Again it was confusing to get out of the biggish Logrono. It seems the construction of the highway not only has Michelin confused, but the local roadsigns as well. At several places a sign that says N120 (the road that you want to take) actually takes you back to the big freeway and end up as an onramp. So, it was back to the gravel Camino.
The track was busy with walkers as you meander through a beautiful park and along a lake. I used the track till I reached Navarette, and then switched over to the N120. It was only for a while though, at Sotes I had to get back on the gravel track.
This wasn’t that bad though. As this is winecountry, La Rioja, you actually cycle through the vineyards and lots of pilgrims help themselves with the grapes.
Just ahead of Najera, on a long climb, I stop to adjust my saddle. These sort of small adjustments happens all along the way. It’s nothing funny or strange, and you often see pilgrims coming to grips with
their bikes. If you think that most of them transported the bike on a plane, it’s just natural to accept that the bike setup wouldn’t be perfect first time round. Still, I was surprised to hear, as I worked on the saddle, all the shouts of encouragement and offers for help from other cyclists as they whizzed past. This is the spirit of the Camino, and you soon get to appreciate it and make you want to help others as well.
their bikes. If you think that most of them transported the bike on a plane, it’s just natural to accept that the bike setup wouldn’t be perfect first time round. Still, I was surprised to hear, as I worked on the saddle, all the shouts of encouragement and offers for help from other cyclists as they whizzed past. This is the spirit of the Camino, and you soon get to appreciate it and make you want to help others as well. At Najera I stopped for a nice lunch at a café next to the river, and then it was back on the (properly adjusted) saddle and into the heat on to Santo Domingo. A short hill was the final test for the day before I entered the frontier town of Santo Domingo. It was boiling hot and I was really glad to make it fairly early in the afternoon. The refugio is small, but they have a bed for me – one of the last, it turns out.
Refugio’s differ from one to the next. While some are like modern backpackers you find all across Europe, this one was virtually a church hall with four rows of beds running the length of it. Lights go out at ten, and everyone must be out of there by eight the next morning. Your credencial give you one nights cheap refuge at each refugio, but you can’t stay over for a second night. And while the curfew seems a bit odd in the 21st century, it still helps everything to work well and orderly. Every one gets a bed to sleep for cheap.It was a pious evening, until I saw the condoms spread out all over the bed of the girl that sleeps
on the stretcher next to me. It was amongst the things scattered on her bed, and I had to smile. You can walk the Camino, and sleep in the refugio’s, but that won’t put a halo around your head. Like all the pilgrim fathers has that’s painted on the church walls around us. Time on bike: 3:41
Average speed: 16,5 km/h
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