Buen Camino, Buen Pintxos, Bueno Everything

Day 29: Estella-Lizarra to Pamplona (35 miles / 3235 ft.)

With a shorter day and less climbing ahead, we slept a little later and took our time leaving Estella. The morning was cloudy and chilly, so we rode around town to see a few more sights before heading toward Pamplona.

The riding between the two cities was amazing. We repeatedly intersected the Camino de Santiago and sometimes rode directly on it, traveling opposite the normal flow of pilgrims. We must have passed at least 100 walkers from all over the world. Everyone shared the trail graciously, and a few seemed surprised enough by our loaded bicycles that we probably ended up in their photos.

All day we heard, “¡Buen Camino!” along with genuine smiles and gratuitous nods. It is the traditional greeting among pilgrims, wishing one another a good journey. Naturally, Lisa and I began modifying it: “Buen Velo,” “Buen EuroVelo,” “Buen whatever,” and anything else that made us laugh.

Near Puente la Reina, our route connected with EuroVelo 1 and EuroVelo 3, the Pilgrims Route. This is one of the Camino’s most important towns, where historic pilgrimage routes come together before crossing the famous medieval bridge over the Arga River. From there, we continued through rolling farmland, vineyards, little stone villages, and the foothills of the Sierra del Perdón.

Puente la Reina also became the site of Lisa’s first touring flat in what we estimate is nearly 5,000 miles. The timing could not have been better because it happened beside a café filled with delightful pastries. A piece of wire nearly as thin as a hair had worked its way through the tire.

We found an outdoor table, ordered coffee and pastries, and repaired the flat. Unfortunately, we had not kept track of which spare tubes were actually still good, and I installed one with a tiny hole. After enjoying our pastries, we discovered the tire was flat again. Luckily, I had not put the wheel back on the bicycle yet, so the second repair went quickly. Buen flat!

As the day continued, the clouds separated and the sky became a magnificent blue filled with puffy white clouds. I could not stop taking pictures. We eventually reached a newly paved descent where our speed climbed past 40 mph before the landscape opened into the Pamplona basin.

We always get a little nervous approaching a large city, but Pamplona’s bike lanes made the arrival surprisingly easy. Our route brought us past the University of Navarra, the massive green space surrounding the star-shaped Citadel, and toward the old city. Pamplona is one of the first major cities on the Camino Francés, although most pilgrims begin farther east in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port or Roncesvalles.

There was one final climb after reaching our hotel. Our room was on the third floor, which in Europe means carrying the loaded bicycles up four levels because the ground floor is numbered zero!

After cleaning up, we headed back out on foot. We walked past the bullring, explored the old town, and wandered through Plaza del Castillo, or Gazteluko Plaza, the lively heart of Pamplona. Of course, we found a place for pintxos.

While eating, we met a Swiss couple traveling south from France for two months with their children. As if that were not adventurous enough, the husband had previously spent three years traveling from Switzerland through Africa. Encounters like that have a way of making our little bicycle trip feel almost ordinary.

Darkness settled over the city as we wandered among illuminated gates, plazas, and government buildings. We eventually found a grocery store, gathered supplies for breakfast, and were in bed by 9:30.

Another one of the best days, although we seem to say that almost every day.Read more