Day 105: Ponferrada (Drive/Cycle)

A drive in the morning, followed by a ride in the afternoon, with a wee snooze in between.

I was up early (for me 7am is early!) and started driving shortly after 9am. The roads were quiet and some were in quite bad repair. Indeed, there was a 12 mile-ish long section of road where even the repaired potholes had potholes. Maximum speed was about 30 mph!

It is quite odd that until recently I thought Spanish roads were generally pretty well maintained. Driving this past month or so has proven to me that this is definitely not the case. And you think the U.K has a pothole problem, it seems to me to be much worse out here in Spain!

On arriving in Ponferrada, feeling tired, I had a short snooze before setting off on this afternoon's cycle.

It wasn't a complicated ride. Basically it was an out and back again to the pass that is: Peña de la Escurpia (Elevation: 1499 metres). About a 915 metres of ascent over 14 kilometres. Be warned, after pueblo
El Acebo (about 4 kilometres from the pass), there are some steep ramps; the maximum being 15%.

I cycled a little beyond the pass to photograph the infrastructure located at Peña Llabaya:

... You don't get any masts for days and then, all of a sudden, you get two in a row!

Many a walker was spotted during the ride. Unbeknownst to me before I embarked on today's ride, was that my route intersected multiple times with the route of the Camino de Santiago!

• Distance driven: 99 miles
• Distance cycled: 43 kilometres
• Weather:-
  • General Conditions: Overcast when I set off .... the sun did come out shortly after I'd returned to the van.
  • Temperature: About 13.5°C when I set off, and was about 11°C on the descent. Can't complain, the forecast predicted 7°C and "feels like" 3°C!
  • Wind (Beaufort): Gentle to moderate breeze.
• Location: Google Maps

Today's route: