Firstly thanks for the comments, both posted on the blog (luv you Guy), and sent informally or via other blogs - they are helping us all along the way.
Packing the van is an easier task now the Wino's are gone, especially as we have started using bag hooks for things we need to quickly access, thanks to a bit of creative thinking from Mike - what you can do with tea spoons (:O)
We left the hotel in a number of groups, with the plan to rendezvous at the border crossing, everyone carrying their passports in case we were asked for the. I linked up with Caroline, Joe, Normand, Pam, Ian, Barnaby and Steven, but stopped to take a photo of the mountains, which left me at the back just before a fast decent to edge of the city, so I had a bit of fun on my own shooting down to catch up with Caroline and we then joined Mike, Scott and Jamie before carrying on, before we knew it, the signs were all in Spanish, it seems we'd gone passed the crossing without even knowing !!
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| The road ahead - nice and easy for now... |
Carrying on, we linked with some of the the other groups, as there was some confusion about which roads we could cycle on - bikes can go on certain main roads, but not others - at this time it was me, Andy B, Joe, Mike, Normand, Pam, Pete, Steven, Ian, Caroline, Scott, David and Jamie. The problem was we were not allowed through the tunnels, but at some times the Garmins seemed to be telling us we should be the other side of rivers or on the main roads, maybe the mountains were causing interference but we were delayed a few times trying to work out which way to go. We started to get to the hills, with a few steady climbs, Barnaby had striped down his bike overnight, removing his mudguards and pumping his tyres up from 45psi to 100psi, on the advice of the pros, this turned him into a veritable mountain goat, leading the way up each hill, while Pete was the downhill demon catching Barnaby up with each decent.
We rolled into the lunch break where the fast boys had been waiting for a while, I decided to take a quick break as they were about to leave, so set off with Andrew G, Tim F, Tim S, Guy, Andy H, Rob, Neil and Joe, as Andy B had already set off. After a gentle ride out, we got onto the main road, with just went up and up and up, we spread out and worked at our own pace, getting hotter and hotter, the only shelter being when the trucks rolled past, briefly providing a breeze and some shade. We regrouped when we had to turn off the main road, going onto the back roads, but soon after we were spread out as we were now onto the steeper roads, plus the road surface was very poor in places. I was on my own and just tried to maintain a steady pace - around 6 mph - I made full use of my 'granny' gear, as the road wound it's way up the mountain side, going on and on and on. It was now that I was grateful for the training I had put in over the past 12 months, the sun was out, there was no wind and it was me against the mountain, and the mountain lost !!
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| Neil, Rob, Joe and Andy H - top of the world !! |
We met Andy B, Andrew H and Tim F at the lunch stop, with Tim S and Guy arriving soon after, David turned up with the van to inform us the Hannah had joined the others for the ride up the mountain, which did concern us a little, but eventually everyone turned up safe and sound.
After a lengthy lazy lunch break, we cycled the final 13 miles to Pamplona, which was almost all downhill and checked into the hostel, all quite proud of what we had achieved.
Tomorow will be the longest day, 105 miles, with a similar amount of climbing, but that's not as intimdating as it would have been yesterday.
>> it was me against the mountain, and the mountain lost !!
ReplyDeleteI like that!!! Well done Lionel.
Well Done Lionel and everyone. What a climb and I hope you had your Newspaper for the descent!
ReplyDeleteGuy P