Spain (Page 9)

The day kicked off with a communal breakfast, which was nice—nothing fancy, but enough to get me rolling. I left the hostel around 8 a.m., hanging back a bit to let the sun climb higher and take the edge off the cold—it was hovering around 3°C. Naturally, the moment I started pedaling uphill, I was sweating. Then, of course, the downhill came and I was instantly freezing thanks to the wind. Classic.
First stop was Logroño, just 20 km away. It’s the capital of La Rioja, famous for its wine—some of Spain’s finest. I didn’t hang around long: pumped up the tires, sprinkled some lube on the chain, and hit the road again.
After accidentally ending up on a highway yesterday (not my favorite biking experience), I realized the same GPX track was about to do it to me again, right out of Logroño. I’m starting to think this wasn’t the official Cicerone route—probably something I grabbed off Komoot or Strava. I double-checked and found a better option that kept me off the highway.
The next 15 km were a mix of hard-packed gravel and really questionable pavement. At one point, there were so many rocks I had to hop off and push the bike. But after that, things smoothed out—still plenty of ups and downs, though. As it got warmer, the wind picked up, slowing me down. So, even though the distance was similar to the past two days, it took me longer to reach my resting spot. So, despite covering the same distance as the last couple days, it took longer to get where I was going. On the bright side, I wasn’t as tired as yesterday.
The town I’m staying in is lively—lots of people out in cafés, and not just fellow pilgrims. Might be because it’s Semana Santa. The weather was sunny, warm, and not too windy, so I took advantage of it and spent some time in the main square, people-watching.
Tomorrow’s another relatively short ride before two longer hauls. Gotta enjoy the calm before the storm.

73 km – distance cycled
280 000 000 L – Rioja region yearly wine production
50 — tapas bars on Calle de Laurel on a stretch of 300m in Logroño, allegedly
15 000 + — chicken-related pilgrim meals served yearly in memory of the famous Chicken Coop Miracle in Santo Domingo de la Calzada