Knights and Bikes

Camino Day 4 – Foncebadon to Ponferrada
Kms 27

The dark morning is cold here in the mountains. Frostiest morning on a more or less hot trip. The downside of our private space in the Yoga studio was that well, there was a Yoga class in our bedroom at 8:00am which meant we had to feed the kids and get them packed and ready to bike by eight. Wow, we’re getting better at this! We had to hurry it out by the light of the moon. I have mentioned of course that the moon is up until 9:00? We then had granola and yogurt with the hippie’s who were listening to Bob Marley of course and then we were off.

Off meant down the most beautiful descent but it was pretty scary. It felt like we were going down the incline of a black-diamond ski-hill only we had to stop often to cool our breaks. It was literally like descending the alps. Steep, waterfalls, tiny mountain roads and very intense while Kathryn was having the time of her life. There was literally 2 hours with no pedaling.

Lunch was by the river in Maconda where my children tried to swim in the freezing ice-water of the mountain stream. We arrived in Ponferrada to a very welcoming auberge and a great town. They have a castle from the era of the Templar Knights and we had an excellent dinner in the plaza overlooking the town and then the kids climbed olive trees until and then we watched a make-shift theatre production in by the Castle that never started until 9:00 pm so whe had to leave for the kids bed-time.

We put the kids to bed and then I went downstairs and shared a snack with Ruth and Jules, Miriam and her friend. Jules is from Britain and has to have a surgery in a few months on his back and they told him he had to get his body-weight down for the surgery so he decided to walk the Camino to accomplish this. The dedication of those that walk the camino is unbelievable. Miriam is from Belgium and in her early thirties. Her husband could not get the time off work so she is walking the Camino alone. She’s kind and takes an interest in the kids. Ruth and I went back upstairs and passed the chart showing the inclines of the the days ahead. We gulped, shook our heads and went to bed with visions of mountain passes in our heads.

Ponferrada has a great hostel and is a definite stop to see the sites in this medieval town. The books all warn you about directions and well….they are all true. Be prepared to ask for directions on the way in and out of town.