Day 10 - 12/5/10
End - El Burgo de Osma
190km / 2090km (Day / Total)
On exiting my tent I find fresh 4wd tracks on the track to the wood - someone had been to investigate my tent but hadn't disturbed me. Today I am determined to break my Spanish jinx and stop at the first two towns to engage with people.
- Soria
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Outside Soria the weather takes another turn for the worse and I seek shelter in the Church of San Saturio, a 6th century hermit. I spend a pleasant hour wandering the rock-cut rooms and tunnels with a party of middle aged spaniards until the custodian herds us out into the rain and locks the door.
- Market
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After an arse-clenching misreading of the traffic signals in the town centre, where all of the traffic crossing the intersection i am going ahead on all start crossing at the same time as me, I am back on the road, in the rain.
I program the satnav to take me to the nearest town avoiding motorways and it immediately leads me straight onto a motorway just as the rain gets switched from steady to torrential! Unable to stop or turn off, and at the mercy of speeding trucks creating clouds of spray, I ride 7 miles to the next exit and then pull off and stop in the the flyover underpass. For several solid minutes I scream obscenities at the idiotic satnav, the biblical downpour, everything Spanish and my own fucking stupidity for embarking on this ridiculous trip. What the fuck was I thinking? The satnav is only saved from being dashed to the ground and stamped on by the barest realisation that I might still benefit from it.
- River
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I eventually calm down and follow the signs to the nearest town - El Burgo de Osma. I stop at a cafe and sit dripping, eating some random thing selected from an indecipherable menu until I have warmed up and calmed down.
Back on the bike I have gone no more than 500 metres when I see, in quick succession a castle, a hilltop tower, a cathedral and most appealingly a hotel. No camping for me tonight!! Luxury, warmth and dryness await!! And all for €39. I am not leaving until the rain stops!