It was time to leave Bilbao and continue along the coast.
Difficult to leave the city
I have written about the difficult of leaving cities before. This was no exception. Typically there are good cycle paths within cities. It is normal okay once you are well out of the out the cities.
It is the bit in between that seems to be a problem.
On the 634
Once out of Bilbao it was on the National Route 634. That was the only option.
There were a lot of cyclists on the road. There were also a lot of trucks.
Giving up
As I approached Beba I decided to give up. Even though the run down to the coast was all downhill, I was over the trucks.
I caught the local train. Check the video. It was a really good train.
Long climb to camp site
I got off the train in Beba. There was no option – it is the end of the line.
From Beba to the camp site at Itxaspe is less than 5 kilometres. It is a long and steady climb.
Half way up the climb a cyclists passed me. He slowed down and we started to chat. It was a limited conversation as he was Spanish and I can only order a beer in Spanish.
He asked where I was going. I told him that I was headed to the camp site. He told me to follow him as he was “living there”. As it turned out that was a good idea. He took me on a short cut unknown to Garmin.
Spectacular View
The campsite at Itxaspe is very popular. Anyone with a vehicle needs to book weeks ahead, it not more.
Fortunately, they look after walkers (mostly of the Route of St James) and cyclist. No one on a bicycle or on foot is turned away.
The view from the site is amazing.
Very Old Cyclist
After pitching my tent, I headed to the bar for a beer and meal.
An old bloke approached me at the bar. He said that he “saw my Cannondale where the cyclists camp”. He asked where I was headed.
He turned out to be a Pom from the Cumbria. He told me that he was “cycling from Santander into France and would be going as far as he can in three weeks before he returned home”. “Three weeks was his leave pass from his Missus”.
We chatted for a bit.
He told me that he started “long distance cycle rides when he was Sixty”. That seemed to be a reasonable comment. He then told that “he didn’t think that he would be still doing it twelve years later”. I was shocked: “Are you 72”? I asked? “Actually, I am 73, he replied”.
This bloke thinks 100 kilometres averaging 10 miles per hour on a fully laden bike is “ a soft day”.
Into the Next Town by Bus
In in the morning I had decided to stay in Itxaspe for a day.
I walked to the bus stop and caught the bus into Zumaia for a late lunch. It is a nice place.
It was late when I got back to the camp site.
Flickr Link
Garmin
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