Day 14 - Pamplona, our last stop in Spain


12th April 2018


Tonight we are at a campsite just outside Pamplona surrounded by the foothills of the Pyrenees, some of which we have driven/ridden through today.  Despite some impressive scenery the cycling has been a hard grind into the wind and rain, with heavy grey cloud cloaking the higher mountains.  Never mind, we are here and celebrating!  When we started from Tarifa, Pamplona seemed such a long way away.  Everything continues to go well, Jacqui has Ivan's routine down to a fine art and I am managing the cycling miles (achilles improving)

Rest day tomorrow to explore Pamplona before heading over the Pyrenees to France on Sunday..
Despite the weather there were some some good view points especially after one particular uphill slog a few miles before Pampona.



Count the number of layers!

Comments

  1. Rachel13 April 2018 at 14:35

    Cycling and Pyrenees. Surely two words that should never be put together...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown13 April 2018 at 15:13

    Apart from your Achilles, can you feel yourself getting fitter, Martin?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Martin Bradley14 April 2018 at 00:07

      I seem to be able to ride without getting tired but can't do much other than trundle along except after a rest day. My heart rate rarely gets over 130. Achilles settling nicely.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 67 - Rain, wind, hail and sunshine all at the same time

Image
Click here for details of today's ride on Strava 5th June 2018 Today was another of those days when I really didn't feel like going out on the bike.  It might have had something to do with the bone chilling wind, rain and hail.  The forecast suggested an improvement but by 10.00am things couldn't be delayed any longer.  As I've often found, rides you don't want to start often end up being the best!  There were showers but plenty of clear spells, much more of the scenery was visible and Mrs B and Ivan once again hosted the coffee stops - marvellous! Lofoten is really a peninsular and a chain of islands joined by bridges.  It is crammed with dramatic craggy peaks, glacial valleys and lakes.  Every bend in the road brings up another breath taking view, despite the amount of low cloud still present today. Today's ride featured my longest tunnel to date, 6.4km.  Hall of the Mountain King from the Peer Gynt Suite was to
Read more

Day 75 - Repvag, feels like the world's end

Image
Click here for details of today's ride on Strava 13th June 2018 Today we said farewell to the E6 which we have been following for most of our route since leaving Lofoten.  The further north the road goes the narrower and quieter it becomes.  It traces a superb route through the fjords and mountains of the far north west and it has been a joy to ride.  We are now on the E69 which takes us all the way to Nordkapp. The start of today's ride continued to take us along bleak, high moorland until descending to Olderfjord where we joined the E69.  What a magnificent stretch of road, carved into the hillside adjacent to the sea.  You have to hand it to the Norwegians, they are master road builders, tunnellers and excavators.  Wintry showers continued but with increasingly long spells of sunshine.  At one point, as I was battling a crosswind, a cyclist came around the corner waving his arms around.  I thought it was a little foolhardy to be riding no-handed in the
Read more

Day 62 - Across the Arctic Circle! Tortenkota

Image
No Strava link today because my Garmin cycle computer crashed with 1km to go. 31st May 2018 A short ride of 46 miles today owing to ferry timetables.  Started with 26 miles of the usual stuff - fjord, snow topped jagged mountains, tumbling streams, pretty wooden cabins and so on.  Then onto the Kilboghamn to Jektvik ferry which took us across the arctic circle.  Another 20 miles then took us to another ferry for a short crossing to Furoy.  Norway is very careless with it's scenic attractions, leaving them scattered all over the place. A simple sign suggested that, along the small track, a place called Tortenkota might be worth investigating.  Tortenkota turns out to be the lower slopes of a snow laden mountain.  The rock is a form of gritstone interspersed with patches of vegetation.  The melt water from higher up runs down in streams and cataracts forming rock pools.  We could have spent all day wandering this hillside but had a ferry to catch.   Mor
Read more