Day 7 Stats:
Distance = 86.39 km
Elev Gain = 844 m
Time = 4h 28m
By far one of the toughest days I had on my tour was Day 7. I was trying to outrun the incoming rain. I left Cadavedo at 7:18am and stopped in Lluarca for breakfast and coffee. Whilst looking for a cafe to stop at, I happened to bump into Fernando from Aviles, who warned me about the coming storm. I said that I know and that I was trying to get ahead of it. I greeted him and went for my coffee and breakfast. My morning started fairly well and I was feeling good, until I left Lluarca.
Here is where the wind started to pick up and wouldn’t relent for the rest of the day. I checked my weather app when I arrived to my final destination and it reported 30kph winds with gusts of up to 80kph.
If you look at the photos above, you’ll see one of an old man at the back of his van. As I was battling the relentless winds and keeping my head down and pedaling I noticed the little black Renault Kangoo pass me. I kept on cycling, head down, probably breathing hard and as I looked up I saw that the car had pulled over, not thinking anything of it and as I got closer this old guy got out and flagged me down. He asked if he could take my photo and I obliged and asked the same of him. By asking I mean we pointed at our cameras and each other. The universal sign language for can I take your picture.
What a cool little encounter on a hard fucking day. Onward we go.
I don’t have a photo of it, but right before you enter Ribadeo there is a bridge that crosses the estuary that opens up into the ocean. JUST beyond this was the Albergue. There was a pedestrian walkway on the bridge I could use to cross and a few meters in I decided that the smart thing to do would be to get off my bicycle and push it across. I did NOT want to be blown over the side. I would guess it was easily a 50 or 60 meter drop into the water below. No thanks.
I arrived at the Albegue, but it would only open at around 13:00, so I decided to go around town to find something to eat. Sadly no restaurants or cafe’s were serving any food at that time, so I had to resort to a supermarket once again. The wind felt like it was starting to pick up at this point and I had to ask myself, did I want to continue another 25-30km to try and outrun the storm or do I stay over in Ribadeo. I bought some food, ate it on the sidewalk outside the supermarket and threw the idea of staying or going back and forth in my mind. Eventually coming to the conclusion that I cannot imagine myself riding another 30km that day, so I made my way back to the Alburgue next to the estuary, where I was told that cyclists are only allowed to check in after 17:00 or 18:00 (I cannot recall the exact time), but that there was another Albergue roughly 7km away. I could do 7km, not that I wanted to, but I could. So, off I went to Albergue A Pena. I made sure to call before I left to make sure there was space for me.
I suppose the one upside of the wind being as crazy as it was, is that my washing dried pretty damn quickly. I honestly thought that I would lose some laundry, because the wind would just take it. Luckily that didn’t happen.
I did my washing, hung it up and went for a shower. I decided to go sit in the bar and write a little bit. There were two other guys there also enjoying a brew. I would soon realize that one of them is someone I had seen earlier in the day and we would strike up a conversation a little later over a beer and before the bar owner, Pedro, would take his siesta. Louis from New Brunswick was a very nice dude to chat to. He walked big distances each day, at least 30km or more. He decided to not stay in Ribadeo and made his way to the same Albergue I found myself. I am sure it would’ve been cool sleeping on the cliff of the estuary, but I really enjoyed A Pena.
Louis and I had a good meal together that evening. Super simple, but incredibly tasty ribs and some potatoes. Louis told me about his trip. This was his 3rd time walking the Camino. Each time a different route. The first year he did it was for his daughter that died 12 years earlier and the backpack he was using once belonged to her. The second year he did it for his wife who had MS and this year was for himself. During summer he works on fishing trawlers and in winter he does carpentry. His son is studying electro engineering. There are many reasons people do the Camino and many things that happen to you during it or perhaps afterwards. Thoughts and feelings move over and through you, some of them deep and others meaningless. Connecting with someone over a meal or a drink is one of the things in life I appreciate the most and I think a lot of misunderstandings could be solved or at least better understood over a good meal.