Last nights food was very basic and that´s being kind 🙄 then I had to try and sleep in a tiny, very hard single bed.
It truly was awful, Joe from Greenrock was apologetic but insisted it was the only option 🤷♂️ I wont be hurrying back to Guenes anytime soon.
We were worried about today´s weather so when I got up at 06.30h I immediately had a look outside ........
It was chucking it down again 🌧️🌧️🌧️
I went down for a look at the breakfast offering, I kind of knew what to expect and I was right. I quickly swerved it, drank an awful coffee and began to question my sanity. A lot of you told me I was nuts for doing this, starting to think you may have been right 🤪
As soon as the rain eased I was off but this time I was dressed for the weather. I would pass through a town called Orduña at around 32km so my plan was to have breakfast in a local cafeteria.
It wasn´t long before it started pouring again and I was soaked through and freezing long before I got to the town.
I had a nice coffee, tortilla with morcilla (black pudding) and some toast, it was really welcome 😋
It was now time to tackle one of the toughest climbs on the whole route, 8km long with an average gradient of over 7%.
At least I would warm up I was thinking 😂
To my relief the rain had stopped and the sun was out, it was still cold though and I was still drenched, turns out the clothes were not suitable enough 🙄❄️
The climb was every bit as tough as we were told it would be, regularly reaching 12% - 15% on the hairpin bends.
I was grinding up there so slowly I was overtaken by this little chap ......
It took me 1 hour 15 min to reach the top, I hadn´t dried out like I´d hoped and I had no feeling in any of my fingers. Instead of looking forward to the views and the descent I was wondering if I could manage to work the brakes 😰
The support guys Chris & Dave were waiting by the side of the road so I took off some wet clothes, changed gloves. put my glasses on and waited a bit until I thawed out.
The descent looked amazing, it was 44km to the next stop and I was assured it was plain sailing. The weather however had other ideas. The wind got up, the torrential rain returned and in a heartbeat the dry gear was sodden. It was horrific weather to cycle in, if there had been any shelter I may well have taken cover but I couldn´t see anything. I was on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. The only way out was to keep cycling or get in the support van.
The van is not an option for me so I just sucked it up and pressed on. The hail storm was a bit much though, it really was quite unnecessary 🌨️❄️
What should have been a wonderful days cycling through spectacular scenery had turned into a day from hell.
Eventually I got to the lunch stop at around 84km to find a lot of my comrades in a roadside cafe thawing out. I didn´t want to stop, I just wanted the ride over. I said to the support guys that I needed something nice to write about for my Blog so I got a photo with Sean who was on the motorbike today, I first met Sean on The Road to Lisbon 6 years ago.
Let me introduce him to you .........
Sean Lacey (Driver & Mechanic)
From couch potato to experienced event crew it's been quite a journey - some years ago an unfit chap decided it was time to put that right. From being lucky enough to be picked for the Cycling Plus magazine reader team in 2012 and the wealth of experience that brought to go on to write as a freelance journalist for most of the UK's major cycling publications, working on quality events seemed a natural thing to want to get involved in. Working a variety of roles now for many years from driver (advanced qualifications for both car and motorcycle), mechanic, feed stations, ride leader and, well, everything in between you can be assured of a great experience at your event. Above all, we want you to have fun and my goal is to ensure you get just that, with the skills needed to keep you going as trouble free as possible. A background in retail, delivery management and project management (my day job) and many cycling and running events has given me a solid understanding of what a customer or participant needs from their chosen event, with the personal and professional skills to ensure you are well catered for. See you on the road soon!
Big day tomorrow, the longest day of the trip. Hoping for a break in the weather, I really have had enough of it now 🤬
Distance covered 128.9 Km
Climbing 1987 M
Moving time 06h 59m 06s
Summary:
Another cold and wet day but this time a long and miserable one.
Didn´t enjoy it at all. The only time it wasn´t raining I was slogging up a big mountain 🚵🙄
Difficulty rating 9/10
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