Day 10: Climbing into Galicia (Ponferrada to Triacastela)

Distance: 51.5 miles / 83km

Climbing: 5157′ / 1561m

It was a challenging day for sure, the most climbing of any day other than the pass over the Pyrenees.. Leaving Ponferrada, the path was mostly on roads until the last bit into Villafranca, easy riding and nice to make good time. From Villafranca, the route followed a bike lane along a road deep in a valley that slowly worked its way up towards the base of the climb.

The most interesting and spectacular part of the day was the climb up to O’Cebreiro. From Herrerias, there is soon an option to leave the paved road to the L if you re walking, or stay on the road if you are on a bike. The turn is clearly and boldly painted on the road, not officially, but it was a strong message. I remember the path from Herrerias to La Faba being quite rocky, narrow and steep, so I decided to take the road. It was a good incline on the pavement, winding up to another turnoff with bike directions painted to the left, and a sign to the La Faba albergue. I decided to head into La Faba to see the town and reassess the trail.

When I was in the center of the village, I saw a group of mountain bikers coming down from the pass, and they said that I should be able to make the climb. I decided to go for it, remembering it to be a bit wider than the lower section. It was rocky for the first 100m or so, and then became much more ridable, something that a jeep should have no problem doing. It’s a great section of trail if you have the energy for it, and opens up more and more as you climb, eventually reaching the village of La Laguna, where it meets the same road again and you can choose either parallel way. I chose the trail again and it was great.

At the top of the pass, you enter the region of Galicia, the final region of the Camino that takes you to Santiago and the coast. From here the riding was great, a bit rougher trails, but many ups and downs that were manageable given the overall descending grade of the rest of the day. There was one climb up to Alto de Poio, which seemed to be the steepest I encountered so far. I almost made it, but when my tires kept spinning, I decided to walk.

The descent down to Triacastela was spectacular, a little rough at parts but very manageable on my bike. I shot some GoPro footage that I’ll have to add a bit later. In Triacastela, I stayed at Complexo Jacobeo, which let me lock the bike inside the main area of the albergue, and has a great companion restaurant nearby. I managed to meet up with the Swiss cyclist I had seen on the first day from France, and we enjoyed looking back on the trip and comparing experiences. The food was so good I decided to also get breakfast there the next morning. From here,  Santiago is about 130km, and it feels like the end is in sight. My legs ached a bit after the day, but was glad to be pushing harder to reach the end.