Geoff Jones

Day 21 Pamplona to Tudela. LivingDay 25,270

I must have been tired! I didn’t wake up till 8.15 and then the Blaze decided it’s battery was empty after 6 days use 🙁 So I at to hang around to give it some electrons and then unbelievably after I was ready to go I discovered I had packed my cycling socks right at the bottom of the saddle bag 🙁

Eventually at 9.42 I started biking after a coffee and croissant next door. It was pretty well straight into a 500 foot climb out of Pamplona. I soon found myself with the juggernauts on the N-121 certainly not my idea of fun 🙁 DEfintley a fail on the cyclena.ps plug in routing software, obviously way to simplistic. After 10 miles I pulled in and set the maps.me app to work, it might take 5mins to grind away but it came up with a route down a stony track to a delightful village and then on quiet roads until Villafranca where I took some of the GMaps Koolaid to find myself on 10 miles of stony tracks by the river.

It wouldnt have been so bad except earlier on I suddenly though I hadn’t seen my pump for a while 🙁 I inspected the bike to find not only the pump was gone but its plastic mounting bracket had sheared off 🙁 Probably up that big hill yesterday when my foot slipped out of the cleat 🙁 So I was now really worried to be on a stony track miles from anywhere 🙁 Fortunately all went well and there is even a Specialized shop right next to the hotel in Tudela so a new pump was purchased and now kept in my bar bag 🙂

An excellent biking day overall apart from the wretched South wind in my faee all afternoon with the temperature hitting 30deg according to one sign.

The Tudela Bardenas is excellent with an awesome shower, Dinner is only served after 8.30pm the meal itself was very nouveau in portion sizes but very tasty. The price is incredibly reasonable too 🙂

Strava says I did 64.8 miles and 1598 feet of climbing

The photos on Dropbox here

and what a delight to be on real internet with 44 meg upload speeds 🙂

and nearly forgot the heart rate,the Blaze decided not to capture first hour 🙁

Day 20 Espelett to Pamplona Lifeday 25,269

The evening meal at Chilhar was magnificent way more than my stomach, used to its simple life, could handle so I had a disturbed night’s sleep 🙁

Breakfast was equally outstanding, which was good as today was crossing The Pyrenees so I needed to be fit. Whilst loading up the bike the hotel’s cycling neighbour and the hotelier proceeded to muse about which way I should go 🙂

In the end I settled for the route generated by Strava. The first 500ft climb awaited me round the corner 🙂 Dropping down to the Spanish border at Dantxaria I noticed large groups of cyclists heading into the Venta Paco cafe, so I joined them. Crikey was it crowded with very fit men (no women) on their expensive bikes. I had my Coke and just as well as it was the last cafe for a while. Then it was up the 1800ft climb (I thought i was the main climb 🙁 ) which I did OK with a long drop down to Truita. In the square there was a old fashioned village shop where I could buy a coke and crisps. Thinking to myself that was easy…

Alas, the 3000 foot brute was still to come, a never ending zig zag climb up the Erreka valley finally ending at The Arteslaga Col at 984 metres a 2 hour climb without seeing a single cyclist.

The downhill is clearly magnificent and one of the reasons I love cycling so much over walking. Although the red/white markings where the GR12 crossed at the col made me feel nostalgic.

Even more nostalgia as I crossed into Pamplona on the same Camino bridge which I used exactly 12 years ago when I walked The Camino to celebrate my retirement and my first long walk.

Tonight I’m in the budget Alojamientos Olga to try and average out last nights splurge 🙂

Strava reveals the facts of my mega day 6,692 feet of ascent! in 57.8 miles and 6hr 15min 🙂 which compares very favourably to our Teide ascent of 8,806ft in 51.1mi in 5hr 45min.

My poor heart suffered and you can see it peaked at 135bpm. I managed to get the Blaze to stay on for the whole activity too:

My heart rate crossing Pyrenees

compare to elevation profile

Elevation profile

A few pics are here

Day 19 Leon to to Espelette Lifeday 25,268

The thunder, lightening and torrential rain kept me waking up through the night 🙁 Fortunately the rain had stopped in the morning but the clouds still looked threatening.

No chance of overeating at this breakfast! one small croissant 1/4 of a baguette a bit of butter and some jam plus a black coffee and a drop of orange juice was the order of the day.

I extra carefully packed all the bags as it was obvious rain was on the menu plus unbelievably I booked the nights accomodation before departing! such organisation.

Cycling was easy to begin with hitting an average of 14mph for the first hour 🙂 I really like the CycleMa.ps plugin, its excellent, very simple. It shows you the gpx route previously entered but as a bonus shows you the neighbouring official cycle tracks too, very handy and well used today. Another feature is the map can be made so the direction of travel is always up. useful for dyslexics like me. However, things went pear shaped when i fell of trying to navigate a sharp right turn with diagonal bollards fitted to make it that bit harder 🙁 No long term damage the iphone broke of at the ball joint so was easy to plug in and start of again.

Not many stops today, a short one for a tartiflette in Capbreton then a longer one in Bayonne for some Macaroni, I’m trying to cut down on eating when riding. The weather suddenly turned cold so I disappeared inside for a coffee when I came out it was hammering it down 🙁 the first test for the iPhone7 🙂 It worked OK although it needs a sponge to wipe the screen as once its covered in rain swiping doesn’t really work.

I continued in the wet hugging the bank of the Nive River, interesting to see the Eights with a guy in a powerboat shouting orders rather than the Cambridge cyclist. Eventually at the first weir I left the river and started climbing up to Espelette and the previously booked Chilhar Hotel arriving at the early time of 3.24pm. The town is on a very steep hill and seems to be based, historically anyway, on chillies. Now its a bit like a film set with decorated houses all very much a pastiche and a tourist honeypot. But I must say arriving at 3.30ish is to be preferred.

I had an excellent meal in the restaurant downstairs and the room is great with views, now the rain has cleared, of the hills to climb tomorrow something like one mile of vertical ascent 🙂 to get me into Spain

The Strava of the 52.6 miles is here

and a few pics are here

The Blaze conked out again although it managed to work on me climbing up the hills at the end:

Day 18 Biganos to the French Leon. Lifeday 25,267

The Delta Hotel had a great buffet breakfast which I probably pigged out on 🙁 Just not used to having a choice.

Strava had decided to take me along roads rather than the more circuitous Atlantic cycleway. So not as pleasant riding with all the juggernauts, I worked out why I lost some of my average speed yesterday.The problem with taking the etrex on walkabout especially in supermarkets is that it still thinks I’m cycling 🙁 So today I stopped at a bricolage to get some cable ties to mount the Etrex onto the bike frame 🙂

Mimizan was a bit of an eye opener. I’ve never seen so many restaurants in such a small town. I guess in the summer this whole coast line is heaving given the number of camping sites & holiday places. I ended up at the Post cafe as most places were full. I think the omelette I chose really slowed me down in the afternoon as my poor stomach was digesting it.

Once again the head wind appeared so by the time I reached Leon I decided to call it a day, especially since booking.com was only showing campsites or hideously expensive places. The Hotel du Lac de Leon doesn’t demean itself by using booking.com, just resorting to a small roadside sign 🙂 Needless to say I think I’m the only guest tonight!

Strava says I did 67.7 miles and 745 feet of climbing.

The pictures will eventually end up on dropbox, ~~but the internet is as dated as the place.~~

The Fitbit Blaze had a bad day only recording 108mins of heart rate 🙁

Will update the post once I get on the internet!!