nbjtours

near Sos del Rey Catolico, Spain

71 Miles 6715ft

I had come over the top and was speeding down the valley just as a  snake wriggled its way across the road and above the giant wingspan of soaring vultures circled  in the thermals. It had to be Spain. We had arrived in the final country of the journey. 

It was all a bit different to the start in France as I left a very chilly campsite at just after 9, but crucially in clear blue skies. 

Ahead lay a climb of 1466m in 25km with the first 9 km fairly gentle before a very steep middle 9 km and easing towards the end.    

 Taking things very gently to begin with I had my only stop of the ascent to let this large troupeau of sheep pas as well as a chat with one of the herdsmen.  They were being brought down early from high pasture. 

As is common on favoured Tour de France climbs they have kilometre posts with the distance to go to the summit and gradient for the next kilometre. That is great, but it is averaged out as there were ramps of 17 & 15% at times during the steepest 9-10% and even near the top a 6.5 section was flat for half of it and 13% for the rest.  

 Nigel joined me for a kilometre or so but decided against going for the summit. It took me 2 hrs in total averaging just under 7 mph, the part Chris Froome and the TdF boys did, took me just over twice as long as their 40 minutes 

 The view from the top was really worth it though seeing out for many  miles over South West France. A coffee, stop and chat with a couple of Canadian doctors followed as we watched a number of other cyclists arrive at the top.  

 Moving across into Spain there were some more great views over the high glacial Belagua river valley    

   before dropping down a narrow gorge. It was here I saw the snake and vulture. Losing sight of the vulture, I was only aware of its presence two or three miles later when it’s shadow passed over me on the road. It must have been waiting for me to fall off.  

 Just along here we came across Martin who was cycling from Santander to Roscoff on a self modified bike carrying all his kit and a very heavy camera. Good luck Martin.  

 A stop just before the end of the river valley allowed Monica a trip to the bar before we completely decided to push on a bit more and wild camp this evening. 

We Crossed a wide valley, where EU money is still going into roads as two huge viaducts were being completed, one for the motorway,  the other for the local route we were taking  

 In Sweden, I learnt how they build roads there, as they rip up the old ones and relay them whilst they are still open. In Spain it is a question of let’s build a completely new route.  

 The road we ran on was certainly in need of repair and was being used by the trucks to transport gravel to the new road so was one of the worst on the trip. Martin had said that Spanish drivers were good to cyclists and I can only say that is so right as the lorries slowed down and passed carefully. 

 It is amazing this road needs replacing at all, as once the trucks had gone, only two vehicles went passed in either direction for 15 miles and the only village we saw was abandoned, apart from a cafe serving the occasional pilgrim still walking to Santiago.  

 The climb over the ridge was another 1800 ft over 6 miles or so before finally dropping down into dry looking arable land where we set up camp for the night watching a beautiful sunset and seeing the stars so clearly.  

 Tomorrow is my last solo day of the tour as Nick and Chris are due to join us in the days destination Zaragoza on Wednesday.  

 A great days cycling and some wonderful countryside and I would certainly say it’s worth a visit if you are ever in this part of the world.