Espinosa de los monteros
June 1st
Today I had an interesting time trying to find my way out of Bilbao. I didn't leave the hotel until 10AM which was a couple of hours later than planned. After several false starts I found the road I wanted, but it didn't want me as it was signed for no cyclists. There were side roads up the same valley so I got off at the next exit. Still wondering what to do I saw another cyclist ahead. I caught up to him and asked if he could help me. We didn't get very far (because of my lack of comprehension) before stopping to look at my maps. His name was Alejandro and he was out for a morning ride from Bilbao. He gave me directions then rode with me for an hour. Our routes diverged at a point where I'd been planning on heading higher into the mountains. Fortunately he told me to take the low road because even it had some hills that were up to 9% grade.
I had lunch in a beautiful little town, Balmaseda. Alejandro told me (or I should say that I'm pretty sure he told me) that this valley is on one of the many pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Campostela.
I'm spending the night at a youth hostel near Espinosa de los monteros. There is only one other person here for the night so I get a six person room to myself. It costs 13 euros which will leave me plenty of money tonight for cervesa and vino tinto.
Tomorrow had better be an earlier start since it will be much further to Comillas on the coast. I don't think it was all that hot, but it felt warm enough climbing in the sun which is another reason for an earlier start.
This is a map of my route except I was able to stay on smaller roads.
View Larger Map
Clicking above will open the page on google maps.
Balmaseda
Near Villanueva de Mena
Espinosa de los Monteros
Today I had an interesting time trying to find my way out of Bilbao. I didn't leave the hotel until 10AM which was a couple of hours later than planned. After several false starts I found the road I wanted, but it didn't want me as it was signed for no cyclists. There were side roads up the same valley so I got off at the next exit. Still wondering what to do I saw another cyclist ahead. I caught up to him and asked if he could help me. We didn't get very far (because of my lack of comprehension) before stopping to look at my maps. His name was Alejandro and he was out for a morning ride from Bilbao. He gave me directions then rode with me for an hour. Our routes diverged at a point where I'd been planning on heading higher into the mountains. Fortunately he told me to take the low road because even it had some hills that were up to 9% grade.
I had lunch in a beautiful little town, Balmaseda. Alejandro told me (or I should say that I'm pretty sure he told me) that this valley is on one of the many pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Campostela.
I'm spending the night at a youth hostel near Espinosa de los monteros. There is only one other person here for the night so I get a six person room to myself. It costs 13 euros which will leave me plenty of money tonight for cervesa and vino tinto.
Tomorrow had better be an earlier start since it will be much further to Comillas on the coast. I don't think it was all that hot, but it felt warm enough climbing in the sun which is another reason for an earlier start.
This is a map of my route except I was able to stay on smaller roads.
View Larger Map
Clicking above will open the page on google maps.
Balmaseda
Near Villanueva de Mena
Espinosa de los Monteros
posted by Gary and Jani at 8:34 AM
1 Comments:
Good on ya, Gary! I expect you'll be wanting to tuck in Santiago de Campostela on your extra 7 days, just because you need an extra pilgramage. - Steve F.
Post a Comment
<< Home