Vitoria to Estella - Riding and Pilgrims

Today was all about the ride. This was our longest day so far and even though the total day was just going to be about 3,000 feet of climbing from the profile it promised to be all in one big climb. This made some of us a bit anxious about the day ahead. Here is the profile, as you can see a big up, but good news is a big downhill was in the cards as well.

We set off and rode out of town and were soon riding along a beautiful estuary and it looks like the Vitoria area has lots of bike clubs because there were a lot of riders on the road. We passed at least 100 and only saw TWO young women. As we passed everyone waved and/or shouted out "hola" giving an almost festive air to the beginning of our day's journey.

At one point we passed four guys and of course, the challenge was on especially for the lead rider. He quickly hopped on the tail of three women and one guy. When we hit a small climb he passed me he winked and and said in basque something that clearly translated into "why are you so slow?" I just shouted back "vamos."

This occurred a few times and we stopped at a bottom of a hill and chatted through hand signals and limited Spanish. I pointed to the bags we carry on the back of the bike and indicated they were very heavy and he pointed to his belly and said it was heavy too. Then he held up his fingers indicating he was 55 - such and old man. I just laughed and held up mine showing I was 66. His eyes widened as he was clearly impressed as not not was a I a woman, but I bested him by 11 years. We had a good laugh and each rode away with a good road story.

Then we hit the promised climb. There was what appeared to be a triathlon going on so as we ascended there were volunteers along the route controlling traffic for the riders coming down the mountain. That was great news for us as we headed up the switchbacks to the top. The volunteers encouraged us and cheered us on shouting "Oupa!" as we passed.

The climb was a series of many switchbacks and even though we hit some 9-10% grades, it stayed mainly between 6.5 - 8%. What a view as we went up - we even saw some local with their cows near the top.

Mary Margaret and me and a few cows we met along the way.

Young man at the rest stop selling mushrooms he had just picked.

It took a bit but we all made it and when we hit the small restaurant (bar as they are called) everyone was smiling and elated with The accomplishment of conquering the mountain.

The journey into Estella was a thrill ride as we descended at rapid speed doing the "twisties" almost all the way into Estella.

Estella is the beginning point for many of the pilgrims who walk or bike the Camino Santiago which is a journey that can be either religious or just a challenge for many. Some people do it all and others just segments. I will write more about the Camino later. When we arrived at our hotel we met two young women from Sweden that we're going to walk it for the next two weeks.

The path to the Camino is marked by a sea shell that points one in the direction of the route. Estella is filled with pilgrims, young and old, getting ready to set off on their journey.

One final note - these towns that we pass through are absolutely dead between 3:00 and about 6:00 pm, most restaurants don't open until 8:00 at night. Because most people live in apartments they all seem to hit the streets in the evenings and visit and walk. Everyone is out, older folks and families. The children are playing games and having so much fun and not a device in site.

Fireworks we saw on our walk home from dinner

All for now, off to ride to Pamplona and visit Ernest Hemingway.

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Haro to Vittorio and Muga Winery Tour

Today we were to Vittoria and deep into Basque Region and the Capitol city of Vitorio.

Before I continue, you might also want to visit my friend Ken Boardmans blog about this trip as well. We are on the same adventure but he comes at it from a bit more introspective and historical perspective. Here is his site address. a different angle with a focus on and detail. crazyguyonabike.com Once you're on the site just type in Boardman

We were back on the bikes today & left the Rioja region but before we left we visited the Muga winery. They make very nice wines predominantly red but not exclusively and; they follow very traditional methods. They age all of their wines in oak barrels that they make at the winery and they even have coopers on site who make the barrels.

So now for some fun facts about this winery as it really was a most unusual tour.

• Owned and operated by four generations of Muga family members
• All the grapes are grown on their own land located within 20 km
• They are the only winery to make their own barrels on site - we saw the coopers.
• To filter some of their white wine they float egg whites across the top of the barrels and as they seep to the bottom they pick up any loose particles - Really! Never saw this before!!!

The Cooper's at work, how do you train for this?

S

Yes, this guy is cracking and separating the egg whites from the yolks!

This was a very good year! I tried to slip the last bottle in my bag, but just couldn't pull it off.

After the wine tour, and trust me we did very little tasting as riding u mountains and drinking wine, just don't mix well, we had a 60km ride to Vittoria. There were two good and challenging climbs so we ended up with about 3,300 ft of climbing over 60km. Along with the climbs we rode by potato farms either harvested or in the process.

Up! up and more up!

 

Jim and I made it to the top of the first climb - a long and steep challenge!I

Vitoria is the capital of the Basque region & is quite a beautiful city - only wish we had more time to spend here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rest Day in Haro - Wine Museum Tour

Hillary and Christopher arrived in Haro yesterday after our rainy day ride. We all went out for late night Tapas in the square and we're looking forward to our day off. Haro is yet another charming town and we had a lovely lunch and finished our day early and did not have to wait until late to eat. It was nice to have a light meal and hit the sheets at 9:00 pm for a change.

This morning, instead of doing a short ride our guide Simon agreed to take a group of us to the Vivanco wine Museum just outside of town. The location of the museum is beautiful, with gorgeous views of the town of Briones and nearby hills and vineyards. There is an outdoor display of various grape variety plantings with information about each.

We learned about the history of wine, from growing to bottling in the Rioja region. This was an absolutely fascinating tour that had exhibits of from medieval times to today. Exhibits included ancient wine presses, the history of bottles, corks, barrels and even corkscrews. Many of the exhibits included interactive displays and videos.

They also had a very nice art collection. I loved the Miro - yep, it is a corkscrew.

Some of the corkscrews were very unique and did make us smile.

We ended the tour with a quick pose with Bacchus - tomorrow we start with a short hop to the Muga winery where we will take a tour. We are promised to see an actual Cooper making barrels so it should be interesting. Since this is a morning tour, we probably won't be doing any wine tasting. We are off to Vitorria after that with a big climb as we set out - our first challenge of yet another day on the road. Let's RIDE!

 

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Trespaderne to Haro - RAIN!

At our briefing last night our guide, who is fabulous, explained to us that as we pass through the villages to not be surprised by the reaction of the locals. He said it is very rare for them to see cyclists but it is almost an anomaly for any of them to see women riders on road bikes. This proved to be true both yesterday and today.

Yesterday I was stopped by a local asking about my "rear view mirror" that I wear on my glasses to see cars behind me. Even though we did not speak the same language I was able to explain to him, to his sheer delight, how it worked. I was rewarded with big smiles and a "muy Bueno" by my new friend. I will tell you a bit about my second encounter with yet another new friend a bit later in this blog.

You will not see a lot of photos today because pretty much most of the day we rode in the rain. The ride was not a difficult one and we went up and down some lovely rolling hills and through numerous tunnels cut right through the rocks At one point we met up with a motorcyclist who followed us through several of the tunnels lighting the way with his headlight.

Just as in motorcycling it is important to have the right clothing. I wore my rain jacket and even a shower cap to keep my head dry. So for pretty much most the day I was okay except for the last 15-20 miles when my socks got full and I was sloshing around in my shoes.

The best part of the entire day was when we came in to the town of Miranda where we stopped in a local "bar" to dry off and get a quick snack. We met the proprietor who was the most wonderful woman and was thrilled to have us in her establishment "La Manuela."

Again, we did not speak the same language, but communicated beautifully. She explained that her grandmother started the place in 1899 and then it was run by her mother, her sister and now her. She kissed me on both cheeks before we left and showed me her family pictures.

 

When we entered, there were only a few gentlemen there and when we left there were several more checking out the women riders. I was asked by one of them if I was "English" and I explained I was from America and Arizona and showed him the saguaro on the back of my riding jersey.

We slogged through the rain to Haro, opting for the short route because we were just darned wet. As we goT closer to town the topography changed from farmland to vineyards as we entered the Riojo Valley.

Once we got to the hotel, we warmed up with showers and did some laundry and are now going have a rest day tomorrow. Oh! What a wonderful day!!!

 

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Medina de Pomar to Trespaderne

Another cool start at 10:00 this morning with cloudy skies. We started with an uphill climb that quickly warmed us up. Of course with every good uphill comes a downhill so it was on and off with our jackets as we made our way through small villages along the way.

I rode with my friend Jim Haile for most of the morning and we went along the Ebros river and through a series of tunnels through canyon roads. Then the topography changed as we continued on through fields and fields of sunflowers that had already seen their prime. Most of them had heads down until we found one that was still looking fairly good and it was a perfect photo opportunity.

 

Up and down we went with a series of 6-8% climbs that went on and on through charming orchards and villages. We stopped about halfway through our journey in the small town of Ona for coffee and a small "tortilla" which is actually egg and potatoes.

Right after our break we hit the big climbs of the day averaging 7-9% for several miles, oh but then how lovely it got as we reached the crest and flew down the hills towards the stunning and very quaint medieval town of Frias with castle ruins & a church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Polientes to Medina de Pomar

There was so much to see today that we stopped numerous times enjoying every moment of our tour. That is not to say that we did not do much riding as we rode close to 55 miles but with lots of opportunity for some rather killer climbs averaging around 9-10% in elevation topping out in a few places at 15% grades. Of course by the time we hit those it had warmed up significantly making the climbing even more fun.

We stopped at a few rupestrian churches in the morning. The term Rupestrian means that the churches are literally hewn out of the rock face itself. Quite a site to see. One was small and lovely and the other was quite primitive and conveniently located at the top of an 11% graded hillside.

We also saw some of the worlds largest vultures, quite a site sitt no at the tops of the cliffs. They are called "Griffins" and soared high above us.and they are said to have wingspans of over six feet.

We toured through the valley roads surrounded by tall cliffs. Simon our tour guide described this as the Grand Canyon of Spain, it was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

We stopped for coffee at the small village of Orbaneja del Castillo and was almost like being transported in time to a fairytale village - so quaint and colorful!

Lunch was at yet another village and we were served a tomato salad that was over the top delicious - the tomatoes were grown by the proprietors father-in-law.

Overall we were treated to spectacular views, incredible scenery and some extremely difficult and challenging climbs. All of us are doing well and I will admit at a one of the steeper climbs, I even got the off and pushed for a few 100 yards and my friend Mary Margaret who is a bit older than me rode the entire thing. She did give me a neener-neener at dinner time as she reveled in her accomplishment and my lack thereof.

I must say that one of the best things I have with me is my Garmin that kept us on track at many times on the ride. Let me know more than a few times when we were off course.

 

 

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