Saturday, From Puebla de Sanabria to A Gudina

Into the Mountains! 3785 feet of climbing today,
We spent a fair amount of time in the woods today. Pushing the bike when it got tough. That was most of the time. The trail is super rocky and very slow going. It amazes us that just when we start to feel lost, there is another stone marker. It took us 2 hours to cover 2 miles today in one of the deepest, rockiest sections. Stepping slowly, trying to not get shined with the pedal of the bike and not turn an ankle.
We had another "Saint James Sighting" today. At the end of a Soccer field, along the trail. Fun to see and another assurance we are nearing Santiago.

We starting to see more and more of the little purple Crocus that I think is where the Saffron that is so popular in this part of the world. Barbara says its not.

We are also seeing lots of Acorns. The noise under the tires is fun to hear. They don't cause any problem of rolling or slipping as do the rocks. Its a fun crunching noise.

We arrived at our Hotel, Kind of a truck stop kind of place, late. The sun had set but not in the dark.

Today we crossed into Glaicia. The Provence of where our final destination, Santiago is. We are only 4 days away.

Tomorrow we will be riding in the rain. The first rain of our whole trip so far. Not really looking forward to that, but at the same time, well prepared. We have purchased zip lock bags to waterproof everything that will be going on the road with us. We will be staying on the pavement for the 60kms we need to cover to get to our next stay.

Friday, From Mombuey to Puebla de Sanabria

Another beautiful Fall day here in Spain. The perfect riding weather.
We headed out of town on the trail. Remembering details from 5 years ago, We are amazed how much better marked the trail is now. Sometimes its hard to believe that there is a stone marker in places where it would be really hard to put one. It seems as if they were dropped by helicopter.
Places where no car could go. Not even a 4 wheeler motorcycle.

Our first stop and walk around was a village with an tower that has a story of the Knights Templar. Built in the 11th century, It is said that it is possible to have 40 people standing on one floor at a time. Forty, being a mystical number. The church was later added. Walking around I could see that the village was one of the oldest we have visited. In good shape, the town folk have done a great job of keeping it up.

We are starting to see more Chestnut trees now. The road at times are covered with the sharp pointed seed pod balls. Not sharp enough to puncture a tire, but I avoid them anyway. Some of the trees are huge. Sometimes as large as 10 feet across.

The Camino takes us from village to village. Most have nothing but homes. Some have a Bar with food and cold drinks. Sometimes we stop. Most of the time we ride right through. All are quite beautiful and such a treat to experience a part of Spain that most tourists don't get to see.

Its starting to become more hilly. Sometimes climbs of over a half hour. In the woods, we walk. The down hills are slow going so we don't loose footing and have the front tire skid. When its loose, you I need to stay off the front brake or the bike will skid. The Drum brake has been a huge help this trip. The drum brake is a brake added onto the rear hum that is controlled by a Lever on the handlebar stem. It allows me to not have to use the rim brakes as much and saves the wear on the rims and the heat caused by the friction. On big hills the heat from a rim brake can even ruin a tire.
Our stay tonight is in the town pictured in the last photo. Nice spot but with poor WiFi. They say its because of the "Thick Walls" OK?

Quince

Roman Road

Tonights stay.

Thursday. Tabara to Mombuey

The absolute perfect day and the absolute perfect day for a bike ride. Cool on the shade and warm in the sun. Big change from when we started this journey which seems about a year ago.
The land has turned to green and less dry. Signs of Fall with only some of the trees turning color and dropping leaves. More trees and more shade. Less fly's.
Great views of the mountains way off that will become part of our riding in the next couple of days.
We have seen long stretches of blue colored grass. It almost looks as if they had been sprayed with something. Magical!
We crossed a highway on an overpass and heard off in the distance, cow bells. The cow bells were sheep. We figures about 500 of them with one shepherd and 5 dogs. The sound of the bells was great. I tried to video it, but the sound was so faint, the camera only picked up my breathing. You can see the photo below.
Today was the first day we started with warm clothing. Pealing layers as we went. it never got above 75 degrees F.
Moving along at a good clip. Walking on the really steep hills both up and down, with loose rock. Lots of white Quartz bits are everywhere now. More shale then we have seen in the past.
We are now on trails we have ridden on in 2010. Places we remember and places we don't.
We are seeing more Pilgrims now that are are on the Via Della Plata. Non that have come where we started.
The trail is better marked then 5 years ago. There are more stone markers then ever before. It's nice to not get lost. I remember at intersections where we went the wrong way last time and where now, there are markers.
Later in the afternoon the wind picked up. It became strong, about 25 mph head wind for the last 10 miles. Tough enough that we decided to hit the pavement.
We are staying in another "Truck Stop" Hotel" Not bad, but you know,,,,
Tomorrow we will hit the trail again for what could be our shortest riding distance.

Here are a couple for now, one of the sheep.

My favorite trail marker!