Bicycle race…

After leaving another incredible hostel in Larrasoana it was time to head the 10 miles or so back to Pamplona on small green paths by the swollen river Agra from yesterdays downpour before the rain was forecast again today.

Pamplona, obviously famous for the bulls, but not until July, is also the home of a famous cyclist, Spaniard ‘Big Mig’. I grew up watching Miguel Indurain win the tour 5 times in a row, legitimately, he was incredible and unstoppable. 1991-5. He’s only a year older than me so I should nip round and challenge him to a race on the Brompton when I’ve got it out of the box back at the Pamplona pods.

Today’s blog track is a big hit from Queen from back in the day when you could ride yer pushrod in the nuddy …some nice belles in the video!

 

Dog days are over…

Burguete was a lovely village, very French but I was now back in Spain. I got my first ‘Peregrinos’ passport stamp and set off after a coffee in the local bar. Through the woods today, deep into the Basque Country, the old stronghold of ETA. I thought they had dissolved but then a couple of separatists came menacingly past me on horseback.

 

I entered Zubiri over the ‘Puente de la Rabia’ or ‘Rabies Bridge’ and ate a nice lunch after soaking my  aching trotters in the clear water…no dogs about tho?

The last hour the thunder and rain came, quickly turning the small, narrow paths into tiny river torrents so I had to spend the final few kilometres walking along straddling the path looking like, to all and sundry, that I had shit ma pants…

PS. I hadn’t BTW.

Florence + the machine here with her 2009 hit about rabies….enjoy!

Complete(o) Control…

Day 1 of the Camino de Santiago was thwarted from the start…

‘Completo’ said the Alsa app when I tried to find a place on the only bus over the hill to France!

“Completo” said the woman at the Alsa kiosk when it opened at Pamplona bus station.

Then I heard an Irish voice wanting to get to Roncevalles and he was told the same.

“It’s public holiday’ said the cabbie, so we split the taxi fare and headed speedily together to his destination, Roncevalles. It would leave me only 20km short from my start, I’d work something out!

Moore was retired and a proud Proddy from Carrickfergus and had been out walking for a week and was heading back for his parked up Mercedes Sprinter camper van. 

The top man then offered me a lift directly to where I needed to get to in St.Jean Pied de Port on the French border to start my Camino.

The bemused woman at the Pilgrims passport office sorted me out with the appropriate paperwork and I was off over the hills before lunchtime.

Strava told me it was 17mile with 4675ft of elevation when I’d finished but my old hairy sticks thought it had been a lot longer!

It was made a bit longer than anticipated as the 180 bed monastery in Roncevalles was also “Completo” when I arrived so I ended up in a nice private room in Burguete. Not sure if I’m in France or Spain now??

I was always in ‘Complete Control’ according to The Clash, not sure I’m up for a pogo to it tonight tho!

Movin’ on up…

 

Still moving and heading north up to Pamplona, via Zaragoza on a Renfe train.

The Loft last night was a modern, well designed hostel in Lavapies, a gritty, urban area of downtown Madrid near to Atocha Station. 

‘Atocha’ means ‘shithole’ in Spanish and is used to describe one of the most over-complicated, incomplete and incompetent rail hubs I’ve come across for a while…I was glad to leave!

Primal Scream kicking us off on this blog, you can’t wrong with a Bobby Gillespie song - this from 1991.

“I'm moving on up now, getting out of the darkness

My light shines on, my light shines on, my light shines on…”

Everything Must Go…

 

Seamless…train from Tweedbank, then onto the big city tram, through the bale wrapper and briskly frisked through interrogation with hours to spare/wait.

  

Everything Must Go" by Manic Street Preachers is a bittersweet reflection on navigating loss, transition, and moving forward, written largely after the 1995 disappearance of band member Richey Edwards. It represents a "clearing out" of the past and a reluctant acceptance of change…Ring any bells??

Next stop Madrid.

I saw these at Blackburn KGH just two days after the release of their debut studio album, Generation Terrorists, on 10 February 1992. At this time, the band featured its classic four-piece line-up: 

• James Dean Bradfield: Lead vocals and lead guitar
• Richey Edwards: Rhythm guitar and lyrics
• Nicky Wire: Bass guitar and lyrics
• Sean Moore: Drums 

James Dean Bradfield had the phrase “You love us”scrawled on his chest in lipstick…Great days!

Boxer Beat…

 

Start is happening tomorrow…

What’s in the box?

My local bike shop has sorted me out with a cardboard bike box which I have dismembered and creatively constructed a package that fits inside 2 Ikea ‘Dimpa bags’, a well known trick when transporting Brompton’s on aeroplanes.

The bike box will then get ‘cling filmed’ at the airport tomorrow and then won’t be opened until I’m re-united with it when I get back to Pamplona.

The second bag is under seat hand luggage which ‘should’ have the essentials for the first few days including my gifts of blackout eye mask, earplugs, bike book and ‘Rosemary’ beads to keep me safe and hopefully get me over the Pyrenees.

Thanks All…

An absolute banger for today’s blog track from JoBoxers with ‘Boxerbeat’ from way back in 1983. Frontman was Dig Wayne and the video features a ‘Grumpy Old Bastard’ for good measure…they had them even back then! 

So, Dig out your braces and have a good stomp to this from the year after I left school.

Why does it always rain on me?…

 

Start is now only T minus 2 days and counting…

The Forecast

“The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" said Eliza Doolittle but she was wrong!

Accuracy: It is an idiomatic expression, not a meteorologically accurate description of rainfall in Spain, which varies widely from the northwest to the southeast.

The Atlantic coastal weather in Northern Spain looks a bit unsettled and looks to me like the start may well be a little inclement. I need to factor this in when sorting out my packing list which I have spent the weekend pondering 🤔.

By planning the trip for May I had hoped it would be dry for most of it and didn’t really want to cart a load of wet weather clobber…oh well, time will tell.

Fran Healy in a kilt in the boot of a Vauxhall Viva and a dead sheep in the video, what is there not to like about this tune?