Well, I've been home a couple of days - slipping back into work, and doing very little otherwise as I really have been overcome with a fatigue that was nowhere in evidence when I was on the road - but of course all the impressions of the tour have been upmost in my mind.

A really successful one this. So many things went well:

• The weather was almost unbelievably kind to me, pretty much perfect. Even in the couple of partially rainy days I sort of appreciated the coolness. Lots of sun, pretty much clear every day to give me good visibility, but incredibly cool considering the brutal heatwave that was afflicting southern Europe at the time. And the wind was never a major problem.
• The scenery was fantastic - even better than I'd hoped, and I could nearly always see and appreciate it.
• The Spanish are possibly the best drivers I have ever come across when cycle touring. Yep, including the French and the Germans. The Swedish may be more cautious, but that isn't always better (the Swedes would sometimes freak out on seeing me, and do silly stuff like braking sharply on a roundabout when I was nowhere nearby). If anything, they were too polite, sometimes waiting longer than I would to overtake. They were just generally chilled out and friendly though.
• The Blue Shift considers to amaze and impress. Those folks at Surly know what they're doing, enough to overcome my tinkering even when I don't. No mechanical problems enough to make me stop, barely even had to oil the chain, and once again no flat tyres. This means that (apart from the collision I had in Germany) I have never had a flat tyre on a foreign tour. In particular, the brakes and drivetrain performed superbly under some testing conditions. Had a couple of chain drops and needed to tighten the bar bag bracket, and that was it. 
• One annoyance was that kickstand did get a bit loose and I needed to rotate it out the way a few times. However, having the kickstand itself was a boon. I really like not having to find something to lean the bike every time I stop.
• Despite my somewhat heavier and rapidly-approaching-forty-year-old body, athletically and health-wise I was very happy. I generally felt strong and able to handle even quite big climbs. I have heart rate data now, and some of those big climbs are just silly - my heart was just ticking along at <140bpm for hours climbing 7% grades, like I was sitting in the bath. Cardiovascularly our family are pretty lucky (back pain, alcohol and madness, not so much). I did develop a mild cold, really twisted (sprained?) my ankle falling off on a tricky off-road section - not to mention scratching up my arms trying to climb up to that sodding water vat. Most of this was not biking related (or the result of my own stupidity). None of it stopped me riding, or even made me pause and be more careful - I need to look after myself more in this regard.

• My metabolism remains beastly high and if I exercise at this rate and don't eat much weight will fall off me. This is a double-edged sword, as once I run a real calorie deficit I will become ravenously hungry and get lightheaded and irrational, just like when I was younger (haven't felt this for a few years). Still it's nice to lose the weight. 
• Speaking of irrational, note to self: thirst make Jon go crazy. To this end, the LifeStraw was amazing. It really made me confident to drink from just about anywhere, without the inconvenience (and frankly, yukkiness) of chemical treatment. Spain is also fantastic for free drinking water and fountains in towns, and there are lots of drinkable springs in the mountains in Green Spain. I did not have to buy bottled water once (other than to replace my lost bottle!). An environmental win.
• Likewise, despite being pretty cavalier with the water I drank, I never got sick. Similarly, though I was really scorched by the sun some days - I didn't get sunburned at all (though I did have to pay 25 euros to get good sun lotion in the pharmacy).
• Spanish food is amazing, and is so easy to get hold of. It is amazingly convenient that the culture is to eat so late - the fear of rolling into a place at 8pm and not being able to get food disappears (in fact, you'll struggle to find any locals eating that early!).
• It's really interesting intersecting with the Camino, but just generally people were very friendly and approachable. I biked together with people I'd just met twice this time, which is unusual for me as I'm a bit of an introvert - it was a nice change. It was fun using some of the pilgrim infrastructure, and staying in the albergue.
• The variety of accommodation was great. Wild camping is totally viable in the mountains. The Paradors are amazing and an absolute steal value-wise if you pay in advance.  Spain seems to have some of the best campsites I've come across, and really cheap: I think the average was about 12 euros. Just watch out for crazy Englishmen putting their bike shorts over your floodlights in the middle of the night.
• Spain is still cheap. I struggled to spend more than 15 euros on a meal, and this was with a couple of drinks. Even really fancy places would only charge 2.50 for a beer.
• The mountains could be tough - even bigger than I'd anticipated. But, I surprised myself by actually making myself be flexible in my plans - and I have no regrets! If I'd forced myself over the Picos west of Potes I'd never have gone into Leon and Riano, which was one of the most spectacular days of the tour. It was great to take rest days and swim on the north coast.
• I think my days of 130km+ days fully loaded may be at an end. It's just too much of a slog for me now. On the other hand, I think my climbing ability is better than its ever been. I have never climbed passes like the ones on this trip - and I think I was doing much more than even Shauinsland in the Black Forest, my bete [foret] noir. I do wonder if I should seriously slim down how much I'm carrying though. 20kg feels like a lot.
• I think I got the technology balance just right. I liked having the laptop, most of the time it stayed in my pannier, and then I could have a self-contained session of booking stuff/journal writing when I wanted to - it wasn't as intrusive or distracting as using the phone (and was just a better user experience too). I had no real problem keeping it or my other tech charged, which meant I didn't have to obsess/plan around charging it - again, making the technology work for me. Navigationally, my Garmin Fenix watch was an absolute star, just incredibly helpful and also interesting/useful for monitoring elevation (the most important thing in the mountains). I found and navigated to several accommodation options just using the watch - that was how I knew the Pilgrim's albergue existed. I was simultaneously really glad to have paper maps, that allowed me to plan major route changes with confidence.
• Driving back was a good idea. I really enjoyed not having to take a train back via Madrid, and lug the bike between platforms.

The main downsides is this has been a tour of me losing stuff. A short list of things I stupidly lost or left behind:

1. My trouser clip (crawling around on car deck looking for bike on ferry)
2. My water bottle (dropped in farmer's water vat when I was crazy with thirst)
3. My dinner knife (left behind in Pilgrims' albergue)
4. My bike shorts (too embarrassed to retrieve after use as a lamp-shade)
5. My phone (left in hire car)