April 3rd: Caborredondo to Güeme

The morning ride was so fantastic… 30 odd kilometres of just dedicated bike paths and walking trails… all the way into the heart of Bilbao… so many waves from other bikers, saw another guy loaded up like hell and felt good about my set up :) that dude probably lives on his bike though… anyway the ride was awesome, I even got a section that was on the coast and perfectly paved and so easy to navigate… One road all the way into town… It feels good to not have to look down at your phone map for long periods of time and just ride.

Getting out of town was a totally different experience… google tried to murder me setting me on a main road that was very hectic and I got off as soon as I could… I tried my other maps app and it took me into a forest.. where I got very lost, and had to push my bike through some very steep trails… all after having a very heavy sandwich for lunch… thought about throwing up but then found my way to the road I was supposed to be on and it was all ok. There was a really cool climb marked with signs of % incline at every kilometre and then the stats of the climb at the bottom and the top… made it much more fun to suffer through it… I actually enjoyed it quite a bit!

My front wheel is making some sort of not good noise when going fast downhill and I don’t know what it is or what to do about it… I will let it be for now but does need to be addressed at the next nice bike shop I come across… notes about bike shops: they are not all equal! Went to one yesterday that was the weirdest experience ever, the guy working there was visible upset with my presence haha… bizarre…

Ok, so back to today… umm I was debating whether to stay in Bilbao and go see the Guggenheim, or continue on… I continued on and came to a recommended Albergue and it was a good choice all in all… had a lovely family dinner and this place is quite nice, 30 euros all in all… oh and the shower!!! Top 3 all time! The shower was worth the 30 euros alone!

Very loose plans for the next few days… I do want to start camping soon and it is a bit sunny now so I think it’s possible… but in contrast to yesterdays albergue, this was a great experience… so I do know what I want… I just want a good normal thing… normal people, normal dinner, normal life… but also extraordinary life.

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