September 12, 2013
Molinaseca: A short day of spectacular mountains
Yesterday afternoon when we arrived in Rabanal I breezed into the Hostal but oh no they were full and so were all the other similar places in Rabanal. However there is an Albergue there and very good it was to. It is the one run by the British Confraternity of St James and the volunteers there at the moment are from Ireland. Out the back is a lovely garden with ripe plums dropping on the ground. At 4.30pm tea is served in true English style with homebaked muffins. The whole place was very clean and the bunks particularly comfortable (16 bunks in our room). A monastery is next door with an order of German Monks who at 7pm each evening sing vespers – Gregarian Chants in the original Latin. The little chapel is very old and simple, looking inside as if it is carved out of rock and lit by candles. You certainly felt as if you were well back in the centuries. Dinner was our usual pilgrim meal, we really are eating too much. We had it with Rob a fellow cyclist from Britain who gave us the good news that Team New Zealand is beating Oracle 4.1 in the Americas Cup.
The ride this morning started with a 290metre climb to Cruz del Ferro. This is an iron cross at the top of the mountain where pilgrims have traditionally left a stone that they have brought from home. The climb was hard but manageable and I felt very proud of myself in that I got up fairly easily be it very slowly in my lowest gear ( we climbed the 290m in under an hour). However the mountain went down a bit then up again before the real excitement of the steepest 15km downhill I have ever experienced. We went through some gorgeous little stone villages with overhanging wooden balconies. They look as if you are way back in the days of the Gregorian Chants. We were heading for Ponferrada, which is a fairly big city, but when we came to Molinaseca the last of the little villages before it our wheels refused to go past it. We had only done 25km but this place is lovely and so much nicer than staying in a big city
Today's ride: 25 km (16 miles)
Total: 2,511 km (1,559 miles)
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