Rodondela to Villanove Arousa

Got up late after messing around with some reservations for the bus to Porto in order to fly out to the Azores, the boat reservation for the final part of the spiritual leg of the Camino Portuguese, as well as an albergue for tomorrow.

9:30 start but it's okay. I'm not going to go all that far today, maybe halfway off the spiritual there are some hostels there. The legs are feeling really good after yesterday's rest and I'm cranking up the first hill, after already one wrong turn that cost me at least a few hundred extra vert. The Camino is loaded with pilgrims and a few large rocks for good measure. The coastal and the regular have combined after Redondela and it's busy.

Pontevedra has a good lunch spot in the square with the doves and I set out on the spiritual. It is a huge climb that just goes with a few false summits. Being close to the ocean I didn't expect it nor had I checked for it.

Once over the hill I still feel so strong that I decided to go all the way to the coast for 75km today and see if I can change tomorrow's reservation to today which turned out not to work out and I ended up in the publico. At least I have a bed and I'm dry. Can't change the boat either, so I might do a short local pedal or just stay put. Another test day can't hurt.

The spiritual leg is absolutely stunning. I could not make any headway because I had to take pictures every fifty feet and I ended up carrying the bike quite a few times. The wet rocks were definitely not rideable.Read more