We left Leon as they were hosing down the streets! Yes instead of using a broom, they had a preference for a fire hose. We were soon in countryside again, weaving our way through tiny villages that always had a relatively large church compared with the size of the village, just like back in the UK. Note the stork nest. There were a few storks mailing around in there.

Soon it was time for our main breakfast (we had stopped earlier for a quick coffee and tortilla. The tortilla was a freebie! Total cost E2.80, bargain!).

Main breakfast, after 30kms of riding:

This cockerel was wandering around the gardens of the cafe, announcing dawn at 11am!

This is me going into Astorga! Astorga is a walled city in a basin, meaning we had to ride hills to get into and out of it!

Some brilliant murals in Astorga:

Hills are all around us now.

Some roads were OK:

Some roads were fairly rough today. The gravely camino on the right was not a good option for us.

We dropped into this very nice village that had this beautiful long stone medieval bridge. They were all set up for jousting contests just to the left. The jousting history dates back to 1434 when a Leonese knight held a tournament and challenged all men of equal rank who wished to cross the bridge.

A cathedral in Astorga:

We had to take this pedestrian bridge to get across a railway. I noted that the walking pilgrims hobbled more when travelling up the bridge.

Shot of Karen using the rear Garmin lamp, taken after our climb out of Astorga.

Hills getting closer, the roads getting rougher and the mercury is climbing:

Our Scooby snack lunch, part of our life on the road. A picnic lunch means we can stop anywhere.

A nice bell tower, very common design here.

Came across this odd looking pilgrim near our digs.

At the end of the day, we conducted a chain service. We are using a lube that has wax suspended in it called ‘Rock and Roll’. This was a tad overdue, I would normally service about every 2 to 3 days. Old cart was a convenient seat. Another aspect of our life on the road.

Today was 72km, about 45miles, with some 650m of climbing. There is much more to come. We have been deliberately easing ourselves into readiness for some much harder riding, and it’s coming up!

Some people use calories to measure the energy used, but Garmin (bike computer) and Strava (online sharing app) never agree. I’m not being fussy here, picking up on a 1% difference. No, they are often 30% different. Before somebody asks, yes I had ensured all base data is the same. One or both apps are rubbish. So I have an app that calculates the number of beers earned. Today was a 24 beer ride. Now that is something I can relate to. As of writing this blog I have consumed about 2 beers in the bar where I scribe, and like those impending hills, there are more to come.