Sabbatical 2019

Everything is getting blurred together.  We've travelled from Estella to Logrono to Santo Domingo to Burgos to Carrion de Los Condes.  Approximately 250 kilometers of riding.  It hasn't been easy riding.  Estella to Logrono was a beautiful day.  We followed a stage one of the 2017 Vuelta de Espana routes with lots of up and downs - including hills covered with painted names of the riders on that stage - Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and more.  There were picturesque communities along the way. When we arrived in Logrono we landed in a city in full party mode.  We began to wonder what we'd gotten ourselves into.  First Pamplona celebrating their Marathon.  In Logrono the celebrations were somehow more substantial.  If I understood the translation correctly it was the intersection of two holidays - the feast day of Saint Barnabbas, and the celebration of the cities' successful defense during a seige by an obscure French Lord in 15...

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 ev...

The hotel in Roncesvalles was lovely.  An old monastery with thick stone walls it was quiet and a great place to spend our first night.  The difficulty was our bikes hadn't arrived.  They'd been arranged and rented through the company providing our arrangements.  The company is in Ireland of all places.  Thick stone walls make for poor cell phone reception and Sandy suffered on the Patio with beer while she waited for word on the bikes.  The did arrive at 8 pm; two hardtail mountain bikes that appeared at first glance to be in great shape.  We attached our wheels and Garmins; adjusted the seats and we were ready for our first day of riding. Following a solid nights sleep we awoke, ate breakfast and set off along the trail guided by GPS tracks I'd adapted.  The tracks were, for the most part, accurate.  The GPS on the bike can be a little delayed (this isn't a new experience) and we'd occasionally be told we were "off course."  The Cami...