June 14, 2023
Prep day
Jaicnto was snoring last night by 10 PM. I was happy to be sleepy by midnight, after my two hour nap earlier in the day. We both slept soundly until I received three texts in a row at 4:44 AM. We both used the bathroom and then tossed and turned until we gave up at 5: 30 AM. Jacinto went for coffee. We had previously checked on breakfast. One restaurant was open at 8 AM for coffee and croissants, they had food at 11 AM. That was the earliest of any places around us.
We walked to the grocery store at 10 AM, which was conveniently down the block from the bicycle shop. We poked our heads in the door. Aymar hadn't even started our bikes. He said to come back before he closed at 8 PM, and they would be ready. We continued on to the grocery store. We were looking for something breakfast-y for preride tomorrow. They did have yogurt. No granola or muesli, yes to plain oatmeal. There was a very small cereal section. We agreed that this was quite a large store, Spainards must not wake up early enough to eat cereal. The meat area was smelly in a bad way to me. Jacinto lingered, checking out the prepared meats (protein). I just wanted to get away from the odor. We agreed to come back before they closed at 9:30, as we didn't have a refrigerator.
We stopped at the place that was supposed to have food at 11 AM, but now the time changed to 1 PM. We ended up waiting to eat there, and ordered the meal of the day. There were four choices for an appetizer and four choices for an entree. You could choose a beverage - wine, beer, water, or soda. Then at the end of the meal you could have either coffee or dessert. All of this is $12.50. Jacinto ordered a beef filet a la plancha. It was either going bad or had some sort of seasoning neither of us liked. Jacinto didn't even finish it. I ordered pork chops Salamanca, which were thinly sliced and tasty. French fries are called patatas. They are served with almost everything, and don't come with salt or ketchup.
We went back to the room and discussed the route for tomorrow. The day before is a good day to zoom in on the route, isn't it? That's a much better time than the morning off? We discovered I had a couple of little bobbles, where RWGPS went around the block unnecessarily. Jacinto routed it on Karr02. His route was shorter, but in my opinion didn't take as good of a route out of town. It stayed on a busy road for six miles, while mine got on the bike path within 1.5 miles and stayed there for 30 miles. Aymar agreed that the bike path to the north was very nice.
Aymar had agreed to store our bike boxes and duffel bags until the end of the trip, when he would rebox our bikes. We walked back over around 5 PM to see how things were going. My bike was assembled and he was just unpacking Jacinto's bike. We enjoyed chatting while he finished up Jaicnto's bike. I rode mine around the block a number of times, trying out all of the gears and the brakes. Everything seemed just right. That is a huge relief. Jacinto's bike was also good. The cost to reassemble our bikes was $100. total. Aymar also gave Jaicnto a couple of water bottles. Troy, from the shop at home had charged $200. to pack them. Jacinto's bike was done very well, wrapped up in a bubble wrap cocoon. My bike ended up being fine, but it wasn't swaddled in bubble wrap. I was concerned about the derailleur hanger. This model of bike is old enough that it doesn't have a replaceable hanger. But Troy had a block of foam that he protected the hanger with, and that worked.
We walked the bikes down the one way street and the sidewalk of the plaza to the hostel. We put the bikes in the laundry room, then we back out to the grocery and for dinner. We went to the place we ate last night. They were very busy. They didn't bring a single plate of tapas around to try. We thought we knew the routine, I was planning to sample 2-3 tapas. Right after we sat down, a group of 16 women came in. There went the tapas, they didn't even bring any out. I had ordered a chicken salad, and Jacinto had broken eggs with fries and chicken. It's interesting that broken eggs are fried eggs, not scrambled.
It was 10:30 PM by the time we went back to the room. We are usually long since in bed by now! My game plan is to leave by 9 AM. We are supposed to ride together tomorrow, for navigation purposes. I think getting out of town should be just fine, because it's all bike path. Plus, it really is true that people are barely waking up at that hour. The roads should be empty. This morning when we walked to the store, people were sitting bleary eyed around the plaza, with their first coffee (or beer) and cigarette of the day.
Jacinto says he can feel his knee, but it doesn't hurt. He says he plans to sit down as much as possible and take many breaks. I floated the idea of a 7 AM alarm tomorrow. He was horrified. Temperatures look modest and we will be climbing into the mountains where it will be cooler. I would still prefer to ride earlier, but have to sacrifice that if I'd like an escort. Jacinto says he's so wounded that he's the one who needs the escort.
Tomorrow we ride! I can't believe we got here one day, had the bikes assembled the next, and going on the road on day three. Happily, everything has been as smooth as silk so far.
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