It has belted down all day, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, but not really stopped except for 10 minutes at a great stopping point. I've taken two photos all day.
The bike was all loaded by a very lazy 10am. I had deliberated about staying where I was, but decided that wasn't acceptable at all, so brushed off my absolute dislike of being cold and soaked and set off into the grey cold and miserable day.
Overnight heavy rain and high winds have started to cause a lot of flooding here, the rivers are over their banks and the fields and in one case, a whole playground, was under water. I gave the TET route a nod, but that was about it. Tarmac all day long, well almost!
First to Lugo, 120km away from Ponteferrada, (where I'd spent last night). I was soaked through to my undies with no waterproof trousers and getting really cold, so a coffee and some Tortilla in a nice warm cafe seemed to do the trick and I set off again to Santiago De Compostela, roughly the same distance again. Same thing, really wet and cold. The rain showers seemed heavier and more prolonged on this leg. As I zipped past on the motorway, I saw a Decathlon and heading into there with the hope of finding some cheap overtrousers. Much joy and 20 euro lighter and I now have a spangly set of cycling waterproof trousers. I should go faster and look leaner now!
Feeling warmer, especially since I remembered the Adventure Spec waterproof jacket had a hood designed to go under a helmet, how much heat does that keep in! So, my goal finally coalesced in to reaching the most westerly point of Spain, which happened to be 45 miles away.
No matter how hard I tried to navigate towards it though, I always seemed to be going in the wrong direction. First on a Payage motorway heading south, then winding through villages whose exits always went east or south. Some perseverance saw me get onto the right road at last and I wound down to a lighthouse perched on a little peninsula called Faro Tourinan.
Ironically, this was the only dry part of the day. The waves were crashing into the rocks and the place felt wild. Sunlight and rain showers danced across that rather angry looking sea and the swell crashed into the granite cliffs underneath the lighthouse. A truly fitting turn around point!
Back to Santiago, (via a short but fun section of the Camino route), using the Satnav part of the GPS, I should have tried this earlier!. Once back, I rode around for ages trying to find somewhere to stay. You can tell it's the off season. Finally found a 3 star hotel with an underground garage, 36 euros for me, 8 euros for the bike in a heated space no less!
Tomorrow is looking to be the only dry day in the next week, so I'm heading south to Portugal chasing some sunshine and hopefully to get back on the TET. Tarmac is OK to get you to places, but it is a soulless journey.
Anyhoo, here is the pictures! I'm going for a beer now!
