Estella

September 24, 2023

Hopefully it’s not too early to crow about how well-timed this tour is weatherwise. All along I’ve had the thought that starting in northern Spain in early September would be just about right, cooled down enough here by then for comfortable cycling; and we’d just follow the season south, letting the days shorten and the temperatures drop until reaching Valencia at the end of next month. With luck we’d have ideal conditions the whole way.

So far, almost two weeks into the tour it’s playing out perfectly. Except for a couple of brief damp spells that were easy enough to work around we’ve had one fine day after another with highs in the mid seventies and with another two weeks straight like this aheadin the forecast. Looking further south to Teruel where we’ll be in another two weeks, it’s about ten degrees warmer now. By the time we get there it should be perfect too.

In the original plan, we’d hit Valencia in late October and then spend a couple of weeks in Mallorca and then bike west toward Malaga; which at that time of year would likely be ideal too. Now that we’re here I have some regrets about cutting the tour short of that and am sorry we’re coming home as soon as we are. My health is doing surprisingly well, and I’m wishing I’d scheduled myself for the ablation procedure a few weeks later so we could at least include Mallorca.

Too bad, but there’s nothing to be done about it now. And in any case, I’m sure Mallorca will be pretty great too when we’re back in late February.

All of which is to say that we’ve got a pretty slow news day on our hands here, with not much to report other than another beautiful ride in beautiful weather, still swimming upstream into the parade of pilgrims walking the other way toward far off Santiago. I could have just shown you some photos and called it good, but that just didn’t feel right.

This one’s going our way, and somehow caught up with us on this bit of a hill.

Another gorgeous day. It’s a bit chilly at the start, but doesn’t take long to warm up to the comfort zone. The outer layers come off halfway up the first hill.

Looking to the north. As Rachael’s noticed from time to time, we do get some wind here.

There’s a bit of climbing with today’s ride, but the views help distract you.

Los Arcos, another stop on the Way. By chance we’re here at precisely noon again just like yesterday in Navarette, just in time to hear another repetitive set of bells ring out the hour.

We’ve seen many stork nests, but no storks so far. Wrong season for that, apparently.

The last climb of the day. Estella’s just beyond the ridge ahead.

Dropping toward Estella. Not a bad backdrop for your stroll to Santiago, is it?

Video sound track: Choro, by Vince Guaraldi & Bola Sete

As per plan, we arrive right at lunch time and head straight to the restaurant Rachael scoped out, La Cepa. It faces the Plaza de los Fueros, and we lock up the bikes against a post there and then we grab an empty table in front. When Rachael opens up the menu with her phone though she turns up her nose at the weird choices listed. It turns out that we’re sitting at a different place that just serves outdoors. La Cepa is indoors only and upstairs, so we quickly relocate, happy that no one has come by to service our table yet.

We’d have a nice view of the plaza and the church of San Juan Bautista if we ate here, but we don’t stay long.

La Cepa serves in a large, nearly empty hall. There’s only one other couple dining so far, but we’re lucky to get in because the table we get looks like the last one free. Everything else is reserved, and by the time we leave the place is fully packed. And we’re really lucky to have gotten in because La Cepa serves us up the best meal of the tour so far. It won’t surprise me if it’s the best of the entire tour when we’re done. Excellent enough that you’ll want to see the whole thing.

The meal starts with a roll and a bottle from Viana, where we stayed last night. Maybe we should have ordered what they’re having, Rachael wonders?

Our excellent starters: borage(?), beans and clams.

It’s not far past three when we’re done - enough day left for us to explore the town, which we’ll come back to later. First though we bike a few blocks to the Carrafour Express that’s fortunately open on a Sunday afternoon so we can pick up goods for tomorrow’s breakfast; and then we bike a few blocks more to our apartment, which is a perfectly fine place; and then we crash for a couple of hours and wait for our lunchtime splurge to wear off.

Outside our apartment, waiting for our host to arrive. He’s calling up a couple of floors to his friends to come down and join him for a game of street ball, which they soon do.

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Ride stats today: 24 miles, 1,900’; for the tour: 582 miles, 14,800’

Today's ride: 24 miles (39 km)
Total: 572 miles (921 km)

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