Day 2: Pamplona to Lorca (42km)

A change of strategy today. I worked on slowing down a bit.

Although it started in the opposite way; just after setting off I glanced at the speedometer and according to it I was cycling the streets of Pamplona at something like 100 km/h! That seemed just a little excessive so I stopped, only to find I was still going at high speed (at least according to the speedometer). Without going into my troubleshooting techniques, suffice to say that I got it working again. Recommendation: avoid Katmandu brand cycling equipment.

I cycled following the Camino marked route, which meant I was led on a wandering path through the city and out into the countryside. I soon was on gravel and then rough stone paths, not ideal for a road bike but a good way to slow down. It also meant I interacted with many fellow Camino travelers, although mostly to ring my bell and then wish them 'buen Camino' as I rode by. Although I was prepared for some level of antagonism since I was a 'Bicigrino' and not a true 'Pellegrino', I found none. Everyone was very friendly.

But the rain followed me the whole day. And there were a lot of hills again, just to keep me interested.

At the Monumento Perigrino the wind and rain came with a vengeance. And interestingly, throughout the day I kept hearing about the massive storm the day before in the Pyrenees. I thought to myself "so I wasn't imaging it".

And then I had a 'Camino moment'. I rang my bell coming up behind a guy in a red technical jacket walking rather purposefully and when I got next to him and wished him buen Camino it turned out to be Joseph, the guy I had shared dinner with the night before. He'd obviously had an early start to make it this far. So we walked / rode together for a while talking.

The Italian bikers were a different breed. Not a word of English and speed seemed to be their only objective. One did say (in mime) that he'd climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge though.

I had thought I might make it to Estella, the end of day five on the standard walk, but about 10 km out, at about 4pm, I suddenly thought about slowing down again. Lorca was the next town and I turned off the path on the spur of the moment.

A different world to yesterday. I am staying in an albergue with bunk beds and shared everything. When I asked whether they still had a bed they said " yes, but you'll have to sleep in a room with only girls". It seemed like a reasonable deal to me.