June 19, 2024
Mundaka to Bilbao
Our last day of riding! Sad, because the trip will be over, but looking forward to some proper rest and to seeing our granddaughter again. She's changing so fast as her first birthday approaches!
Our host at Mundaka Surf Camp was very interested in our route and approved of the plan, saying we were taking the best, most scenic way.
The first 4 km, from Mundaka to Bermio, was busier than we'd like, but the traffic was very light after that and remained so until we hit the Bilbao suburbs.
The top of the first climb was a viewpoint but the view of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe wasn't as good as it had been on the climb and the parking area was mostly occupied by (empty) tour buses. Al, of course, had arrived there first and saw the summit sign, obscured by buses. I was more interested in seeing San Juan de Gaztelugatxe itself.
I'd seen the hermitage on its rocky islet from the road in 2016 and wondered why there were so very many people visiting. The parking lot was jammed with buses and cars so I didn't venture in. Researching now, I see that it wasn't yet a filming location for Game of Thrones; filming happened in August 2016 and I passed by in July. We learned last night that you now need to book a (free) timed admission. Of course, there were no times available for this morning so we would have to content ourselves with seeing it from a distance.
In 2016 I was still navigating with a paper map for the big picture and my Garmin to record my ride and show me where I was. Now, though, I research and create our routes at home and I'd found a small road that essentially paralleled the highway from the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe parking lot. We weren't sure whether we'd be permitted to ride on it and it certainly wasn't signposted other than the Spanish version of "no unauthorized vehicles" but we assumed that applied to motor vehicles and continued down on our bikes. It was a good decision. There was even a path through the trees at one point to a great viewing area.
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4 months ago
The narrow road rejoined the highway just above Bakio.
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We picked up some dürüms at a döner/kebab place in Gorliz to eat at the beach. They were messy to eat but very tasty!
We followed the waterside cycle path from the beach and up the Plentzia Estuary as it zigzagged inland. Very pretty at (presumably) high tide.
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Traffic increased as we reached the top of the ridge, our last climb. We passed a sign that looked like it was for a park or sight but the single word on the sign was "Flysch". That didn't seem to be Spanish or Basque so I looked it up. It refers to the type of rock we've been seeing along this coast since the Corniche Basque.
As we came through Larrabasterra and the road we were on was about to become much busier, we were caught by surprise by a left turn lane for bikes only. A car behind me had been hanging back; I suspect the driver was a local, and perhaps also a cyclist, and was giving me space to move left. However, I didn't know the left turn was coming and we were caught on the right shoulder, waiting for a gap in traffic so we could cross to the cyclists-only left-turn bay. Once we managed that turn, we were on cycle paths and quiet streets almost all the way to Bilbao, the exceptions being along the Nervión River where the cycle and pedestrian paths are under construction.
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Our hotel is conveniently right on the cycle path and we had ridden this route as our shakeout ride before loading our bikes and starting the tour, so it was an easy, fast spin into Bilbao.
We arrived with plenty of time to clean up and relax and go for a walk into the Abando district for a celebratory beer. Later, we ate at the same Italian chain restaurant we went to on our first full day in Bilbao.
Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 2,220 km (1,379 miles)
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4 months ago