29 December 2021
Wake up before dawn. Not because I am an early riser. I am. Dawn is 8.45 am. Make some tea and coffee. Porridge. Read.
Wash up using the neighbor’s tap. On the road by 9.45 am. Cortados and chocolate caliente. We set out from Deba. Destination Eibar. 20 km. A short ride southwest. We are looping down for Bilbao to avoid the mountains west of Mutriku.
Easy riding. Plenty of cyclists. They cheer us. It seems friendly. I don’t know what they are saying as they pass.
We hit Mendaro. Halfway. Grab a bite and discuss adding some extra length on the day. If we get to Durango, Bilbao is a flat 33 km ride. Two days instead of three. Sounds good.
We plot the route. Merdano to Durango has one big hill. Steep incline. Just the one. 0 – 330 m in around 1 km. We decide to do it. 30 km. We have already done 10 km. This will be a 40 km day.
“Every man with a little leisure and enough money for railway tickets, every man, indeed, who knows how to read, has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting.” ― Aldous Huxley
Head off. Bike track for a few clicks. Track closed. Fenced off. Turn around. Get on the main road. Easy riding.
We use Komoot for our planning. If you have time you can play around with different routes. Change roads. If you are on your phone, plugin start and endpoints. It chooses the best route for cycling.
I am growing tired of Komoot. It will take you through a town to get you off the main road. Put you back on it. Worse. It will take you off the main road and put you on a track. It does not care about elevation. We left the main road today. The entire incline was to put us on a track. Keep me on the main road. I prefer cars to walking the bike up mountains.
Once the hill was done it was smooth riding. We hit Durango around 3.30 pm. Both knackered. Grab some food and some wine at the local tapas. A beautiful town. Too tired to notice. Bed early.
Bilbao tomorrow. A day ahead of schedule.
Today’s ride –
