Yesterday evening we found a large stone key. We didn’t see the lock.

Some art stuff from our evening stroll around Ona:

Quiz. How many trees are in this pic?

A later start to the day today following a very late dinner last night as the restaurant didn’t open until 2045! Then we need to await to retrieve our bikes from the hostel/restaurant’s bottle store across the plaza at 0800. It was an odd storage arrangement parking up against bar stock, but it was secure.

A fair bit of climbing today across our 60km ride – about 800m of climbing . However, the climbs arrived in more welcoming packets so took a lower toll on the legs and other body parts. We stopped off for a bar lunch comprising of similar micro lunches as described previously.

The scenery opened up to crop lands, and we cycled alongside a via verde for a fair bit and caught a glimpse of a fella we met yesterday (not reported in blog) whizzing along on his e-bike. The via verde is a gravel track and more suited to a mountain bike or walking. We prefer the empty roads. The roads are very well surfaced. The cars were faster today, but still giving plenty of room in passing. Also more trucks on the road now the working week has started again.

The hillsides are scarred with lots of what I’m fairly sure is limestone, this appears white and little grows in it.

We travelled through many villages today, all with very little sign of life. We were lucky to find one place open. Most appear deserted – maybe we are passing through too early in the morning and/or perhaps people are travelling out of the village for work. There are also a fair number of 1/2 built houses or flats that have just been left to the elements.

Some more pics of the lovely scenery. The last one shows the via verde running parallel with the road we rode.

We are now in Burgos, a big city, for two days. Yes, we have a day of rest already! So tomorrow we will have a nose about.