Some statistics

Total distance travelled in 10 days: 478 miles or 770 km.
Total amount of climbing in 10 days: 26,308 ft.
Maximum climb in 1 day: 4,383 ft on 27/8/15. (Most I have ever done in UK = 2,588 ft)
Maximum elevation above sea level: 4,938 ft.

Arrival in Santiago de Compostela

Yesterday we eventually arrived! We made it in 10 days rather than 11.
Our wives,  Linda & Fran and our friends, Debbie & Malcolm were at the entrace to th city to cheer us in.
We then queued at Officine Peregrino to get our Compostela.
We were very tired but glad to have arrived & seeing our loved ones!
Today we went to the Missa Peregrinos & we were fortunate enough to see the Botafumeiro.
Photos to follow.

Friday - a recovery day

This morning. Even though we had a good nights sleep, our legs were tired before we even set out at 8:30.we did 38 miles of repeated 5km sections of first steep climbing and then descents arriving in Palas de5 Rei.
We got our clothes washed, and found a hostelthis is a picture of Andy in a hat some locals lent him last night!

Thjrsday - Samos

In the evening we had a walk around,  and found a HUGE Benedictine monastery.  It was as big as a city! We, by chance, went into the church to discover Mass had just started. There was a recording playing of some superb gregorian plain chant.
But then we realksed that the beautiful singing was, in fact, the monks! It was absolu stunning to be in this huge church 5 with the singkng & the fantastic atmosphere.

Justgiving page

If you want to sponsor us:
https://www.justgiving.com/Martin-Dearnley1/

2 mountains.....

Today has been a VERY tough day.
On the Camino there are 2 mountains greater than 1,300m. Cruce de Ferro & Alto de Pyo.
We did the Cruce de Ferro yesterday.
The guide books say DO NOT try to do both mountains in consequetive days.
So guess what we did........
Garmin Connect (click)
We climbed continuously for 40 miles in 5 hours without respite. It was a very tough day of 54 miles including the mountain.  We are now in Samos. Tired but well and proud of what we've achieved.

Famous Cruce Ferro

Today we left the hippy commune. No milk, no black tea, no butter. Just oatflakes muesli & soya milk!
We set off up the  1,505m high mountain which has the highest point of the Camino, the Cruce de Ferro. Where pilgrims bring a stone from home, say a special prayer, & leave the stone at the foot of the cross.
It took us 4  hours to reach this altitude, the highest I have ever been on a bike. Andy found it very emotional.
 Garmin Connect (click)
We placed the stones we brought from home at the foot of the cross, with the special prayer. We are now in Ponferrado, staying in a hostel, very pleased with what we achieved today.
Both well, but I have pressure sores on my but cheeks. Painful but I am managing by scrupulous cleaning & application of moisturising cream.
Some photos:

More photos

Later the same day - long distance!

Today we have done a record distance of 64 miles.
We are staying in a unique albergue in Hospital de Orbigas.
It is like stepping back into a 60s commune. They have a communal vegetarian meal in the evening. No cost. Make a donation!
There are yoga lessons at 18:30. People are sitting around on cushions, joss sticks are burning, it is like a hippy commune. Amazing!
We are chatting with Joshua, a born - again christian from kentucky 24 year old guy talking about spiritualty. Cool.

LEON a good day!

After a good nights sleep we had an early star. Thank the Lord the dredful,  tiring, headwind has gone! We made tremendous progress, arriving in Leon, 42 miles, at 12:30.
We will grab a bit of lunch & try to get some more miles in before we find somewhere to sleep.
The weather is fantastic,  no wind, sunny 26 deg.
If ezery day had been like today this trip would not have been such a challenge.
We met, in the cathedral, Michael. A young German who spent some time with,2 days ago, in Boadilla Del Camino. It is a small wold as that was 140 km away.
Leon is a very large, busy city but very nice.

Sunday Mass

Yesterday, it being sunday, we were conscious of the need to find a Mass but westill needed to be on therod travelling.
So at each village wepassed through we biked up to the medieval church which is in each village to see if there was a mass. Most had not thing xt the righy5 time. Then at 11:55 we decided to enter a pretty village. All the local villagers were filing into church so we followed in our cycling gear. It caused quite a stir! First we were asked (inspanish) if we were looking round or going to Miss a i said we were going to Missa and we attended a lovely mass. The people all cameto speak with un (no English)) and the priest cameand made a great fuss of us, they normally never had any visir0tors. They sent out into the village to find a "cello" stamp for our credentials. 

Some photos

Windy again today but not so bad

Today we have travelled over many miles of high windy plains. Still with strong winds against us slowing us down considerably. We are staying in a hostel in  Sahagun. We are both well and eating & drinking well. The weather has been very cold (surptisingly) & windy but pleasant

Meeting interesting people

Last night in a little albergue in Boadilla del Camino we had a great communal meal.  Probably 16 people from all over the world all gathered together. There was a ynoung Australian woman who had ben hit by a truck in Adel aide and was trribly injured, now recovered,she got a big insurance payout & is just travelling. There was a italian guy aged 21 who set off on the Cmino in Novefmber just for a couple of weeks_ still walking. There was n american couple. An Hungariaxn oman who was a chef at tbhe Savoy, quit her job to do the Camino. Michal, the young german who cycled frgom Stuttgrt nd ha been cycling for 8 weeks. Today we met a young man fron Japan who quit his job as a firefighter in Japan to walk thr Camino. It is amazing, some of the stories we have heard.

Very windy tough day

Today we are sleeping at Boadillo del Camino in a little albergue.
All day we have been battling against powerful westerly winds in our face the whole time. It was like constantly cycling uphiill. On the flat we were struggling to do 6 to 8 mph. Very tiring!
We are meeting lots of interest people on the road. We are both still on good terms. Nobody been murdered (yet!). 

Day 3 Burgos

Today has been a great day! Following a good nights sleep in a kind of a hotel/hostal run by Cistercian sisters in santa Doningo de Calzada we set off this morning refreshed. It is much cooler today, around 28 so more pleasant for cycling. We climbed a montain on the biked to 1050 METRES not feet before finally arriving in Burgos. This is a large attractive city with a massive ornate cathedral. We have now got 8 cellos on our credential. We are staying in a simple hostel in Burgos.

D

just random photos as it is difficult to work with files in Google blogs

Friday 21st

Today has been a much better day. We started earlir, paced ourselves better. But the heat is draining.  This evening we are staying in Santo de Domingo de la Calzada in a hotel run by Cistercian Nuns as I slapt badly in the  albergue last night. We are washing our clothes. All is going well but tough. The hills are something we have not seen before and the bikes are heavy.
I have discarded half of what i brought from the UK to try to save weight. We are both well, but tired. 

Chick peas & sausage soup

Chicchic pea and sausage

Day 1 first time i ave cycled when our beards have grown  faster than the average MPH

A verydifficult but rewarding day, more to come

Finished off with cick pea and sausage soup folowed by salmon and a bottle f wine. 10 € each
Andy

Day from Hell!

This has been a terrible day. Far far harder than we thought. Mile after mile of climbing. We will try to upload slme photos.
We are both well but tired. We are in Torres del Rio.
To explain: imagine cycling up and down storrs hill in 33 deg for 6 hours while carrying sacks of bricks!

Arrived in Madrid & Pamplona

We arrived in Madrid safely.  Got the Metro by mistake which cost us an hour.
Waiting at the mainline station for RENFE train to Pamplona
. We are still speaking!
In Pamplona we stayed in a nice albergue: Ibarrola

Sponsorship status

We are raising money for MacMillan nurses as Andy's family & my family have been touched by this year.

As of today, our sponsorship money stands at more than £3,000 which is fantastic!
We are just ready to go now and get started. Everybody has been extremely generous.
Our justgiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/Martin-Dearnley1/

 

Preparation for the trip

This is a test for a blog following Martin Dearnley & Andy Lowrey during their almost 500 mile trip from Pamplona to Sanntiago de Compostela in Spain commencing 19th August 2015.