Over the mountains to the beach
Tuesday June 2nd
This was a hard but rewarding day. When I got up this morning there was no one to be found in the hostel, but (as promised) they had left breakfast for me in the dining room. I stopped in town at a farmer’s market and bought some cherries and carrots. Vegetables and fruit aren’t part of the normal bar menu so I’ll have to grab them when I can.
The ride started through grasslands and Oak woodlands similar to California. It was a beautiful morning in the low 50’s, sunny, with only the sounds of birds to keep me company. After 40 km I turned west along the shores of lake that is at the top of the Rio Ebro, which eventually empties into the Mediterranean near Barcelona. The countryside along the lake was open grassland with the snow-covered Picos de Europa as a backdrop. It reminded me of Colorado.
West of of Reinosa I talked with a passing cyclist who told me about my route. He said there wasn’t much traffic on the climb up to Puerto de palumbra, but the descent had muchas curvas and muchas vacas (cows). It was an outstanding climb, all above treeline accompanied by the windchime sounds of cowbells. As warned the descent was very curvy and there were cows in the road. I’m still not very comfortable descending on this bike (with the extra weight of panniers) and the thought of hitting a cow made me extra cautious. Even when there weren’t any cows visible there were huge pee and crap stains in the road to remind me of their potential presence.
One thing worth mentioning is how much I like kilometers/hour and how much I dislike climbing in meters. I feel 1.6 times better in kph, and 1/3 as good when climbing in m/min. Maybe I'll see if my computer will measure mm/min.
I descended 4000’ over about 20 miles to the town of Cabezon de la Sal (head of the salt?) from where I thought it would be an easy 10 miles to Comillas on the coast. The good and bad thing about going places is that you get to add the third dimension (verticality) to maps. Whereas I had imagined one long interrupted descent to the ocean, there was a large pesky hill in the way. Oh well, I know this will happen and the only uncertainty is where and when the topography will reach out and slap me upside the head.
View Larger Map
Comillas is a very nice coastal resort town and also happens to be on the Camino de Santiago. Not the same route as last night, but a more northern coastal route. There seem to be a fair number of people in town and I only found a hotel on the third try. The hotel reminds me of Faulty Towers in the best sense. There is none of the fumbling/bumbling, but they are very, very anxious to please. I decided to have dinner at the hotel since it’s a set menu and they start serving at 8Pm which is an hour earlier than usual. I was the only one in the restaurant and in a remarkable coincidence they put Bob Marley on the stereo. It was probably the only English speaking singer they had. The waiter and manager were constantly walking by to make sure that my every need was met. It was the first real dinner I’ve had in Spain and I really appreciate all of their concern and attention.
Comillas
Tomorrow “should” be an easier day along the coast then inland to Cangas de Onis. Stayed tuned for stories about how the coastal roads aren’t flat.
This was a hard but rewarding day. When I got up this morning there was no one to be found in the hostel, but (as promised) they had left breakfast for me in the dining room. I stopped in town at a farmer’s market and bought some cherries and carrots. Vegetables and fruit aren’t part of the normal bar menu so I’ll have to grab them when I can.
The ride started through grasslands and Oak woodlands similar to California. It was a beautiful morning in the low 50’s, sunny, with only the sounds of birds to keep me company. After 40 km I turned west along the shores of lake that is at the top of the Rio Ebro, which eventually empties into the Mediterranean near Barcelona. The countryside along the lake was open grassland with the snow-covered Picos de Europa as a backdrop. It reminded me of Colorado.
West of of Reinosa I talked with a passing cyclist who told me about my route. He said there wasn’t much traffic on the climb up to Puerto de palumbra, but the descent had muchas curvas and muchas vacas (cows). It was an outstanding climb, all above treeline accompanied by the windchime sounds of cowbells. As warned the descent was very curvy and there were cows in the road. I’m still not very comfortable descending on this bike (with the extra weight of panniers) and the thought of hitting a cow made me extra cautious. Even when there weren’t any cows visible there were huge pee and crap stains in the road to remind me of their potential presence.
One thing worth mentioning is how much I like kilometers/hour and how much I dislike climbing in meters. I feel 1.6 times better in kph, and 1/3 as good when climbing in m/min. Maybe I'll see if my computer will measure mm/min.
I descended 4000’ over about 20 miles to the town of Cabezon de la Sal (head of the salt?) from where I thought it would be an easy 10 miles to Comillas on the coast. The good and bad thing about going places is that you get to add the third dimension (verticality) to maps. Whereas I had imagined one long interrupted descent to the ocean, there was a large pesky hill in the way. Oh well, I know this will happen and the only uncertainty is where and when the topography will reach out and slap me upside the head.
View Larger Map
Comillas is a very nice coastal resort town and also happens to be on the Camino de Santiago. Not the same route as last night, but a more northern coastal route. There seem to be a fair number of people in town and I only found a hotel on the third try. The hotel reminds me of Faulty Towers in the best sense. There is none of the fumbling/bumbling, but they are very, very anxious to please. I decided to have dinner at the hotel since it’s a set menu and they start serving at 8Pm which is an hour earlier than usual. I was the only one in the restaurant and in a remarkable coincidence they put Bob Marley on the stereo. It was probably the only English speaking singer they had. The waiter and manager were constantly walking by to make sure that my every need was met. It was the first real dinner I’ve had in Spain and I really appreciate all of their concern and attention.
Comillas
Tomorrow “should” be an easier day along the coast then inland to Cangas de Onis. Stayed tuned for stories about how the coastal roads aren’t flat.
posted by Gary and Jani at 11:17 AM
2 Comments:
I thought you knew not to use the word "flat" in context with bicycling. I'll stay tuned anyway.
Answering the question "Cabezón de la Sal" is "Big head of the salt". Good Luck.
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