We knew we had a climb to come, however 18km and over 2000ft of height gained was a thorough work out with the bikes. Needless to say after nearly 700km done the bikes were a little tired so we made sure we rested them often. And in the words of Saint Eldridge ;-) ooooh it was tough!!
Still the relentless Pilgrim Peleton does not push and we made the top. We passed a few dead cyclists on the way however having to push the last bit. At this moment it was hard to wipe the grin off Sarah's face as she was so happy to have made the top. I have to say as well that I feel really proud of what she has managed on a bike to date. 9 months ago we bought these bikes and Sarah had never done more than about 15 miles on a bike. Now she can get to the top of mountains and smile about it, it is a great feeling to do it with her and share this.
Still after the climb we were debating where to finish, do we finish at Sarria early or push on to Portomarin. The downhill was so long we both got cramp in our hands. Zooming through the stunning Galacia mountains to the town of Triacastela.
We got here so quick we decided to do the next 10km to Samos for lunch. This was set in a beautiful river valley with the largest monastary in the western world. It was also sat right next to a river full of trout!! Shame i did not have the gear with me as there were bloody loads of them!
From Samos we continued to Sarria, our potential end of the day, but it was too early really to stop. So Portomain it was then.
We bypassed Sarria centre and went for it up yet another long hill, only now it was 2pm, stinking hot, and no breeze. We got really low on water at this point, both bottles gone and the 2l reserve i have carried all trip was gone as well. However we knew there was a cafe ahead to stop at.....however despite at least 20 pilgrims passing outside, they were closed for a siesta and had no water. I was ready to leap the fence at this point but after a bit of discussion the owner said there was a fountain in the nearest village. So i left sarah there and cycled off to fill every bottle we had.
Once we had this the climbing continued until we were about 10km from the end, here we had another cramp inducing down to 2km from the end.
It was at this point we crossed the most amazing river to get to the final stop tonight.
Tired and hungry we had certainly had enough. I type this with a G&T (or so it appears in spain, a tonic with my gin) in hand as I think we earnt it today.
James quote of the day.
"Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."
Todays word was we are going to make it. Whilst there were moments of doubt (from sarah) we are sat here...
I am also pleased and amazed to report that Sarah can actually tan!!! Its taken nearly two weeks and 8hrs a day in the sun but she has tan lines!! Still St. Piz and St. Buin need to be commemded for their ever present uva and uvb blocking!
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