Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Camino credentials ready, good to go

We just picked up our credentials for the Camino. This is essentially the booklet you fill up with stamps on your way to Santiago. It is required to demonstrate the minimum number of kilometers such that you can qualify for the Compostela, the proof and official document. For cyclists the minimum is 200, and we will do about 700 so no problem there.

This time I will claim to have done the Camino for pure religous reasons. This in order to receive the niver caligraphy version with my name translated into Latin.

Let the fun begin, only a couple of weeks until we embark on the Camino del Norte.

Hasta la próxima.
Douwe

Monday, April 26, 2010

Pedriza on a wonderful sunny April day, with a twist

Yesterday, Sunday 25 April the sun was out and it felt more like summer than spring. We headed out to La Pedriza in Manzanares for an MTB trail in the afternoon.



The climb was tough as usual, and as we were approaching the top a few dark clouds were gathering around the peaks. It looked a little ominous and from experience we know that the weather in these parts can turn quite quickly and become real nasty in a matter of minutes. The only reason for us to choose an alternative route, was the thunder and lightning that we saw approaching from the north-face of the mountain.


So we descended using a route we had not taken before. It took us right through the pine forest on the southern side of the mountain, taking us right back to the Manzanares valley. Yet again an amazing trail, and certainly great for training as we are approaching the Camino del Norte in May.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Friday, April 16, 2010

Camino prep in full swing, all set to leave on 8 May

After a long night of planning the Camino de Santiago last night, with Real Madrid playing in the background and some red wine for inspirarion, we have decided to do the full Camino del Norte starting in Irún. This is on the French border in the Basque country. On 8 May we will take some form of transportation to Irún, one-way of course.

8 days will be the time we will take to cover the 850 kilometers to Santiago. The Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and of course Galicia will be the Spanish Autonomous regions, sort of like States, that we will cycle through. An aggregate 16 km of climbing over the total stretch.

Tomorrow we'll be heading into the Guadarrama mountains for some much needed training... ;)

Hasta la próxima
Douwe



Sunday, April 11, 2010

Training for Camino in full swing

With the Camino del Norte about a month away, we figured it might be a good idea to step up the training schedule a little. So today we decided to head out on this beautiful day to ride around the mountains of Cercedilla. After stuffing the car with our gear we headed out there, sunshine and not a cloud in the sky it promised to be a wonderful trail.


We decided to climb up to Puerta de Fuenfría, passing the Roman way and ending up on the Carretera de la Republica. Climbing this beautiful stretch of the Madrid mountain range, we came past one of of the downhill tracks that a local MTBer once pointed out to us. A downhill cutting right through the pine forrest and passing a few streams. Clearly the snow is in full meltdown mode, as there is plenty of water coming down the mountain.


So after we climbed all the way up to Puerta de la Fuenfría, we decided to take this forrest path to descend back to the car. It was awesome! Technical and required all the concentration and skill that we could muster. Needless to say, there were a few crashes. I took the lead in falling off my bike, and have some scratches and a bloody knee to prove it. No real damage though, neither to me nor my bike, so the descend continued. Moments later, just as I was clearing some major rocks, I noticed Edwin as he flew through the air, with the bike right behind him. Both airborn for what looked like a slowmotion scene in a movie. The landing was a tad rough, but also Edwin continued the trail with just a bloody knee. Apart from our slightly dented pride, all was well and we continued an amazing downhill.


It is time to mount some helmetcams for this sort of action, to be continued.

The Camino training will need to be stepped up a little bit more still. But today´s trail and more the coming weeks will surely help, all we need to do now is to not break any bones.. ;)

hasta la próxima
Douwe