Day 2 Stats:
Distance = 61.29 km
Elev Gain = 540 m
Time = 3h 02m
For some reason I did not write about day two in my little travel journal. I see according to my Strava that I set off at 7:30 (which was the start time for most days). The sun rose quite late and would rise later as the days went on. It also set late, so people would eat later, which was difficult for me. The morning started off misty before things would clear up a little later by the time I reached Santander.
The original intent for this day was to ride from Laredo to Santander, however, that was much too short a journey. There are two ferry crossings you could take, but I skipped the one in Laredo and only did the one to Santander. Yes, I could have cycled it, but that added another 20-25km and I decided I would ride that additionally to where I would end up sleeping that night, which was Boo de Piélagos, at Albergue Piedad. I preferred the smaller towns and Albergue’s.
Taking the ferry was quite fun. After doing that I needed to find a bike shop to set my gears a little, because air and bus travel is hard on your rear derailleur. I ended up going to La Pindia where I would meet Tomi “Mulle” Salmon. Tomi had worked with Dan from Nam on the Onguza bikes back in 2020/21 (I think he said), so that was kinda wild to talk about. Little did I know how much this encounter with Tomi would mean a few days later.
Tomi showed me some alternate; hilly routes with some nicer views that I could take and a place or two to eat. I didn’t take all the routes he suggested, but did find some nice cliffs to look out towards the ocean.
The Albergue in Piélagos was next to a train stop for those who wanted or needed it. I arrived a couple hours before check in so I sat down for a beer at the café next door. How convenient that it’s also operated by the folks who run the Albergue. Eventually we all formed a neat little line, paid our money, got our stamps and were escorted to our rooms. Just like the previous day I proceeded to do my washing. (Editors note: I had to do this every day for the entirety of the trip, because I packed two sets of clothing for on the bike and off the bike). This is quite a gamble if you cannot tumble dry your clothes (which I couldn’t), because they might not dry by the next morning (which they didn’t).
I ended up chatting with Rafaela a.k.a. Rafi, a.k.a. Ella from Austria and eventually we had a whole bunch of other pilgrims join us. Grieg (from the Netherlands), Nicholas, Rita (Rafi’s friend) and Tudor from Parma, Italy. There were some good laughs and good stories about infected blisters. Ouch! Dinner was eventually served at 19:30. We were all famished at this point and I pretty much went to bed shortly after this.
Thank God I packed earplugs coz sharing a room with several people can get a little noisy. The next morning I would leave the earliest I would the entire trip at 6:30am. It was kinda nice riding in the dark for about two hours. It was quiet. Most places in Spain (other than cafe’s) only open around 10am.