Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest

september - december 2023

This is Jane and Mark's sabbatical blog. We're spending a month cycling the Camino Frances in Spain. Then we're off to Jordan - Dubai - India - Bhutan (two wheels by motorbike to the Tiger's Nest) - Thailand - Malaysia - Singapore. Back for Xmas. Meer informatie

103Footprints
10landen
105dagen
1,0kfoto’s
60video’s
33,5kkilometer
22,6kkilometer
1,2kkilometer
652nautische mijlen
1,0kkilometer
138kilometer
18nautische mijlen
4kilometer

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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 27 sep 2023 11:55
- ☁️ 19 °C
- Hoogte: 842 m
- Spanje León Casa Botines 42.598137, -5.5705242°35’53” N 5°34’14” W
2
Dag 20
Day 20 - Leon
27 september 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Relaxing day off in Leon doing tourist things, including the Gaudi building, Roman walls, and Cathedral. Also visited the laundrette, to catch up on washing. Surprised to see it had a specific washing machine for pets.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
Reiziger Shopping for treats x
27-09-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger Unfortunately not. That was me carrying the laundry!
27-09-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger There don’t seem to be many people about in the places you are visiting.
27-09-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger Umm ... see what you mean. It's actually really busy here, especially at 10:00 in the evening.
27-09-2023ReagerenVertalen
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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 28 sep 2023 15:17
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Hoogte: 878 m
- Spanje Castilla y León Astorga 42.456966, -6.05484442°27’25” N 6°3’17” W
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Dag 21
Day 21 - Astorga
28 september 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Couple of big climbs today. The first was out of Leon- a bit of a shock after the Meseta! Very sunny and it warmed quickly today. Stopped by a few odd villages. One of them seemed to be executing effigies of 'peregrinos' (pilgrims) - we didn’t stop! (see photos). One more day before we meet up with Chris and Paula so looking forward to that.
55kms cycled today, 480m up, 450m down.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
Reiziger Lots of coffee stops x
28-09-2023ReagerenVertalen
There appears to be some strange goings on in this part of the country. Passport looking full. [Jenny]
28-09-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger The key thing for the passport is to ensure that we get 2 stamps each day from tomorrow. If we do that then we get the Compostella certificate!
28-09-2023ReagerenVertalen
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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 29 sep 2023 15:55
- ☀️ 28 °C
- Hoogte: 533 m
- Spanje Castilla y León Ponferrada Iglesia de San Andrés 42.543026, -6.59385542°32’35” N 6°35’38” W
Dag 22
Day 22 - Ponferrada
29 september 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Change of scenery today as we're back in the mountains. Started the morning cycling 700m up, up, up to the Cruz de Ferro - the highest point on the Camino at 1500m. This was followed by a 1000m descent all the way down to the Knights Templar Castle in Ponferrada. Beautiful scenery and villages today and some great mountain bike tracks. Unfortunately there were lots of walkers around so we had to go on the road for some sections, but still good fun. Great to see Chris and Paula at today's finish line.
56kms cycled today, 850m up, 1180m down.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 30 sep 2023 11:54
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Hoogte: 543 m
- Spanje Castilla y León Ponferrada Museo de la Radio 42.544361, -6.59276742°32’40” N 6°35’34” W
Dag 23
Day 23 - Ponferrada
30 september 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Today has been the last day off before our final push to Santiago. From now on we need 2 stamps a day to get the Compostela. It’s been a good chance today to visit the castle with Chris and Paula, do some shopping and see the train museum. Route tomorrow is now planned - with some longer and hillier options to avoid other pilgrims! We are finding here that the trails are both narrower and busier which is not an ideal combination.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 1 okt 2023 10:51
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Hoogte: 525 m
- Spanje Castilla y León Villafranca del Bierzo 42.604271, -6.8094342°36’15” N 6°48’34” W
Dag 24
Day 24 - Ambasmestas
1 oktober 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
A big day in the mountains today! It was Chris' first day joining us so we wanted to find some good mountain bike tracks.
We started with an easy 15 miles, through the vineyards to Villafranca del Bierzo to meet Paula for coffee. We then had a choice - follow the easy route along the valley road, or try one of the suggested variations. We opted for the more adventurous Camino Duro (the hard way). It started with a 3km hike up before eventually levelling out, 500m above the road route. We think an old lady tried to warn us against trying the route with bikes but we couldn't understand each other, so eventually she just made a sign of the cross and wished us 'buen camino'!
It definitely wasn't an easy option, but had great views and was away from the traffic and most of the walkers.
43kms cycled today, 870m up (felt like more), 750m down.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
Reiziger I should take the easy route tomorrow! Mum xx
01-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger Unfortunately tomorrow's 'easy' route involves even more climbing than today! But it's an easy day after that.
01-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
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- 2 okt 2023 11:59
- ☀️ 24 °C
- Hoogte: 561 m
- Spanje Galicia Samos 42.730934, -7.3241742°43’51” N 7°19’27” W
Dag 25
Day 25 - Samos
2 oktober 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Well that was our biggest day so far! Over 1200m of climbing and 30 miles. It is fair to say that we were tired after that! Some great views from the mountain top and a great picnic with Paula. Just checked into our self-catering accommodation and getting the bikes fixed up ready for the next section - just new brake pads required after today's mega downhill. We are looking forward to a much shorter ride tomorrow so that we can check in early and relax. We should be joined by Mike and Abi tomorrow so we’re looking forward to that as well. We’ll then be 6 in the group.
46kms cycled today, 1200m up, 1200m down. Recommended recovery time = 48hrs! (J)Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
Tough day by the looks of it, hope the bikes keep going without too much trouble for a bit longer. The tree looks very old, any info on that? [Jenny]
02-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger We saw that in one of the towns. It looks as if 2, or even 3, trees had grown together over time. Bikes are continuing to run well - so far no issues.
02-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 3 okt 2023 11:40
- ☁️ 17 °C
- Hoogte: 447 m
- Spanje Galicia Sarria 42.77697, -7.41308842°46’37” N 7°24’47” W
Dag 26
Day 26 - Sarria
3 oktober 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Weary legs today so glad we only had to do 10 miles. Arrived in Sarria in time for lunch. Spent the afternoon catching up on washing and assembling Abi and Mike's rental bikes ready for their arrival tonight.
17kms cycled today, 240m up, 350m down.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
Sardia looks a bit hilly, not too good for weary legs. Hope you enjoy the next few days with your friends, but more competition. [Jenny]
03-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger Yes. The new arrivals have e bikes too!
03-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 4 okt 2023 12:42
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Hoogte: 384 m
- Spanje Galicia Portomarín 42.806095, -7.61681742°48’22” N 7°37’1” W
Dag 27
Day 27 - Palas de Rei
4 oktober 2023, Spanje ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Another big day of climbing today on the Camino. Lots of people on the trail in the morning - our starting point today was just over 100km from Santiago which is the minimum distance that walkers need to do to qualify for the Compostella. The morning was misty but the afternoon turned out to be very hot. The bonus this afternoon was that there were a lot less people to overtake!
50kms cycled today, 1100m up, 1000m down.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
Half way to the finish line then. Two more days? [Jenny]
04-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger 2 more days to Santiago now. We’ve now committed to keep going to Muxia on the coast though. So another 2 days beyond that!
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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 5 okt 2023 19:41
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Hoogte: 404 m
- Spanje Galicia Arzúa Boente 42.924767, -8.09762542°55’29” N 8°5’51” W
Dag 28
Day 28 - Pazo de Sedor
5 oktober 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Short ride today so time for souvenir shopping, afternoon drinks, and a game of padel tennis.
24kms cycled today, 480m, 600m down.
Zie vertaling
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Two wheels to the Tiger's Nest
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- 6 okt 2023 15:32
- ☀️ 29 °C
- Hoogte: 240 m
- Spanje Galicia Santiago de Compostela Praza do Obradoiro 42.880604, -8.54584242°52’50” N 8°32’45” W
1
Dag 29
Day 29 - Santiago de Compostela
6 oktober 2023, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
We've finally made it to Santiago!!!! 770 km (at least) and several kilometres of climbing! The final section was good weather following a misty start. We did have a couple of incidents today - 1. Abi’s chain snapped on the first uphill of the day (ably repaired by Mike!) 2. the lead bike (Mark!) ran into some wet concrete as part of a new construction. The road crew were not happy but we retrieved the bike with minimal issues!
Before going to our hotel we went to the Pilgrim Office to get our Compostela and Distance Certificate, as proof of completion - all in latin, including our names (Joannam and Marcus).
We’ve now got two more lovely weather days to the coast and a day off tomorrow. Looking forwards to a relaxing day and then Abi and Mike leave us so we’ll be back to 3 riders again!
55kms cycled today, 950m up, 1265m down.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
Reiziger Well done guys on making it to Santiago
06-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger Thanks for providing the portage, lunch stop recce and moral encouragement- invaluable over the last week of big rides!
06-10-2023ReagerenVertalen
Reiziger Ooops
06-10-2023Reageren
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