Camino de Santiago - Day 10 - Triacastela to Melide

Biking Day 10

• Triacastela ---> Melide
• 81 km (53.3 miles)
• 6.5 hours (with lunch and breaks)
• Total Distance Traveled: 656.8 km (408.1 miles)

Holy hell this day was hard. It felt like it was never going to end. I left around 7:00 am because I knew it was going to be a hot one. I ad an incline at the beginning, but it was cool and not too hard. From there to the end of the first etapa (stage) was mainly all downhill. That was about 14 km (8.7 miles), from there on was hell. it was partly because the inclines, but mostly due to the weather. I enjoyed the ride very much though because it was all through the woods at the start and it reminded me of biking in the PAC NW. 

Heading into the woods

Sun coming up over the mountains

Pretty ride

The next 16.6 km (10.3 miles) was all uphill, but mainly through the woods, so it was bearable. The end of the second etapa was to a town called Portomarin and to the city it was all downhill for about 5.8 km (3.6 miles. I passed the 100 km to the Santiago de Compostela and from there on it was an easy ride into the city.

Only 100 km (62 miles) to go!

I stopped, rested and ate lunch in Portomarin. It was an early lunch but I was hungry and needed the energy for the final stage of the day, which was 40.1 km (25 miles). 

Crossing the bridge into Portomarin

Entrance into the city of Portomarin

I was already beat after lunch due to two large hill climbs the past two days. It only got worse; from Portomarin to Alto de Ligonde was practically all uphill, roughly 15 km (9.3 miles). The heat as unbearable. I read in the paper when I got to my final destination of Melide that this region was experiencing a heat wave, roughly mid 30's C (95 F) the past week. The last 25 km (15.5 miles) was a tease; it went from really steep downhill sections to equally steep uphill sections.

looking down on the river from the entrance to Portomarin

I didn't think I was going to be able to do the last 10 km (6.2 miles) into Melide. I kept stopping every 10 minutes to cool off and hydrate. I finally made it in to Melide and from the entrance of the city to the albergue was a slight uphill, but I made it and rested outside until it opened up.

What probably made the day so tough was I stuck to the Camino path instead of the roads for almost the whole day. The only times I deviated was when the path hugged the side of the road. It as another dirt road and good for most of the time, but some of the sections were washed out and really rocky.

Tough, but pretty ride through the woods

The albergue I stayed at was a shit show. SO many people and really loud. I should have just payed the extra 5 euro and stayed in a private one next to the one I stayed in. Last day of biking coming up, should be a rewarding easy ride into Santiago