Day 11: Hills of Galicia (Triacastela to Melide)
Distance: 59.5 miles / 96km
Climbing: 5769′ / 1758m
Challenging rocking trails in Galicia.
This same small car was there seven years ago on my first Camino.
Today was the longest of the trip so far, also with a lot of climbing. Galicia’s riding has proven to be harder than I expected, and part of the reason is that I’m trying to finish a day early to beat a big rainstorm on Tuesday.
I’ve been trying to ride the walking trails as much as possible, and it seems that most cyclists are riding the roads, even those with mountain bikes and suspension. I think I only saw 2-3 bikes on the trails today at all, and then many more on roads and at cafes in town.
At one point I came across two parents and their 3 year old son in an all-terrain stroller with had a flat tire. They seemed utterly stranded along the way, and I was glad to be able to patch it for them. It seemed to be holding air in the end, even though the tube looked very old and dried out. They called me their “salvador,” and I was glad to be able to help.
From the town of Sarria, which is the starting point for walking pilgrims to be able to get their Compostela (certificate of completion), the paths became very full with new walkers and Camino bus tourists walking a short section. This made the going slow, and I even encountered one tourist who wasn’t familiar with the repeated sound of a ringing bike bell, and finally when I found a way to pass him, said in English, “well, I guess that’s what that sound means.”
Creative sign in Sarria
Beautiful stone-lined trails in Galicia.
Clever pilgirms.
Most of today’s ride wound through small Galician farming villages and switched between dirt farm tracks/trails and small roads. There was a fairly long downhill section to Portomarin, and then an equally challenging climb afterwards. I wasn’t expecting the day’s climbing to top yesterday with the major pass at O’Cebereiro, but in the end my GPS read 5769′.
Bridge into Portomarin.
Top of the long climb out of the Portomarin valley.
Paso del Hormiga.
I arrived at 6:30pm quite tired, my legs still feeling the previous day’s climbing too. It took a while to check all the details for the guidebook and keep forward progress on the slow moving trails. I still had to have the energy to head out and east some of Melide’s famous octopus/pulpo. There is a “fiesta del vino” happening throughout the town, with many teenagers in costumes and fireworks overhead.
Pulpo in Melide.
From here, it’s a familiar 50km to Santiago, and the last part is mostly on roads so it should go fast. I’m looking forward to arriving in Santiago after a challenging ride! I’m going to take a rest day to wait out the rain, and then head west to the coast over the next 2-3 days.
