Day 32 – to Zumaia

103 km
Until Gernika Lumo there were many Spanish cyclists with light racing cycles on the road. Some of the said to me: Mujos pesos. It was not clear in which way they meant this.  Gernika Lumo is on the coastal St James path,  but for me – cycling in the opposite direction it is not possible to follow the path exactly. After a climb from Gernils Lumo my route stayed at about 200 m for a longer distance with an alpine landscape and occasional views to the gulf of Biskaya. But I enjoyed my route. In Lekeito I was directly at the coast again. Every bay wad different and sometimes I. Had a view to the end of the Pyrenees. I’m Deba a climb to about  240 m started u til I came down to ocean level in Zumaia. Oh the weather was very good today. Nearly all the time Sunny. I had one bad experience in Lekeito: On a speed stopped I lost one of my panniers though I was not faster than the allowed 30 km/h. The result was a bend  carrier, that I could reform and some holes in the pannier that felt of the bike and used it surface to stop the movement.
Paul

Day 31 – to Sopela near Bilbao

110 km
The day started with a relatively flat route, but a lot of up and downs of about 120 m height difference followed. In Santoña I had to use a small ferry again. It is not always easy fie cyclists to go on board or to leave the small ship. The destination was a beach with soft sand. The ferryman helped to get the bike over the plank to the beach and thn I had to move the bicycle some 100 m to a timbered pathway. Then a long cycle path along the Playa de el Salvé. The beach was fine, but the buildings near it were ugly apartment houses. In the city of Laredo the track inclined and I had a good view over the bay with the ugly buildings.
The next interesting town was Castro Urdiales with a big church near the harbor..
Some kilometers further the track was directly at the coast on a path that remained on RH same height. A local cyclist warned me in Spanish for stairs. I would have to choose another route. I asked him if the stairs go down or up. As he said down I took the risk.I continued this path and enjoyed the views to the ocean and the rocky coast. The stairs wire nit heavy to master in my direction: I just dismounted and used the brakes to get down step by step. In Zierbiena I had started the route to the next camping. I should have waited until the end of the track in Bilbao. Now my Garmin routed me to the harbour area and I was stopped by security people. They told me, I had to return for ad one kilometers and choose another way.
So I did and used the right road to Portugalete. There I crossed the river by means of an hanging ferry, the Puente Colgantede Bizkaia.
Now the track I followed ended and I routed again tot he target camping that I reached without high efforts.
The rest until Hendaye I have to route myself.
Paul

Day 30 – passed Santander

75 km
The camping was not quiet all night long people were walking, speaking and cleaning the toilets with hoses.
There were also a number of steep ascends that cost time.
Highlight of today was Santillana de la Mar a pilgrims town with a lot more tourists than pilgrims.
In the large town Santander I did not see much interesting buildings on my track. The most well known was the building of the Bank of Santander near the quai for the pedestrians and cyclists ferry to Somo.
From the ferry I had a view to a royal palace on a peninsula. In Somp I went to a camping, because the next camping would be too far (risk of steep hills).
Paul