Day3: 55 kilometers through nothingness

After three stages of his ‘Once to the end of the world – and back’ tour Sigi Grabner has already put 665 kilometers behind him. What he experienced on the third day Sigi disclosed in his blog.

“It’s so easy to make a person happy: food and a hot shower, and the world makes sense again. After 239 kilometers, 2,255 meters in altitude and nine hours and 15 minutes’ riding time I finally have a roof over my head. I had a hell of a day today; I’m dog tired. I’m sitting in a Godforsaken provincial backwater in the boonies, north-west of Burgos, and am gorging on a mountain of rice with a huge piece of barbequed meat, bowl of salad and fruit and am drinking hot tea.

Bad weather with lightning and hail really took it out of me. For fifty-five kilometers between Miranda de Ebro and La Nuez de Arriba I looked for shelter. There wasn’t anything to be found – no village, no gas station … just an endless road for lorries, desolate towns with abandoned houses. A road to die on … the only hotel for miles in Poza de la Sal – closed. The next town had four houses and a church. Two of the houses were abandoned; a place to keel over dead in. Even though they produce Rioja …

And then in Masa I came to a plateau (1050 meters). And what did I see there? Wind turbines wherever I looked. More wind turbines than trees in Styria. And where there are wind turbines there’s wind! Of course. It was exasperating. And then all of a sudden it got dark; storms with hail and lightning broke out so that I couldn’t see or hear anything. I was just able to put my rain coat and helmet cover on – then it really hailed down! No town for miles, no hotel, no food. I was just about ready to flag down a lorry and to get in – it didn’t matter where to.

A woman at a gas station told me that the next town had a private ‘hostal’. So, I was off in a shot. And I landed in Basconcillos del Tozo, in the only ‘establishment’ for 55 kilometers. Of course there’s also no Internet, just a loud circle of men and raw women drinking Rioja, chewing sunflower seeds and spitting the hulls on the floor. The next town is 35 kilometers away, but I’m pooped; I’m staying.

But I want to officially mention something here: Spanish truckers are fantastic, without exception! They’re very considerate when they see a cyclist, don’t harass you, take a wide berth and are really friendly. You don’t find that anywhere else. Amigos siempre!

What else? This morning I rode as far as Estella on a decent breakfast and there I crossed St James’ Way again – officially it’s called Camino de Santiago. I ran into droves of Santiago pilgrims (on a collective hike) and had to flee. From Estella to Sta Cruz another cyclist rode in my slipstream, a French guy from Mulhouse. But after that it got lonely again, westward … nothing except wind turbines and bad storms, abandoned villages, bad roads and a Godforsaken region.

An adventure day. I’m tired and have blisters on my backside. Tomorrow I’m going to recover a bit. Maybe I’ll stop after 180 kilometers and stay in a four-star hotel …”

Sigi Grabner – 05/06/09

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