clairedavieswriter

Today was a day of cols, coasts, cracking good cycle paths, and some proper Basque weather. I knew we were in for some climbing and had been preparing Jon for the worst well in advance. My warnings seemed justified when we realised we were on a Tour de France route (Trabakua is the name of the col).

From Durango, we climbed for nearly 12km, on a road with a mercifully generous hard shoulder – and when that was absent, some mercifully patient and careful drivers. Guillaume, clearly contrite about yesterday, found us an excellent traffic free diversion just before the col:

Which came with stunning views:

The weather worsened for a while, but the views kept getting better:

And finally we reached the first col of the day. According to a sign we passed shortly afterwards, Trabakua is actually 440m high, not 427m, but let’s not quibble. And in case you’re wondering, the top number is the distance from the official start of the climb to the summit (ie 5.45k).

Having climbed up one side, we didn’t need to speak Spanish to understand the sign at the top warning of a Pendiente Prolongada 10%. It was an exhilarating descent. As the rain started again, we dived for cover in the world’s best stocked petrol station and celebrated our achievement over coffee and cheese puffs, tempted though I was by a Corny Big.

A few more kilometres, mainly downhill, found us in Ondarroa, its pretty town centre hunkered down in a bend in the river, protected from Atlantic storms.

And beside its fishing port was a very attractive beach, which we admired while eating our picnic lunch in the sunshine.

We laboured up two further cols after that, but the highlight of the afternoon were the cycle paths. I mean just look at them:

This one has to be up there in the list of ‘World’s Finest’:

And as always on a bike, you have the chance to stop and stare:

And search the horizon for tomorrow’s destination…

So despite all the hard work, we ended our ride feeling grateful for the experience. Which seems a good moment to share how to say thank you in Basque – as explained to us by our waitress last night, who wrote it on our table covering, so we wouldn’t forget: Eskarrik asko