Total miles since Modbury 180
Apologies about the variable spelling of place names that you may come across. Should be an 'r' in Itziar. (It's not done to confuse those who may be following our progress on a map, honestly).
A lighter meal last night, served early for us at 7.45pm, with water instead of wine for me, resulted in my waking 10 minutes later at 4.10am. "Every little helps" as they say, but to be fair, I awoke refreshed and hydrated. If the short sleeping hours affect me and all else fails, I'll use the Nytol sleeping tablets that I brought with me. They are very good but I don't like using them too often.
We messaged the Bike Cellar (where Rob bought his bike) in Plymouth last night via Facebook to check which limiting screw needed adjustment and in which direction, to sort out Rob's chain overshifting, and got the advice we needed within 10 minutes! That was at 11pm (10pm in UK). Fantastic, Craig and Angie. Thanks. How many other bike shops would provide that sort of service?
I know from my own experience that a bike pulling a load up a steep climb, when the chain is under maximum tension, can perform slightly differently compared to it spinning freely on a bike stand, so this advice will enable us to make confident tweaks today on the road, if needed.
Wi-fi has been freely available in our 3 overnight stops so far and I marvel at the ease of communication that this brings on a bike tour like this. Imagine if we had to keep sending postcards to let people know how we were? I think I've even forgotten how to do "joined-up" writing!
Rob has been noting that we get over 100 hits a day on this blog, so thanks to all who are following us.
Anyway, back to the trip.
One thing I learned last night is not to wipe wheel rims in your hotel room. The brake dust drops on the laminate floor and attempts to wipe it up then resemble drawing with charcoal. Fortunately, I brought a tiny bottle of degreaser with me and managed to clean up (but at the expense of a full toilet roll), while Rob "helped" by lying on his bed watching me and chuckling at every fresh smear that I inadvertently created! An hour wasted!
After yesterday's soaking, our clothes dried naturally and remarkably quickly by just hanging them in the wardrobes and leaving the doors open to allow air circulation. (No drips either!) Today, we skipped the sun cream in the hope of Sod's Law prevailing and getting sunshine, but the bluff didn't work and we had rain again..........all day long! We understand that the weather in Europe is pretty rubbish, though it's meant to pick up a bit after Friday. We now feel like old hands at this "cycling in all weathers" lark and my bike has stopped protesting.
We were on the road today by 8.30 and, having got a long climb out of the way yesterday afternoon, started at altitude. This enabled us to make good early progress with a long descent and flat stretches by the coast. An hour later we were in Zarautz then had a long climb. We still made good progress though and after a "coffee and doughnut" stop at a filling station at around 10.45, we reached San Sebastian at 12.00.
Traffic was again heavy but we've become used to it now and know how to avoid the dangers, either by keeping out of the way, where space permits, or taking a dominant lane position where someone overtaking would put us at risk. Again, most drivers are good with cyclists here.
It took us until gone 1pm to clear the city during which time we ended up at the entrance to a road tunnel...........on a motorway! I'd been wondering why some drivers were tooting their horns at us. It seems that we'd wandered up a slip road onto an elevated section. The only way we could get off the motorway was down the hard shoulder against the traffic flow, attracting more musical accompaniment. Honestly, what else did they think we should do?
We stopped at a little bar/cafe at around 1.30 for some light sustenance and to escape the relentless rain. We reached the outskirts of Hendaye (just outside the French border) at about 2.30. I was a couple of hundred yards ahead of Rob when the police stopped the traffic between us. I approached a policeman, who was stopping traffic from the other direction, further on, and he explained that there was a professional cycle race coming through, so naturally I waited for Rob to come through after the race had passed. Well, the peloton came through at a hell of a pace and I swear I caught sight of Rob, panniers and all, in the middle of it!
We didn't really get into Hendaye, where we'd intended to stop tonight. The main road by-passed it and as it was still early and we couldn't get any wetter, we decided to press on to St Jean de Luz on the Basque coast of France. It's now a bit of an up-market resort and we've booked into the Hotel Bel Air at an eye-watering 179 euros B and B for both of us. No typing error - 179 euros! Thank heavens our previous nights came in under budget. We do have a large room/suite and our bikes are parked in a locked garage but we were getting cold and miserable by 3.45 when we found it and were glad of the warmth and space.
At that price, our bikes should have had their own beds!
We've scheduled a rest day for tomorrow but will likely postpone it for a day or so as we both feel really good and we'll press on to somewhere quieter...........and cheaper! Spain was really picturesque and the experience was better than I expected but it's good to be in France now, where I can understand more of the language.
Sorry the photos are not very inspiring but it was just too wet today to do much.
Photos:
Our hotel last night in Itziar.
The view back towards Zarautz, halfway up our long climb out of there.
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You are making cracking progress....well done on both the accuracy of your planning and also the effort that you obviously have to both put in to achieve what you are doing! Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the wind factor been like - you've mentioned the rain but are you likely to get the wind assist you expected from South to North or is it too early to tell?
The forecast for that area says further rain tomorrow (but less with some other cloud) then sun and cloud from Saturday through Monday. Make the most of it.
[Elan: David Moyes of Everton has taken the Man Utd role and there is natural talk about Laudrup being high on the list to replace Moyes.]
Keep the posts coming! Cheers