Ascent (metres) | Punctures | |
| Today | 38 miles | km | 2254 feet | metres | 0 |
| Trip Totals | 2116 miles | km | 91254 feet | metres | 0 |
| Today's Route |
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| Route So Far |
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Travelogue
I made it through the night at yesterday's hostel but cannot claim to have had the best night's sleep! After the brass band which played in the afternoon, there was a lull in the village's festivities during which six others arrived to share the dorm. There was a Spanish man + woman couple, then a couple of young French motorcyclist guys and finally, two other middle-aged men who I think were Spanish.
I stayed in the room and read until I eventually fell asleep. But then at midnight.... yes, at midnight, the village transformed into PartyVille! It sounded like a DJ but may have been something else but either way, there was loud music from midnight to at least 4 a.m., it being the last time I was awoken and looked at the time! It's all part of the adventure.
I left quickly and fairly early this morning. The road was quiet and the temperature fairly cool. Perfect.
Except that my legs didn't think so. At the first hill, the following conversation took place between my conscious self and The Voice of the Legs. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal.
Voice of the Legs - "For goodness sake! A hill?! Haven't we done enough over the last couple of days?! I mean COME ON! Couldn't we have stayed in that lovely hostel, just lying there all day? Wouldn't that have been just lovely?! So what if the couple liked to fight right in front of everyone and in Spanish so that you couldn't even enjoy the juicy details?! So what if one of the others.... we believe the man from the couple, evidently had diarrhoea and was stinking the adjoining bathroom out and had clearly never been taught to clean the toilet after using it? We could have spent the day lying down!!! Instead we're....."
My Conscious Self - "Legs, shut up and get on with pedalling, RIGHT NOW!"
Voice of the Legs - "OK! OK! Keep your hair on! (titter - hair! It's a bit late for that... tee hee)"
And that my friends is how to put down a Leg Rebellion. You just have to remind them who's boss!
Yes, my legs were tired and for the first time on this trip, actually aching. But my destination, the town of Tafalla, wasn't too far away, less than 40 miles and whilst there were most definitely some uphill sections, they weren't too bad and there was lots of downhill to compensate.
The first few miles were on lovely tarmac with no other traffic whatsoever. But the tarmac abruptly ended! The road remained otherwise the same, a continuation. But with no tarmac. Had they run out of budget before finishing the road?
I stopped for coffee and some breakfast. A guy with a motorcycle made a friendly sounding comment as I was getting ready to leave. I think he was joking about how much easier it was on a motorcycle than on a bicycle or something. Later in the ride, he passed me on the road, made a "toot toot" on his horn and gave me a friendly wave.
I arrived at the town of Javier and detoured to explore. I'm glad I did.
I discovered that my route was following one part of the Camino de Santiago, which surprised me because I'd always thought of the caminos as a series of trails to be hiked or cycled on, and did not expect them to include sections of road.
On I travelled through the Spanish countryside on a fast road.
The town of San Martin de Unx evidently has an LGBT and anti-prejudice policy, which they state on entry to the town.
I was in for a pleasant surprise when I arrived at Tafalla. Almost everyone in the town seemed to be out and on the streets and..... they were all wearing white clothes! Something was going on!
I asked a couple of people and learned that today was the first day of a fiesta and that tomorrow there would be bull running, a practice that is most associated with the town of Pamplona which is not far away. This explained the wooden fencing along all of the streets. Fortunately, I'm staying here for two nights to see if I can stop The Voice of the Legs from complaining all the time so I may get to witness this strange spectacle.
I'd arrived hours too early to get into the room I'd booked on airbnb so spent time looking for food and generally exploring the town. Food was hard to come by as it's Sunday and most places are closed. And as it got more and more crowded it became obvious that The Mule would be no more than a trip hazard if I attempted to find shops in the centre where all the action was. I got some bread and some olives and have some other food in my camping bag so I'll survive until tomorrow when the supermarkets open again.
Eventually I got into my room. The couple who act as hosts were friendly and spoke English. The room is clean and comfortable and I have access to their kitchen and bathroom. I don't need anything else.
One somewhat odd thing though! My room has a webcam in it!
I don't mind if they want to live stream my every move in this room, but if it's a pay to view service, I want my cut! I am the star after all :-)
Meanwhile, until we've agreed terms, I have covered the camera up!
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