Second Half

Hello to All
Well we made it. We finished on Friday 17th October as hoped. What a fantastic trip!! Last 2 days were really hard as the legs had decided they had had enough but we all helped each other along and WE DID IT! THANK YOU to all of you who have made donations or have left comments to raise spirits. There were times when things got a bit hard and you have "helped us make it through the night" so to speak...

Here are the highlights of the second half:

Monday: Leon - Rabanal del Camino 75km (4h 38'). Quite uneventful ride up to Astorga where we stopped for lunch in a delightful square where there were puppets playing the bells to mark the time on the clock in the town square - memories of Camberwick Green... Then it got tricky again on the long climbs up to Rabanal. Here we stayed at the Albergue Pilar where we were made to feel very welcome. Recommended stop.

Tuesday: Rabanal del Camino - Herrerías 81km (5h 06'). Quite a day today. Dave left a rock at the foot of the Cruz de Ferro and then it was intense downhill offroad over rocks and rubble. Tricky descent and the discs were red hot by the time we got to Acebo for a drink. After that, we decided to go onto the road as the descent was getting too dodgey between the rocks and the walkers. Besides that, the wrists had gone... We head for the stunning Villafranca del Bierzo via Ponferrada where Santi reveals he is leaving us and somebody is actually coming to pick him up... A swift half, a packet of crisps, we say our farewells and the remaining group of 4 head for La Faba though decide to call it a day in Herrerías after a day of gruelling climbs. Only two people at the albergue too - Helene and her companion from Canada - so we had plenty of room.... Beautiful scenery "everywhere I look around"...

Wednesday: Herrerías - Sarria 58km (4h 00'). Oh what a climb! O Cebreiro is all it is set out to be. I rode with Tony via La Faba while the other went ahead via Laguna. Lots of "get off and push" today. The views were amazing but some of the climbs tested resilience shall we say... It was also very hot today. In Sarria we book into the municipal hostal which was fine. We then had a meal and met up with our riding friends from Algeciras and the trio from Vitoria. A live band sets up outside and we end up having a little session out on the street. The albergue shut at 10pm so our return at 1am meant us having to form a human ladder so that Spiderman Tony could climb onto the balcony and creep downstairs to let us in. Ooh, we did laugh but not until the next day so as not to wake anybody up...

Thursday: Sarria - Melide 65km (5h 07'). After many days of great weather where the sun got even too hot at times, it rained all day today. Change of top at Portomarin. Looking forward to some good octopus in Melide. We have bumped into a Spanish guy and his wife 4 times now since our first meeting at the Cruz de Ferro. I've decided he must be a mirage and am in two minds whether to engage in further conversation as this might only serve to certify my insanity. However, he did recommend a visit to La Garnacha in Melide for pulpo and he was not wrong! Great meal! We also stayed at Ramiro II hotel for 17€ per head and have a good rest before our final day. The day's riding was hard going. Impromptu jet wash from a bus cleaner as we approach Melide covered in mud after a day on the slopes. What a nice man!

Friday: Melide - Santiago de Compostela 59km (4h 30'). Well, a hint of sadness that the whole adventure is drawing to a close. Tiredness as the legs seem to need a lot of coaxing... Once we reach the Monte do Gozo, we know for sure we are going to make it. You can make out the top of the cathedral in Santiago behind the trees. We head down triumphant to collect our compostelas from the pilgrim office and finally reach the shell in the middle of the Praza do Obradoiro. WE HAVE ARRIVED! After a caña we take turns to go into the cathedral. You can feel the emotion in there as many walkers are also arriving - I can't imagine how many people there must be on the camino in the height of summer - but unfortunately the pillar you are supposed to lay your hand on is out of bounds at the moment so it's back to the cafeteria to say goodbye to Victor who flies back to Barcelona tonight. Tony will head to Oviedo with Dave and I tomorrow, Saturday, before catching the midnight bus to Madrid. Dave leaves on Sunday back to Glasgow and I stay in Oviedo until Thursday then it's back to Liverpool, back to reality though seen now through a different lens... Oh, the memories are flooding back but they'll come out in the book and the DVD....

Thanks for reading folks. I hope you have found this blog interesting and useful. I say do the trip yourself or something similar. It will push you and good things will happen. We are now all looking for our next challenge... Loire Valley, Tuscany, UK coast to coast, Land's End to John o'Groats.... Who knows?! Who knows!? Si x

First Half

Holamig@s
We've just arrived in Leon and for once have time for an update. Sorry about the lack of blogging but we have spent many hours on the road and at roadside establishments watering the horses...

Monday: Absolute destroyer - day of travelling without having slept the night before. Don´t underestimate how tired you will be when you arrive! At Pamplona bus station I met Toni and Santi from Fuenlabrada and Victor from Barcelona among many others. These have been my riding companions for the week and it hs been great fun.

Tuesday: Roncesvalles - Cizur Menor 52km (4h 24'). First day of riding which saw Toni being sick after the first big hill, Santi falling off 3 times and nowhere to eat after breakfast until 4pm in Pamplona. Absolutely rained down persistently from 11am. Victor is the king of the hills while the rest of us get off and push, earning himself the title of "El Capitán Pedales". Beautiful route through woodland, alongside rivers and streams. Up and down... Great!

Wednesday: Cizur Menor - Los Arcos 75.7km (5h 56'). Another good riding day with better weather now. Santi hs to get a pannier for his full sus bike after we ran out of grips (and patience!) trying to hold the fruit basket (see above!) on to his original rack... Reception at Los Arcos municipal hostel with jet washer, our own dorm with internet access.... Nice! Great organ in the church apparently...

Thursday: Los Arcos - Santo Domingo de la Calzada 85km (6h 27'). Another good day of riding with some serious hills of pebbles and rocks where pushing the heavy bikes uphill is the only way to go... unless your name is Victor...

Friday: Santo Domingo de la Calzada - Burgos 79km (5h 41'). A hot one today. I got a bit burnt on the left side as you do travelling west... Dave arrived in high spirits and then there were five. First night in a hotel which was a pleasant change but the municipal hostels have been great...

Saturday: Burgos - Carrion de los Condes 88km (4h 54'). Flatter country and slightly cooler weather today. Dave had a bad fall demolishing some fencing and falling into the drain works in the centre of Burgos before getting a nail through his Armadillo tyre 10 minutes later! Baptism of fire in the land of El Cid... Looks like we're heading for a right carry on... ha ha ha

Sunday: Carrion de los Condes - Leon 100km (5h 15'). Much flatter today and not much to see. As everyday, we´ve met many people en route always saying "Hola" and having a word where possible. Great to arrive in Leon in such good time. Knee suddenly started playing up over the last hour but hoping things will be OK for tomorrow. Bit worried about leaving the bikes outside the hostel which seems quite far away from the centre but there was CCTV from the hostal and the services there were great. Here we shared a room with 3 lads from Algeciras who we would continue to bump into now along the rest of the route to Santiago.

Dave's Journey

Hi. This is Dave. This is Thursday and I'm in Dennistoun (Glasgow, Scotland). Bathroom light fitting just fell out of the ceiling, 2 hours up a ladder, just what I needed with plenty of packing still to do! Simon has made it to Santo Domingo on day 3 of his trip. That's about 200 km from Roncesvalles where he started. All well. I leave Glasgow tomorrow on a 6 am flight to London then Oviedo then bus x2 to Burgos where, all being well, I will hook up with Si. We head off next morning to Carrion de los Condes.

Feel free to post your comments here. You have to open a Google account (follow instructions after you hit 'comments' at the bottom of this paragraph). Only requires a valid email address then make up a password. You may have to lower your privacy settings also (see earlier blog headed 'how to leave a comment'). Thanks to everyone who has sponsored us. Wish us luck.

Dave x

Simon has landed

Hi people, just spoke to Simon and he's had a fantastic day or two. Having arrived in Roncesvalles last night he found the scallop shell I'd burried there and, minus a scratch or two, headed off for his first day's cycle. Stories of a couple of Spannish comrades and an improvised fruit crate pannier rack will feature in his memoires. But, after a couple of impressive rock hopping nightmares they all appear to have arrived in excellent shape in Cizur. I believe it was raining all the way. Well played Simon. All the best mate. Dave x

The loose link in the chain...

Hola encadenaos
Done another 67km training today but came off hoofing it up a hill out of the saddle - chain broke! It was the loose link that is supposed to make it easy to get the chain off for thorough cleaning - not the best time for cleaning! I must have done something wrong somewhere - get it checked out tomorrow. Luckily managed to head left towards the grass verge but shoulder and knee still took a bit of a hit. I saw my life flash before my very eyes... the whole trip could have been in jeopardy yet again... Oh this life on the edge... Si

How to Leave a Comment

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Journey over the border

Hola chinoris
Well, not long to go now as they say. Few niggles with the dodgey knee, know what I mean, say no more... Been out to Flint today down country lanes, farmers' fields and the "5 route" joining Chester and Flint which is really well signposted. Clocked up 66km. The 82km trip last week with a guy called Jeff I met on the Wirral Way shocked the knee into reaction and put the whole Spanish trip in jeopardy... This will be a poignant moment in the film version!...

We got the sponsorship forms and collection buckets from The Marina Dalglish Appeal this week so hoping to start an intensive fortnight of campaigning to raise as much as we can and then get on with the ride itself.

Not long to go now... just 790km.

Take it easy
Si