In this entry we truly enter the mountains of northwest Spain. We ride two of our planned three big passes and enjoy the quieter mountain towns. We have to skip a rest day to account for the extra climbing, but wow are these mountains beautiful and the people who live here friendly.

Day 17: Entrepeñas to Puebla de Sanabria (16km). It was a special thing to spend a night in such a tiny, quiet town. When we woke up we walked to the small little children’s park at the bottom of the town, where we saw a snake eating a lizard and the girls enjoyed some silly fun. Opportunities like these are what makes cycletouring so incredible – we’d never have ended up in such a place on a more typical tourist trip.

Because of all the extra riding we did the previous day we had very few kilometers to cover this day. Good thing too – we were feeling tired and also a big rainstorm rolled in! As we were casually pedaling between towns we saw a huge cloud move across the sky. Then we heard some thunder and started pedaling faster. Then we saw lightning and we sprinted towards town! Just as the deluge began we ducked into the stairwell of a closed antiques shop – safe.

We stayed under cover until the storm passed. The store next to use appeared to be a cheese distributor doing a brisk business. People were constantly coming and going from the shop despite the storm. We tried to get some coffee to wait out the end of the storm, but one cafe/bar was too warm (like actually roasting inside) and the other one smelled like paint thinner so we got back on the bikes and carried on.

By 1pm we were in our destination town. Our room/apartment (splurge!) wasn’t ready yet, so we dropped off our stuff and went into town. Old town was a ten-minute walk from our place… a walk across a river and up 231 steps to a hillside castle! We had a lovely picnic with a view all up and down the river valley.

After walking just about all of old town our apartment was ready and we took the rest of the day lazing about. We had originally planned to take a rest day here, but when we looked at the elevation profile for the final 100km to Santiago we realized we needed an extra riding day. A very lazy short day would have to be enough rest.

Day 18: Puebla de Sanabria to Lubián (30km) Our first real pass! We weren’t sure how this day was going to play out so we planned for it to be very short, and we stopped in the one town between two passes. As it turned out, we were really good at riding uphill and we reached our destination by 1pm.

Leaving Puebla was a breeze, and we were quickly riding up a gentle river valley. The road turned steep and we got in our low gears and kept pedaling. Jason taught H about prime numbers and we spent at least an hour determining primes under 100. We stopped for a breather and a drink every kilometer. It was a 1500′ climb (yes I know I’m mixing units – but doing vertical distance in feet still makes more sense to me!). It took us about 1.5 hours.

When Jason and I were riding the Americas 11 years ago we always calculated how long a climb would take by how many vertical feet needed to be gained. We estimated about an hour per 1000′ feet. What this means is that we haven’t lost all our fitness and climbing skills in the last 11 years! We still got it!

We unfortunately didn’t get a summit sign, but we still zipped down the other side on bumpy pavement until we reached Lubián, a mountainside town that was clearly a major stopping point until the big highway opened up across the valley. It was very quiet when we got there, except for the random people arguing in the bars.

It was delightful to find the one grocery store in town that opens for exactly one hour in the evening – from 6 to 7. The whole family went down to gather supplies for dinner and the next day. Town was very quiet, but lovely with stone buildings and little creeks/fountains all over.

After weeks of riding through the drier parts of Spain it is so interesting to see water start to be abundant. We have really noticed how the buildings look differently in each region – from the white houses in the Extremadura to the warm tan sandstone near Salamanca, and now big grey stones here as we approach Galicia.

Day 19: Lubián to Laza (70km)

This day was TOO LONG, but we made it. There was SO MUCH CLIMBING. We left Lubián and immediately started pass number two. It was actually lovely, and we celebrated the summit sign at the top. I was happy the girls got the experience of moving through different ecosystems, then over a ridge and back down through them again. That sounds pretty minor – but I find it to be my favorite part of mountain riding. It’s just incredible to slowly move past the plants, up and above a treeline, then to the top.

We descended into the rolling Galician countryside. At lunchtime we stopped in the town of Gudiña, which honestly looked pretty grim with its grey houses in the overcast weather. Of course on a Sunday it was nearly impossible to find food, but we happened upon the owner of a small convenience store who opened it up just for us to buy supplies.

The most incredible riding was waiting for us as we left Gudiña. We climbed up to the top of a ridge… and stayed there for miles and miles. On both sides we could see the deep valleys and rolling hills. To the north there were mountains. To the south the views went on and on. We marveled at the fact that the tiny road we were riding was even paved.

We stopped for another lunch at a little restaurant in some tiny town. We needed a long rest so took a seat by another pilgrim and ordered ‘hamburgers’ off the menu. Hilariously the burgers arrived as just a patty with a pile of french fries. We laughed at ourselves and our imaginings of actual burgers, but ate up the food and got back on the road.

I’m not sure how, but we made it up and over more ridgelines for a long, long descent into the village of Laza. We all agreed that a rest day in Laza was obligatory, especially when we saw where we were staying. Our room had a gorgeous view over the countryside, the hotel had a small pool, and we were a short walk away from a fairy-tale perfect river. The host was just delighted to meet the girls and welcome us for a rest day.

In this entry we depart the big city of Salamanca and ride across the plains for 2.5 days until reaching more mountainous terrain. We delight in the city of Zamora, endure a heat wave, bail on another hostel and generally hit our stride.

Day 14: Salamanca to Zamora (70km)

If you had told me at the beginning of this trip that we would be logging 70km days somewhat regularly, I would not have believed you. Yet here we are!

Predictably, we got a little lost and the route got messy departing from Salamanca. We were all smiles once we saw the car dealerships though. It seems that in every country, the car dealerships mark the end of town. We waved goodbye to the Toyotas and cycled on our way.

The route was flat and fast. Honestly, it was a bit of a blur we were going so fast! We stopped to smell these fragrant yellow flowers that lined the road, and we stopped to devour a bunch of cookies, and before we knew it we had entered the city of Zamora.

There are few places that I mark down as ‘need to be revisited’, but wow Zamora was one of them. To begin with we had rented a beautiful apartment on a little plaza that was absolutely delightful. Then we wandered the old town which was gorgeous, AND got to explore a castle. The city was packed with little museums (that we didn’t have time to visit) and was super walkable. It also wasn’t swarming with tour groups like Salamanca was.

Day 15: Zamora to Tabara (48km)

Today we left our beloved N-630 highway that we have followed more or less since Sevilla, and started heading northwest instead of North. N-630 ends in Gijon and we are heading to Santiago de Compostela. Now we are on the Camino Sanabres, one of the many pilgrimage routes to Santiago.

We chose to take a bit of a shortcut compared to what our guide book recommended, and it had pros and cons. It was shorter by about 12km, but it also had more traffic and little shoulder. It was in no way unsafe, and the drivers were all extraordinarily careful of us, but it wasn’t the carefree riding we had gotten used to.

We arrived early to our destination in Tabara – around 1pm! Jason went to get us a room, and when he came out to tell us the specifics he left the key to the garage (for the bikes) on a little shelf. Then he couldn’t find it. We suffered several long moments of panic over where is the key?!! The lady gave us a spare and by the time we returned from storing our bikes and stuff the key had ‘appeared’. We suspect an employee had grabbed it while Jason was outside and put it away.

We had a delicous ‘menu del dia’ at the hotel restuarant. The menu offers a choice of first plate, second plate, dessert, and drink. Cheap places offer it for 12 euros, but fancy places ask around 18. Ha – we only go for the cheap ones.

Day 16: Tabara to Entrepeñas (70km)

Now, this day was as much an adventure as the previous day was an uneventful and shorter ride.

We decided to follow the book’s advice this time and take the longer route off the main road. This involved some extra climbs, some small towns, some bike-pushing, and of course beautiful scenery.

The typical Spanish breakfast consists of cafe (coffee) and tostada (toast), and you can get a little butter and jam on your toast. Jason was dragging in the morning, but once we got him some extra calories (a few spoonfuls of peanut butter) all was set right. We went off road onto the same gravel path that the walking Camino took over the hill. It got quite steep!

It was getting very hot again, and we knew we had a ways to go, so we were very excited to see sprinklers watering a section of grass in a small town’s park. A and H especially had a blast running through the water. I’m not sure what the locals thought about that episode.

One of the next towns we came to was only a strip of buildings along the road. However, there was a great panaderia and a grocery store where we got some good eats.

We traveled on to Rionegro where we wet our shirts again, downed a coca-cola, and had a quick chat with some New Zealanders. Finally we made it to our destination of Mombuey. We set our bikes in the Albergue and got a menu. In our chat with one of the other peregrinos, we were warned that there may be an unsavory character at the Albergue this night and decided to get back on the bikes. (After wetting our shirts yet again!) Daisy found a nice place in Entrepeñas and voila, our long day had finally come to an end.

Entrepeñas is a tiny village with absolutely no businesses. The owner of the house where we stayed was kind enough to bring us some eggs and milk so we could put together a good dinner and breakfast. It was actually very charming to wander this small little village.

In this entry we continue to enjoy the mountains before descending into the plains around Salamanca for a rest day. We do some lovely off-road riding along a Roman road, stay in a giant hostel with communal meals, and have a misadventure finding lodging in Salamanca.

Day 11: Baños de Montemayor to Fuenterobles (35km)

Leaving Baños involved a well-graded climb up and over the mountain pass and into the next drainage. We could see snow-covered mountains and for many miles afterwards we enjoyed looking back and watching the mountains slowly recede. After finishing the climb we chose to join the walkers on a dirt track that went steeply down into a valley.

For lunch we stopped at a small bar, where the owner was so charmed by our girls that he flagged down a friend riding by on a horse. They offered to let the girls take a short little pony ride around the square, joking that maybe they’d trade the bicycles for horses. H said she’d make the trade, and A said no way.

We continued on a dirt track through farmland and open fields. Along the track were Roman mile markers. The girls were inspired to learn about Roman numerals, and that night ended up doing Roman numeral math problems!

We rolled into the tiny town of Fuenterobles prepared to share a bunkroom with a bunch of hikers in a pilgrim’s hostel that is famous for offering hospitality to travelers. We were delighted to find that they had a four-bed room we could have for just our family. Hilariously it was called the American Room in honor of pilgrims from the US. I guess it was meant to be.

At 8:30 there was a communal pilgrim’s dinner and we ate with about 20 other people walking on this route. Everyone was friendly and they seemed delighted to have kids around. The host gave them extra olive oil on their fish. The girls were overwhelmed with all the attention, but when dinner was finaly done well after 9pm they were quickly asleep.

Day 12: Fuenterobles to Salamanca (51km)

We were the last of the pilgrims to leave the hostel, since no one in our bunk room was interested in waking up early! Back on the dirt track we took a turn to get back to the road sooner. It went through several cow pastures requiring opening and closing gates. At each one we held our breath, praying it wouldn’t be locked… and none were! We made it to the next town of Frades de la Sierra without incident.

As we rolled into a town a man called out to welcome us to his grain mill museum. Mind you, this was a random, tiny town in the middle of nowhere. We said yes. He welcomed us into the grain mill owned by his family for three generations. He showed us pictures of his parents and grandparents, explained how they got the machinery, and also how it worked. They used a steam engine to power it! All the farmers from the surrounding areas would bring their wheat to be ground. Jason would like to add that the mill shook the building so hard that the roof was reinforced with extra wood beams and suspension heists.

The ride into Salamanca was uneventful. Usually entering a big city is stressful with traffic, but we got on a separated bike path that delivered us right downtown without incident. Once there the historical area was packed. We walked to the hostel where we had reserved rooms, but found that it was in fact impossible to get the bicycles into the bicycle storage area. Actually, the storage area was a small corner in a stairwell that was already full.

We quickly scrambled to find new lodging and leave the old one. For only about $15 more than the crowded hostel we rented a two-bedroom apartment just on the outside of the historical area. It turned out to be a great decision.

Day 13: Rest in Salamanca (0km)

We were all happy to have another true zero day. We slept in, ate Argentine Empanadas, and did a small amount of traditional tourism. If I’m being honest though, we mainly sat around and ate. Jason and I took a walk to a big grocery store and ended up with a LOT of food.

We followed the advice from the outdoor store and took the Via Verde rail trail out of town.  What a fantastic experience we had on this trail all day long!  The trail follows an old rail line that was used until the mid 1990’s.  It’s conversion to a regional trail seems to be relatively recent.  We picked up the trail at its terminus in Plasencia.

Right away we started out impressed with a long tunnel that even had lights.  Out the other side we were immediately in the country instead of the densely packed outskirts of Plasencia.   A river raged below us and wildflowers burst from the ground on either side.  There were glowing poppies all along the trail.

In rapid succession we rode over two high bridges.  We were appropriately wowed and stopped to peer over the edge at the rapids far below.  We joked that this trail was going to take us twice as long as the road would since we were stopping so often for pictures.

H got cold from all the rock cut-out shadows along the trail and we stopped several times to add more layers.  As the day progressed it heated up and the shadows retreated. 

Eventually we emerged from the rock cut-outs into a wider plain with horses and cows and trees on either side.  At one point the trail brushed against a road and a service station so we could grab some soda and coffee.  We met a cyclist from Hungary there who had a heavily loaded bike and was sticking to the roads.

The trail climbed up gently towards the mountain towns.  Our pace slowed.  The girls delighted in sticking their feet to the side to have the plants brush against them. As we gained altitude we entered a treed area full of shade. 

Right before 2pm we entered the historical town of Hervas.  We wanted so desperately to get some ice cream, but the grocery stores here close at 2 for the siesta.  At exactly 1:59 Jason dashed into a supermarket only seconds before they started lowering the shades… and he emerged with ice cream cones!  We sat in delight and ate our cones as the local schools let out and packs of school children surged by on the pedestrian street.

The town was beautiful.  We walked and rode through the narrow streets back to the trail, which wound above the town and along the mountainside through lovely terraced farms.  Looking back on the village impressed us until we turned around the mountain and into the next valley.

Just as the trail leveled out it was time to descend to our destination: Baños de Montemayor.  There are some hot springs here that make the town a legitimate destination for tourists.  We are staying at a small hostel and we are the only ones here.  The small alleys and mountain-style houses are delightful to explore. 

We went out to eat for the very first time on this trip – H ate an entire pizza (not a personal pizza, more like a pizza for two). What a day!