Thursday, August 26, 2021

Pamplona

Bike Route: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, to Pamplona, Spain, 47 miles, 5500 feet of climb

This was our toughest day of biking so far: the longest mileage, most climbing, and hottest (almost 90 when we got to Pamplona). We tried to get an early start, but our host, Melanie, served us a wonderful breakfast and told us so many interesting stories of her life, the farm and her husband's family, and the Basque people that we just couldn't get out the door.

Leaving Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, we crossed over the river at a point where white rapids danced and sparkled in the sun, and then started our long climb to the top of the first pass--about 16 miles uphill. The climb was gradual (2-8 percent) but relentless. We were on a small highway with few cars, following the river upstream through forests. I got off and walked for 5 minutes a couple of times just to get a break. Not far into the climb, we went through the Spain border control point. The police had a barricade across the road and were stopping every car, but they waved us through. Whew. We made it through our French adventure without going to jail.

The first pass was about 3500 feet. The second and third passes were a little lower, about 3000 feet and 2600 feet. At one of them, we found a snack truck with cold water and shade, and took a short break.

By the time we rolled into Pamplona, I was a bit wobbly. We found our apartment with no problem. It was on the corner of a noisy plaza full of bars and restaurants. By the time we carried our bags and bikes up to our accommodations on the fifth floor, we were both ready to crash. We managed to shower and stumble out to a grocery store a few blocks away, and make it back to the apartment for a simple dinner. We even found the energy to do a load of laundry. Fortunately, the apartment was at the rear of the building, and it was perfectly quiet. Our bed felt really good.

The scenery was amazing, but we didn't take any pictures. It's hard to stop when you are chugging uphill, and even harder when flying downhill!