by Philip

Miles : 42. Ascent : 4,103’. Max elevation : 2,244’, 689m

Running total : 925 miles.

We had a tasty dinner last night having decided not to eat out, but instead to treat ourselves to pizza and bruschetta followed by artisan ice cream – all was delicious. We’d decided on an early start this morning due to the hilly day coming up so the alarm went off at 6:30. Breakfast was fruit and leftover ice cream instead of our usual yogurt, and yesterday’s bread toasted, with the orange and ginger marmalade the host had provided. We had really enjoyed this AirBnB and the host had gone way beyond anything we’ve had previously on this trip to ensure we were comfortable. 

The forecast was pretty dire for today, with a high chance of rain, so it was a pleasant surprise that it was dry when we were loading the bikes. We set off, coming almost immediately to a road closure but found an easy diversion, then crossed the “pont international” into Spain and the city of Irun. This is a large, sprawling and hilly place, with a good network of bike paths in some places and not in others. We didn’t feel we saw the prettiest part of the town before heading out through the industrial area. We have about 4,000’ to climb today, and the first real hill was out of Irun, prompting thoughts of how much/little battery was necessary, knowing that we have so much more to come. The delight was that we were soon in the hills, with cloud hanging in the valleys beyond a vineyard, and with horses, donkeys, goats and cows keeping us company. We thought the ascents were steep until we got to Elizalde where we faced a 25% downward slope into the town. I got down it very slowly, resulting in very hot brakes – Liz took the sensible option and walked. 

The town was sweet, with a huge church and unusual clonking bells pealing the quarter hour. We saw a house where they had very cleverly created bird art out of their huge stack of firewood. We headed out of the town and swiftly found our second climb, and then a persistent drizzle started, prompting the donning of wet weather gear. It seems to be the sort of day where it comes and goes so we will be taking it on and off through the day. 

Komoot seems to have found us a route on quieter roads which is nice, and we’ve been crisscrossing a motorway running into San Sebastián. Stopping in Astigarraga we found a loo and shelter to write this for a bit, and the rain eased off so we carried on. 

The route varies between cycle paths through the towns and occasionally next to a railway, at other times on road. It’s generally damp and quite noisy with traffic, but with quieter spells – often passing through industrial/warehouse areas. We have noticed that many scraps of land are cultivated, with veg grown, these bits of land not appearing to belong to anyone. Coming into the next big town we spotted a couple of mine carts with coal, positioned as if entering a mine. The steep hill down to a large church had escalators to help people get up it. The church had very convenient cloisters with long stone benches – the perfect place for lunch on a wet day. For the first time on this trip our lunch has not been baguette and cheese – our hosts in Hendaye had left us a loaf of sliced bread which we made into sandwiches with the last of our cheese and some with the marmalade, to make lunch easier if it was raining as hard as forecast. In the end we were dry and comfortable, and enjoyed our lunch. 

The architecture is noticeably different in Spain compared to France. We’ve seen chalet-style houses in the smaller towns, and it feels as if there are more blocks of flats (and some excellent graffiti). Liz later made the same comment and observed that flats are much more prevalent in Spanish towns. The church bells we’ve heard are functional but not beautiful – more of a clank than a sonorous bell. Lunch over, the rain stopped so we ventured back out of the cloister to face the remaining hills of the day. 

Riding out of the town we spotted a public convenience so stopped, amused that the road painting for the bus stop reads bottom up – SUB – something we saw a lot in the US but have not seen here. There was a nice cycle path alongside a road, and we went over a motorway on a footbridge. We rode through more industrial areas – factories, warehouses, and workshops of varying shapes and sizes. While going past some of these the heavens opened so we stopped under a plane tree to don our waterproof shoe covers, having learned to do this early when the rain starts. 

We had got to the point where the biggest climb of the ride started, some 1,600’ over about 4 miles. It was a beautiful, winding, mountain road. There were roadworks on it, with temporary traffic lights on one section. As I approached the lights, I saw a countdown timer at “9”, and thought “oh good, it’s about to turn green”. Well no. Each number on the countdown lasted 30 seconds … it seemed like an age. Liz had been ahead of me, and stopped a bit further on to marvel at the most beautiful Pyrenean valley which rivals anything you’d see in the Alps. There were steep pastures, donkeys, goats and cows with their bells ringing, a church bell tolling, and typical mountain chalets all along it. We both got hooted and gesticulated at by a passing driver … we had noticed a diversion sign for cyclists before the roadworks but all the text had been blacked out so we’d carried on … now we wondered if we shouldn’t have been there at all. 

Approaching the top of the hill (Bidania at 510m), we stopped for a photo and then zoomed down to the next village. Liz was regretting not having taken a video of the valley. We had some discussion about distance, battery levels and remaining climb and she decided to retrace her steps to take a video while I sat on a park bench to write this.  The rain has stopped and there’s some thin sunlight peeking through the clouds. There are 6 miles to go to our hotel and another 600’ or so to climb. 

We reached the top (Urraki, 679m, 2,244’) which was the highest point of today’s ride. The views since we got into the mountains have been spectacular, with the need to take photos at pretty much every turn. We’ve enjoyed the different tones of animal bells from the high pitched (goats and sheep) to low (horses and cows) and in-between (donkeys). The descent was quick on the winding road, and we managed to miss our turning so had to head back up, fortunately only a little way. That took us onto a single track road for two miles, past several farms and was a serious descent, giving our brakes a real workout. We arrived at the hotel at the same time as another British couple who brought their car on the ferry from Santander, and checked in – there’s a formal process when staying in a hotel or AirBnB in Spain with passports required and details entered on a government app. Our room is one of nine and is large, looking out to the mountains on one side and a wood processing factory on the other. Dinner starts at 8, so we have time to relax after quite a hard day’s riding. 

Liz has described today as the best of the whole trip, particularly the afternoon. I struggled with the first half of the day, negotiating city and town, traffic and junctions, and getting used to a different language. The afternoon in the mountains was wonderful and made up for it –  completely different to our time in France. Time to relax now!