Day II

My first day in Spain went pretty smoothly. I was getting the hang of riding a bike on normal roads with frequent traffic. My originally little riding confidence was boosted by omnipresent Camino signs warning drivers to be more cautions. Spanish drivers respected that and I was nicely surprised that they overtook me always with a decent speed and safe distance. As I read in my guide book, I am riding the original Camino route that was paved over the course of time and transferred to a road. Other pilgrims allegedly walk alongside this original Camino. I firstly tried to avoid roads and rode downhill on the walking route, but I had to abandon it because my bike with all luggage was unfit for this road and very narrow gates. Furthermore, riding downhill on a road is exactly the purpose for which road bikes are made and with my hernia it would be riskier to ride off-road than on normal roads. After a very pleasant road downhill (the first really nice downhill after nearly 3000 km), I visited some small Spanish villages and acted as a silent observer.

At noon I had to deal with one rather bigger uphill, but a beautiful view from that point was a nice reward for that extra effort. Here I can finally upload a real picture of me, not only some pseudo autopictures. One Lithuanian girl asked me to take a photo of her and I made the same request fshort afterwards. There was a buffet car on the parking lot offering refreshment and stamps. I saw there for the first time a very common thing in many auberges and refugios (Spanish words for pilgrim hostels, the difference unknown) on the Camino: a basket with things from where you could take what you needed and leave for exchange what you did not need. I felt I could leave there something so I put there 5 little packages of handkerchiefs that I knew I would not use at all, but took nothing. 

From there it was a nice 2-hour-long ride to Pamplona, the first big city on Camino Francais. I was surprised by many things. First of all, the rapid urbanization: The Spanish did not build several residential houses at the same time, but whole districts and suburbs. They were growing like mushrooms with all necessary infrastructures, and since Pamplona is more or less on a flat and open area, they could grow like this infinitely. I particularly enjoyed perfectly built bike roads all over the city. Secondly, I was stunned with nice balconies full of flowers, but without window-blinds which are very typical for France. And lastly, Spanish streets in the old town are very narrow that gives them a very romantic look, even though it must be pointed out that tend to be rather smelly.

Before doing sightseeing, I bought Spanish beer and enjoyed my lunch (baguette with olive oil) in a city park. Afterwards I visited the citadel and other sights with no rush, but real touristic delight. I just spent too much time with looking for a university for charging my devices and connecting to the internet. I could have skipped that.

Before I left the home of my Basque host, I had to ask for one particular snippet of information: where to buy the best prosciutto. My host gave me address of one butchery where I should buy the best prosciutto in Pamplona for a reasonable price. Well, I found that place and entered the shop after a while of drooling over the different sorts and sizes of prosciutto in the store-window. I made a greedy order of about 1,5 kg of prosciutto. However, my sheer joy and excitement almost ended by a stroke as the shop attendant told me the final prize: almost 180 €. I smiled and thought that I might have overheard him, but the price on the cash register could not be overseen. It was quite an embarrassment to reduce my order from nearly 1, 5 kg to only 400 grams, but still, I was happy that I could afford at least something. It looks like my lovely host was right – it might be the best prosciutto, but definitely not the cheapest. Well, whatever, one should also try the something better than only products offered in supermarkets.

The evening ride was an uphill struggle on a beaten track full of big stones, holes and other challenges. I was rather tired from yesterday and decided to build my tent earlier in the evening on hill with some benches and a cross with a beautiful view on the next mountain range (tomorrow's challenge).

In the evening I have realized one horrific fact. I compared the Camino bike guide with the downloaded route and the official marking and realized that they differ in many ways. The Camino Francais on bike has actually different routes and only partially shares the route for walking pilgrims. That would account for so few bikers whom I met on the road. So far, I have been actually doing Camino Francais as the off-road version. No wonder that I felt so exhausted after countless off-road beaten trucks. Now I totally understand what the guy in the pilgrim office back in Saint-Jacques-Piet-du-Port was saying: It would be a great challenge to go through the hiking routes on bike. Yes, indeed, it really is! Supposing that I have now the bike guide, health problems and a road bike, I will take the bike route instead from now on. Let s see how I can orientate on the map without GPS. Anyway, just for an inspiration: the off-road route could be a very interesting challenge for an enthusiastic MTB biker. The road is challenging, requires true fitness, great biking skills, and a solid MTB bike with wide tires and no excessive luggage. The only piece of advice I would give is to ride early in the morning or in the evening when there are almost no pilgrims on the road. Then it could be the real biking paradise! 

Link to photos