Day 5 - Across the Gap
Thursday 14th July 2016
It's Bastille Day today but since we are still in Spain it doesn't register here. We are up early. The campsite at Laredo is another one where the shop doesn't open until 9am so we don't wait for that but get packed and on our way soon after 8.
Today we are heading across the gap between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees.
We don't want another day like yesterday. As it turns out today's route is just as far but almost all of it is motorway so the kilometres fly by.
We ride along the spectacular A8 to the outskirts of Bilbao, sometimes riding above rocky Atlantic bays and sandy beaches.
The route skirts Bilbao and drops us onto another fast new motorway past Pamplona. Last year Mick and I rode this way but the motorway was not yet open and the old road was slow with heavy traffic.
Today it is fast, new and exhilarating as we sweep through high-tech tunnels and bypass all the small villages. There is a vicious wind howling down the valleys and canyons and it is difficult to steer the bikes at times.
Eventually the motorway ends and the final 50 kilometres into Jaca is back on the old road. We travel along the shore of a huge lake, a startling aquamarine in colour.
As we emerge from the final tunnel there is a noticeable change in the weather. The wind drops and there isn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature soars for the first time on this holiday.
We shop for food in Jaca and then find our way to Camping Ain. What a cracking little camp site. There is a swimming pool and a quaint old bar. The proprietor is very welcoming and we are soon tents up, shorts on and beer in hand.
Mick is not feeling too good, onset of cold he reckons. Sean heads off for the pool and jumps straight in. I dip my toe in and think better of it. The water is freezing. A man for extremes is our Sean!
Dinner in the camp bar is pasta with tuna, egg and sweet corn for me, large mixed salad for Sean and more dead pig, chips and salad for Mick. Plus beer and wine of course.
We turn in as darkness falls.
It's Bastille Day today but since we are still in Spain it doesn't register here. We are up early. The campsite at Laredo is another one where the shop doesn't open until 9am so we don't wait for that but get packed and on our way soon after 8.
Today we are heading across the gap between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees.
 |
| Fuel stop in the foothills |
We don't want another day like yesterday. As it turns out today's route is just as far but almost all of it is motorway so the kilometres fly by.
We ride along the spectacular A8 to the outskirts of Bilbao, sometimes riding above rocky Atlantic bays and sandy beaches.
The route skirts Bilbao and drops us onto another fast new motorway past Pamplona. Last year Mick and I rode this way but the motorway was not yet open and the old road was slow with heavy traffic.
Today it is fast, new and exhilarating as we sweep through high-tech tunnels and bypass all the small villages. There is a vicious wind howling down the valleys and canyons and it is difficult to steer the bikes at times.
 |
| Camping Ain outside Jaca |
 |
| The pool at Camping Ain |
Eventually the motorway ends and the final 50 kilometres into Jaca is back on the old road. We travel along the shore of a huge lake, a startling aquamarine in colour.
As we emerge from the final tunnel there is a noticeable change in the weather. The wind drops and there isn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature soars for the first time on this holiday.
We shop for food in Jaca and then find our way to Camping Ain. What a cracking little camp site. There is a swimming pool and a quaint old bar. The proprietor is very welcoming and we are soon tents up, shorts on and beer in hand.
Mick is not feeling too good, onset of cold he reckons. Sean heads off for the pool and jumps straight in. I dip my toe in and think better of it. The water is freezing. A man for extremes is our Sean!
 |
| Dinner in the bar |
Dinner in the camp bar is pasta with tuna, egg and sweet corn for me, large mixed salad for Sean and more dead pig, chips and salad for Mick. Plus beer and wine of course.
We turn in as darkness falls.
 |
| Sunset over the mountains |
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