Day 8 - El Franco to Vilalba [photos updated] - Land of the Rabbits

July 27, 2023

Day 8 - El Franco to Vilalba [photos updated]

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Writing this from the lacquered writing desk of the incredible Vilalba parador. Room and breakfast only 90 euros with the pilgrim's discount.

Half a beautiful day this, following the perfect quiet coast road along beaches beyond Ribadeo - and half an extremely tough one, as temperatures rose to the highest they've been all tour and I was lead something of a goose-chase up some pretty steep mountains. Komoot has to take some of the blame for this - while I didn't follow its route, it suggested this was the easiest (!) way to Vilalba, with the least(!!) climbing and would be possible in less than 90km (!!!). I am using the chess/backgammon notation here where number of (!) indicates severity of error...

I set off in cool, cloudy and still conditions and made great progress along the coast road. I soon peeled off onto minor roads, crisscrossing the Camino, converging on the motorway bridge that's the only way to cross the giant estuary at Ridadeo that marks the western border of Asturias. There is a pedestrian walkway along the side that you can cycle on, but it's extremely narrow.

I've really got to start carrying less stuff

The bridge crossing the broad estuary at Ribadeo. This motorway crossing is pretty much the only way across.

The footway is exceptionally narrow - riding was a challenge. I was extremely glad not to meet anyone coming the other way.

Entering Galicia from Asturias: Province number 4: Lugo!

Once into Lugo the sun came out and I had a wonderful relaxed pedal along the perfect minor coast road - very little traffic, and a string of resorts along a broad sandy expanse between Ribadeo and Foz. I stopped and had a coke in a cafe on the seafront.

Lots of families out on this perfect quiet road

If only I could've stayed down here - but onwards and upwards into Lugo

At first I made my way through small lanes and villages, at low grades, and apart from the heat which was now hitting 30C it was fine.

The landscape increasingly became covered with enormously extensive eucalyptus plantations. While obviously cultivated, these looked (and smelled) nice and made for a shady place to hide from the hottest part of the day.

Every province seemed to have a different ornamental barn design

For some reason all the poles in one village were covered with snails!

Having lunch and cooling off from the worst of the heat in a Eucalyptus wood

Then I really started to climb again. It really was a struggle of a climb, even though it was "only" 700m from sea level where I started really moreso than the big mountain passes. Fortunately I could gather and drink lots of water to filter, from streams and a river.

This landscape also seemed lonelier and more cut off than even the high mountains. I passed only a handful of villagers, a number of which seemed to be a bit ... odd. One guy sitting by the road just fixed me with a thousand yard stare and didn't respond to my wave, even as I took 5 minutes to crawl up and past him. A strange backwater.

The road became very steep, over 10% for long stretches.

Steep climb through the eucalyptus forests

Some in Galicia consider it to be a Celtic nation. It's difficult to see, but on the back of this van I spotted a pan-Celtic flag that also has the Cornish St Piran's cross on it! I felt like knocking on the door of the house to show the owner the matching one I had (for fun) on the back of my pannier. Though I probably wouldn't have shared my opinion that the pan-Celtic movement is pretty silly.

Eventually I reached the top, where the landscape really opened up and began to feel mountainous again - an open moorland with strange rocky formations, with only serried rows of wind turbines spinning quite briskly in what I was not hugely delighted to find was a headwind from the west.

The landscape opening up as I climbed to the level of the ridge and the turbines

...and of the wind, which was whistling across here

The high, desolate moorland. The roads only really seem to be up here to service the wind turbines

Finally reaching the top, a wild and rocky moor with windturbines along the ridge.

In the end I bailed on the silly mountain route and high tailed it down to the national road. This was ridiculously quiet and safe, with one car a minute and huge shoulder. It was still 9.30pm and 110km later when I finally got to Vilalba. I found the parador where I had a booking, and despite my appalling appearance - I really would've looked more at home hunkered down in some abandoned outbuilding by the side of the national road than a 4* hotel - they were just charming to me, suggesting to put the bike in garage. Got a free breakfast too as I'm a [cough] pilgrim.

Finally in Vilalba at sunset. That tower is the Parador! Would you let this reprobate in your 4* hotel?

I thought dinner was a write-off so resolved to tour the nearby bars looking for racciones. This lead to me having 3 beers before finding, at ten past 11 at night, a pizza restaurant that was full of people and immediately handed me a menu. Excellent country. Total cost of meal - 15 euros. I gave them the full twenty.

It is now pouring down with rain outside and I'm putting off leaving the lavish parador for as long as I can. My plan is to take it super easy today, yesterday was absurd. Probably a 60km day just to get to some campsites on the bay between Ferrol and A Coruna. No more mountains.

Today's ride: 112 km (70 miles)
Total: 689 km (428 miles)

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