Day 15 As Catedrales to Montenedo Thursday, June 19

 

Lucinda with the charm I gave her for helping us.

We left the Green Coast of Spain today and turned sharply inland into the green mountains of Galicia. Truly a turning point on our trip. More than once have we wondered if we would make it this far. Doubt creeps in like an insidious snake looking to strike in a moment of weakness. After two very long, very hard days we had a shorter day today, only rolling outward 28 miles and upward 3000 ft. The fog over the coast this morning was cool and wispy like the vapor of sublimated air over dry ice. 

We knew we had a shorter day today so we rolled out a bit late and by the time we mounted our rails, the fog had lifted giving way to the heavier vapors of the coastal cloud-cover.The first five miles were precious. Rolling along the coast with no traffic on flat roads and the most incredible ocean scenery you can imagine. We stopped at a cafe which, much to our dismay, was closed but afforded us the chance to dismount and look eastward along the miles of sandy beaches we had ridden by for the past two weeks, and say our last goodbyes. It literally brought tears to our eyes.  

Now heading south we could see the farmlands and mountains of Galicia rising before us. Climbing ahead. We rode with a sense of earned confidence that even though today would be one of two days with steep hills we knew we could handle it. That and the fact that Fernando, the owner of Hotel Playa de Catedrales, where we had stayed the night before, graciously took the time to help us plan a route that kept us off the national highway. We have had some truly nightmarish experiences on the national highway (think riding a packed mountain bike on I-17 to Flagstaff). Fernando ‘s route kept us on quiet country roads through tiny villages and rural farmlands (more about that in a minute). 

We were lulled into a false sense of certainty causing us to miss several turns due to momentary lapse of attention . The climbs were steep rising up through dark primeval forests like ones you read about in  Brothers Grimm.

 We rode through tiny villages that had only a few cottages, a church and a cemetery. We came to the church of San Esteban where we stopped on the behalf of my dear friend Steve Chesser’s brother, Chris Chesser. Steve had given me a marble to carry for him on this journey in memory of his brother. I placed the marble in a crevice of the wall in front of the little 13th century church where it will be guarded in perpetuity by St. Steven. 

When we left the church, things got interesting.  It seems that Google maps dropped the peaceful route that Fernando had planned for us and we found ourselves in the middle of rural Galicia with no gps and surprisingly many little roads that lead to other little roads that lead to farms that lead to dead ends that lead to nowhere.  After circling around for a little while we turned on GPS.  I saw a village woman working in her yard a called to her “Senora, puedes ayuda me por favor?  Soy perdido.”  She checked her barking dogs and came down from her cottage. I explained where I was trying to go in the best Spanish I could muster and after about half an hour of gesticulation and conversation she got us pointed in the right direction. Lucinda, another angel guarding our path, pointing the way. 

We made our way to the shadow of Our Lady of the Annunciation aka the Basillica of Mondonedo. A fabulous 13th century work featuring a combination or Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic architecture. We settled in for the night with the church guarding us outside the balcony of our little room. 

 From our balcony.