Pinchos and punctures

 The alarm sounded. We ignored it, happy in the knowledge that today was quite a short day. Not as short as yesterday but still a mere 34 miles. I've kept the next two days short because of the word, Pyranees. 

Actually,  leaving Bilbao was seriously up. The sat nav tried taking us up a street which was so steep, it was actual stairs. We made the sat nav  think again and it took us up a street which might as well have been stairs. Five minutes of that and we decided it was time for breakfast. We stopped at a little roadside bar and had little baps full of prosciutto type ham and a coffee. I now know these little baps, which are a ubiquitous part of the Spanish diet - it seems - are called pinchos. We are also discovering that they include this ham with every dish that they make. Chicken and ham. Tuna and ham. Prawn and ham, Pork and ham...

As we set off again, I remembered something which a Spanish man had called out to us yesterday. We didn't know one word of what he said, but both understood it perfectly. We have ridden a tandem for 39 years so we have well and truly lost count of the number of times someone has called out, "She's not pedaling on the back!" We've just never heard it in Spanish before.

Today's ride was well peppered with frissons of excitement. These came in the shape of some very busy roads, some very steep hills and some very rough tracks. I suppose the biggest error was setting off down a dual carriageway which was on a flyover and finding out we were on the wrong road. All we could do was get off and walk back (against the traffic) along the water gully until we had returned to the junction. There were times when the heat gave us a taste of exactly what it could do but most of the time we were either in the shade or a patch of cloud came to the rescue. 

As we turned up one steep little lane we noticed some men cutting a very thorny hedge and there were cuttings all over the road. We got off, walking gingerly along with Kate brushing the cuttings away before me like a mis-directed Buddhist monk. All to no avail. Within 20 yards of getting back on the bike, I knew we had a puncture. Fortunately all went smoothly and we were back on the road within 10 minutes. 

We made a couple of coffee/sticky buns stops. You can get pain au chocolat here but they are always the size of a house. Not that I'm complaining...

The big climb came towards the end of the day. It was punishing. Being gluttons for punishment, it seems, we took it on the chin and reached the top without a stop.

Downhill then, to Eibar and our hotel.

The most intriguing thing about the hotel is the shower. I'm sure both of us have only scratched the surface in terms of what it can do. I've never seen so many bells and whistles. To be a true proficient, I'm sure you would need to attend a few classes first.

We are eating in the hotel. We are saving our legs for tomorrow which brings us the highest climb of the trip. Anyway, it gives us more time to learn shower techniques.