Catching up on 2 days of a little craziness.
I left Santo Domingo della calzata heading to Burgos on the 10th with the goal being Castrojervitz which is a small village in the Massetta (not sure how to spell it but it is essentially the plains in Spain). My day was rolling good with a little weather in the morning (some rain) and then it got really hot. The whole day my bike felt like the chain was sucking up into the gears so I stopped and oiled it but when I got to Burgos it had gotten a lot worse. I was 70k into the ride so I stopped at a bike shop where they were able to pull the hub/cassette apart on the wheel and get it de-gunked and cleaned up. This put me way behind so I accepted a ride from the shop manager to get me past burgos and beyond the traffic that would be of issue for me later in the day. My 100k day was not to be and to be honest my legs were so bad that I am not sure I could have done it anyways.
The village has this old castle ruin sitting at the top of the mountain above the village. I made an attempt to walk up it but my legs were having no part. So I had some dinner (leg of lamb at the local restaurant in the hotel which was amazing! And a vino tinto which is a basic bottle of red table wine. It was great and cost 4 euros. Off to bed and the plan was to write but I fell asleep on the the first sentence. Sleep was difficult to be honest and my legs were not happy with me. My Garmin was telling me I needed 30 hours recovery based on my efforts so the next morning (today) I decided to see how I felt on the ride.
At breakfast I spoke with the hotel owner about how to catch a lift if I needed one down the road. The worst thing to do is have thoughts of skipping something but 11 days with little to no ride break and heavy miles is not good. He was able to arrange a lift for me down the road which I gladly took since my day was going to be about 120k to make it to Leon. I don’t like cheating but my legs will thank me tomorrow. The first miles out felt okay then the first hill my legs were screaming so I opted for the shortened day.
I got my lift to Leon and went to the hotel. I walked around a little to see the town which is nice, we have a room in the old monastery (I guess that what it is). It looks like a church or convent. Beautiful stone walls I think it was built in the 1100s so pretty amazing. The streets are stone and cobbled and the square in front of the hotel is incredible. I picked up Joe at 5pm from the train station and we had some dinner and are getting some sleep tonight. His bike arrived and seems to be in good running order but we will find out tomorrow for sure. We will carry Pannier bags tomorrow but may opt out for the remaining days to take weight off the bikes. Carrying 40lbs in addition to body weight is not fun.
The days are hot here. Like 90s! I stop at villages every 10k or so and top off with water but it never seems to be enough sometimes. I have started drinking a lot of cokes to get sugar back in my system which is not the smartest but they taste good.
So a few notes on the past days. I must remember to accept the graciousness of people. People have been super friendly and helpful. I spoke with a nun in Santa Domingo who said prayers for my uncle pat who had back surgery and I gave her my list of friends on the cancer group list. Big Daddy passed away now 2 days ago. He always smiled! What an amazing gift he gave to people with his smile (he was like a big teddy bear and an amazing man!). The family is in my thoughts and prayers tonight and Big Daddy is smiling down on us all! I also must mention meeting a nice group of people in the hotel today ( i spoke with them all and didnt get all of their names so forgive me and i am sending Julianne an email so i can get them this blog)
. They are from Florida to Philadelphia and they are starting tomorrow on the camino. I wish them all the best on their journey and i hope they are safe and have a great adventure. You never know who you will meet and the gifts that people will give (even if it is as simple as a smile). We all have our reasons for the way and i hope it is as fulfilling as mine has been thus far.
So i go to bed tonight tired and actually feeling a little bit better that i have had some recovery. I will post photos from castrojervitz and Leon. The castle looking structure is actually our hotel (the front part is a monastery and the back is a hotel). Its a beautiful hotel just needs ac!