Last night's lovely bed quickly faded in memory as we faced a horrendous climb up to the mountain pass at 540m on a steep old road designed for asses. Sweat poured off us as temperatures quickly reached 30C.
When we finally reached the top there wasn't even a sign to celebrate, just a very busy road to negotiate as we headed into Vilalba. After the big lorries finally stopped bugging us by going onto the motorway, we faced a long road which undulated for miles before getting to town in time for lunch.
As we went to a restaurant Des realised that his back wheel was buckled and rubbing against the brakes. Fortunately everything stops for lunch and I had the pleasure of watching Des and an old Spanish gentleman using Google maps on my tablet to try and locate the bike repair shop. Eventually we worked it out and a mechanic took care of it. No more cheap tyres for Des, as the actual problem was due to a damaged sidewall.
After the repairs Des was a new man and we had to hurry to keep up with him. GB team cyclists please note this new training method. Unfortunately Des was travelling so fast that we took a wrong turning and ended up in the middle of some woods. As Des puzzled over maps I watched a snake chase a frog towards Ricky before it realised he was bigger and uglier than it.
Eventually we got to to the hostel only to find that it was full. We had to go back Parga, the village we had previously gotten lost in where we stayed in a very grand pension.
A very long day, 50 mountainous miles from Mondonedo to Parga.
When we finally reached the top there wasn't even a sign to celebrate, just a very busy road to negotiate as we headed into Vilalba. After the big lorries finally stopped bugging us by going onto the motorway, we faced a long road which undulated for miles before getting to town in time for lunch.
As we went to a restaurant Des realised that his back wheel was buckled and rubbing against the brakes. Fortunately everything stops for lunch and I had the pleasure of watching Des and an old Spanish gentleman using Google maps on my tablet to try and locate the bike repair shop. Eventually we worked it out and a mechanic took care of it. No more cheap tyres for Des, as the actual problem was due to a damaged sidewall.
After the repairs Des was a new man and we had to hurry to keep up with him. GB team cyclists please note this new training method. Unfortunately Des was travelling so fast that we took a wrong turning and ended up in the middle of some woods. As Des puzzled over maps I watched a snake chase a frog towards Ricky before it realised he was bigger and uglier than it.
Eventually we got to to the hostel only to find that it was full. We had to go back Parga, the village we had previously gotten lost in where we stayed in a very grand pension.
A very long day, 50 mountainous miles from Mondonedo to Parga.
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