King of the kerb….

Day 15- From Aviles to Soto de Luina.
Asturias

(æˈstʊərɪˌæs)

noun

A region and former kingdom of NW Spain consisting of a coastal plain(means rain) and the Cantabrian Mountains : with loads of bloody hills!

Just to clear things up for the elderly, I’m still doing the Camino de Santiago but when I got to Leon, I decided to extend it to take in the Camino San Salvador and then link to the Camino del Norte now to Santiago.

It was a damp morning start again from the albergue and there were more hills than I really wanted, but hey ho, today I’m heading for the coast. 

When I finally saw the Bay of Biscay I had descended into the small fishing port of Cudillero and also found some sunshine at last!

I settled for an octopus and Sidre lunch in the harbour before ascending with said lunch sloshing around on my way back up. I have to say, after 2 weeks in the saddle, I have thighs like steel. I reckon I could easily grip a slimy octopus and hold it for at least twenty minutes…maybe I should have suggested this at the restaurant and got a free lunch??

All over Asturias I have kept seeing cool little wooden houses raised up on what looked like staddlestones, so I was intrigued to find out more about them.

Hórreos and Paneras: These are iconic, small wooden structures raised on pillars (pegollos), originally designed to store food, keeping it dry and safe from rodents.

Construction: They are built using chestnut or oak wood, often designed to fit together without nails, bolts, or screws, demonstrating advanced traditional carpentry.

Features: They frequently feature wooden balconies and slate hipped roofs (for hórreos) or gable roofs (for paneras).

Repurposing: Many are now being restored and converted into tiny, unique, rustic summer cabins or guest houses.

Anyway, suns out so I need to get to tonight’s albergue, get the laundry done and nip down the local bike wash!

I always used to get ‘Sleeper’ and ‘Echobelly’ mixed up so here is one of them indie guitar bands from the 90’s for today’s blog track. 

Astray…

 

Day 14 - On the Camino de Santiago from Oviedo to Aviles.

My epiphany has come to fruition, the detour to the Asturias region has changed my conception of Spain, its lush in many ways, (probably due to all the bloody rain) very agricultural and much better, friendlier people and the food…Jeez, iv been blown away with the local produce, the portions, the quality, the taste and the value served with an unpretentious attitude.

I even sptted another brother from a different mother…a boaters bike!

Iv learnt to trust Velo2 directions, brilliant for finding cycle ways and short cuts, through parks and back passages, but I thought I’d been led astray today and taken a wrong turn somewhere when I arrived here…?

Through this unassuming wooden door was like going up the ‘Magic Faraway Tree’ into a wonderful world known as ‘Sideria’.

In here I experienced delightful regional cider, that was traditionally served and tasted fantastic so then couldn’t resist indulging myself in a kilo of pork ribs …don’t usually take pics of food, out of principle, but this was basically what was left….delicious!

This bicigrino will sleep like an angel tonight.

Eggcelent service David O??

A bit of John Bramwell (Aka I am Kloot) with a mellow end the day track for you to enjoy-this fella is a proper singer songwriter.

The Bends…

“Punctured bicycle, on a hillside desolate”…

Day 2 - Camino del San Salvador from Pajares to Oviedo.

Started the day with a flat, luckily it was before I set off, but being the rear, this was the awkward one, especially with new tyres on. Dry day though!

Headed down all the hairpin bends following the river and almost into Oviedo until I had issues with the chain tensioner. All sorted and then had an afternoon looking around the old parts of town and then got my certificate of achievement signed by the Padre at tonight’s digs in the Albergue de Peregrinos El Salvador…I’m going to be curing lepers soon!!

Famous for cider(sidra) here apparently. 

Did think of joining this fine institution while I was here but on second glance, I’d read it wrong….

Going to go with ‘The Bends’ by Radiohead just cos it’s easy, an amazing track, and I’m tired, Yeah, I know you thought it was going to be a Smith’s track.

El Salvador…

 Day 1 - Camino del San Salvador 

Yesterday, in Leon town, while out drinking the monks brew at 8.5% I had, what can only be described as, an epiphany.

The rain clouds parted and an old gravelly voice boomed out(Monty Pythonesque)…

Ola, Peregrino!

“Your little hairy sticks are rested and strong,

Your poncho is watertight,

And your Brompton is in fine fettle,

You must head north and follow the way of San Salvador, 

Through the pissing rain, 

He will guide you to salvation!”

From Leon, there starts another Camino that goes north up into the Cantabrian mountains to then descend into Asturias down to Oviedo. So I went to see the nuns in the convent to register for my credentials. I offered to show them my Brompton but they didn’t seem interested.

So today, off I went…Camino number 2.

 No wiffy in the hills so il post more pics tomorrow…

El Salvador was a track off ‘Athlete’s’ debut album in 2003. Saw them the following year in Preston Guildhall and their support band was ‘Snow Patrol’.

The Bucket…

Day 11 - In Leon on the Camino de Santiago 

After yesterday’s delightful tour of the bars and the Cathedral, I woke up to the sound of rain bucketting it down, overflowing the gutters and pouring off the roof, so decided to stay put today.

Leon is a lovely city anyway and worth a look round.

…and there is another plan forming!

First, I nipped down the local bike shop to treat ‘Brommie’ to some new brakes as the downhills had got pretty close wearing them out. Back at the hostel, out came the borrowed bucket for a wash and service, cleaning the frame, chain-set and then re-oiling everything that moves. 

After a massage and oil he was now ready to play out with the big boys again!

I can’t not pick a ‘Kings of Leon’ track for today as I’m spending it in Leon, so I’ve gone for an early tune, off the 2nd album, when KOL were blindingly good…and made the floor bounce in the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool as I remember back in 2007!

I’m only happy when it rains…

Day 10 from Sahagun to Leon City!

As wet as an otters pocket again today but I was determined to make it to Leon on a boring section. I donned my massive fashionable Decathalon ful length poncho (u may laff) and only stopped a couple of times on the way, happy to sit warmly inside the billowing bag of tranquility, with the music in my lugs and just kept on pedalling. I passed the lines of waterlogged druids, marching/squelching on to their pre determined salvation in Santiago. The poor sinners are dropping like flies…I hear.

Even the horses had long faces.

On the up side, I arrived early into Leon, checked in and went out for an afternoon sesh of local beer/tapas/wine/tapas/wine/raciones/wine…etc.etc….eat/sleep/repeat, pilgrim free time. They do the bars so well here,every drink ordered, served with tapas and then my ‘racione’ of the famous hand-cut ‘Cecina de Leon’ jamon was superb.

 

Still some bars I was afraid to enter…🤔

Garbage for tonight’s track…it’s been a dreadful/restful day but if the sun doesn’t start to shine I might be turning right tomorrow!

Just a Ride…

 

Day 9 - From Boadilla del Camino to Sahagun.

If I’d have known you could’ve got here by narrowboat then it would have been a bit easier but the locks look a bit serious! 

As I left Boadilla del Camino, I followed the Canal de Castella into Fromista then continued on the flat for much of the day with the tunes on for the first time to alleviate the long sections on the road adjacent to the Camino footpath.

Bike Setup 

My bike setup has been perfect, the smaller 44 tooth chain set helps with the hills, the VIncita bar bag for handy stuff like gloves,sunglasses, oil and tools and the Brompton Borough bag on the front block keeping everything watertight. The 2 pockets on it are really handy for my Sigg bottle in one and poncho/magnum in the other. Perfect bag for when I arrive at the albergues, as it all just lifts off.

I have 90psi in the new Schwalbe marathon Green tyres and they have been great so far. I may need some new brakes soon but Hannah at BrilliantBikes has emailed me to advise me what to replace them with tomorrow. Velo2 has been handy to navigate through the bigger towns otherwise Google maps and the Camino App have worked fine. All mileage is recorded on Strava.

Iv not felt rushed at all, waking around 7am and hitting the road about 8 with plenty of stops for sustenance along the way. The wet weather is annoying but I’m still making incredible progress.

This guy was from Australia and told me that ‘Brompton’s’ are the hire bike of choice for getting around Canberra - he was as pleased as punch to see a Brompton on the Camino!

“Because it's just a ride, it's just a ride

No need to run, no need to hide

It'll take you round and round

Sometimes you're up

Sometimes you're down”

Welsh girl JEM is the choice for today with a tune that cropped up on my playlist today from 2004.