Hills or what...

We are recovering in Ribadesalla - maybe 110km west of Santander with the Picos de Europa towering to the south. We left Gijòn full of optimism for a great days cycle. Then the Rias (fijord) started up, down and quite fiercely - time to tap in our reserves of PMA, I am sure that half the battle on these v. steep gradients is mental particularly after the first couple of kilometers and there is still no sign of the summit. the Rias were relentless - our hope of maybe 40 or 50 km in a day were severely dashed. We decided to call it a day in Villaviciosa after just 30km. At the top of the last climb before the descent onto town we had a choice of routes - thedirect route straight down or a longer route via a lighthouse and then follow the estuary inland. There wad a fellow about my age clearing the gutter and drains beside the road , I stopped to ask him if the coastal route was hilly - what fiasco - with my pigeon Spanish and his none English we were getting everything wrong - the great thing was there was lots of smiling - once it was clear that neither of us knew what the other was talking about
he started talking to Gilly. As we are following the Camño route everybody thinks we are pilgrims, this guy included. He said he owned a hotel with special rates for pilgrims a.d gave us a scrappy bit of paper with an out of focus pic and waved us on our way - on the main route.

Would you go out of your way to look for a hotel owned by a drain cleaner? Well we arrived in town and cycled into the main square sat down for a coffee and there were 2 hotels in the square and we were debating which one to go for and Gilly ucked this bit of paper from her bag and yes, there was the hotel. Just as we walked to the entrance there was Fernando the drain cleaner to greet us like long lost friends. The hotel - it was fntastic - oldy wordly, great rooms and the special pilgrims raye of €30 includind breakfast.
Today, Thurday 11, dawned rainy as expected. It looked an improving picture and we were told by a German pilgrim that we would not need our waterproofs - she wsd almost right but she did not forcaste the afternoon thunderstorm.
We bad farewell to a Canuk couple who have done some serious stuff all over the world and were walking the Camiño for the second time. Today more Rias but less steep and tomorrow looks much flatter.
Ribadesella looks a great place - beach and fishing town - the waiter laughed (in spanish as he spoke no English) when I spilt my soup all over the table - it was probably the glass of vino tinto I had on an empty stomach.

Dist today 41.64 total so far 238.78