Pamplona, and on to Estella

We left Pamplona after changing an inner tube on Sandy's bike that had been giving us problems.  The tube had been leaking since Roncesvalles.  When we got the bikes out of storage her rear tire was completely flat.  A quick change and we were on the road - sort of.  I'd adjusted the GPS tracks for our trip so that we start and finish at the appropriate hotel.  It was the first time I'd tried doing it and Ridewithgps, the website I used, was glitchy.  It liked to adjust more than just the distance to and from the Camino pathway, and find what it thought were more efficient routes to ride.  Pamplona wasn't the best place for this to happen.  It took us through what would be the equivalent of Edmonton's River Valley's mountain bike paths.  Sandy was sure I was leading her astray.  I didn't blame her.  There were signs for the Camino, then no signs for the Camino, then to make it all worse, conflicting signs for the Camino.  We eventually turned to Google and found what looked like the best road route from Pamplona to Estella and our relationship was safe for the moment (thanks, Google.)

It was in fact a beautiful day through fields of ripening wheat and a mountain pass.  We plugged our way up the pass greeting the local cyclists challenging their Strava times.  We decided to forgo a visit to Alta de Perdon where the Camino trail crosses Perdon mountain and a familiar landmark of the pilgrimage stands (it would have been a twelve kilometer return ride off the route we'd selected - what can I say, we'd both just climbed 600 meters at 9 percent grade).  It was also warm.  My Garmin, not always the best source of temperatures during rides, suggested it was between 25 and 34 during the days ride.  After the climb I was looking forward to the descent - so, off we went.

Looking back to Pamplona from Perdon

The next kilometers passed quickly.  The downhill helped.  I was passed by a cyclist on a road bike as we reached the bottom and for a brief few moments I kept pace (hard to do on a heavy mountain bike).  Looking at the Garmin we were riding together at 37 kms/hr.  Yet, even at that speed we weren't allowed to be on the freeway...

...along with tractors, scooters and horse drawn carriages, apparently.

This is my lead in to a few comments about riding on the roads of Northern Spain.  In short, if you get a chance, do it.  The roads are in great shape.  Outside the cities they have been very quiet - in some spots we've seen more cyclists than cars.  Each place we've stayed has easy access to a variety of terrain and options from short neighbourhood rides to long training rides.  Of the other riders recording their routes on Strava yesterday not one rode an route identical to ours.  Drivers are respectful of cyclists.  Signs warn of penalties for not giving a meter and a half as they pass.  More often than not they are on the other side of the road as they go by.   Given the opportunity, I'd come back just to cycle some of the roads we've passed by.

In Puenta la Riena we admired the ancient churches, and Roman bridge (see yesterday's post for a picture of the bridge).  Crossing the river it seemed the whole community was standing on the bridge cheering the people racing in their rowing shells.

After Puenta la Riena we continued towards Estella.  There were reminders of why we'd chosen the road.  As we passed one of the spots where the Camino trail crosses a brief glance should a narrow single track path with high grass on either side.  Our bikes with the panniers would have been too wide.  We're enjoying the road riding and plan to continue to find our way by following the ones that work getting us from A to B.  It does mean we either miss or need to detour to see some of the more famous points along the Camino, but we'll decide as we go.  It is, after all, the journey that counts.

Another climb before we finally could see Estella, our goal for the day in the distance.  Estella is a beautiful little community nestled in the hills of the Navarre region of Spain.  Signs in the town told of the executions that would happen 500 years ago by pillory.  The bodies would be put into barrels on the river only to be recovered by priests down stream for burial.  The cathedral was built in the 1100's and some of the buildings seemed as ancient.

We were warmly welcomed at the hotel by the proprietor who spoke basically no English.  Her cheerfulness and hospitality more than made up for our inability to communicate easily.  We had a lovely room below the Cathedral on a rocky outcrop adjacent to the hotel.  After cleaning up and settling in (i.e.; setting up a recharging station for electronic gadgets) we wander the streets of the lovely town; brought to you in a few shots below.

Only a little bit more to go...

Oh, and does anyone know what type of tree this is?