Jeremy Nagel: Sunglasses, speed and Sanguesa 18/12

The rules of the Albergue state that one should leave by 8:30, so Luke and I agreed that we'd get up at 7 to give us plenty of time to get ready. An early start would be ideal anyway – we'd get some decent mileage in. I woke with the alarm at 6:30, set to give myself time to go for a run, but the pitch blackness of the room and the cold kept me in my sleeping bag for another twenty minutes before I finally ventured out, as quietly as possible to avoid waking 'her'.

After I got back, we demolished a large packet of corn flakes between us and planned our route for the day. Tafella appeared to be about 50km away, so we set that as our goal with the option of going a little further if we felt like it.

Packing my bags in the dorm, I somewhat nervously exchanged pleasantries with the Italian woman before breathing a sigh of relief as she left.

We were ready to leave a little past 8:30, but someone had locked the door to our bikes, so I had to go ask a priest to open it. They were a nice bunch of people and I think they liked having people stay in the Albergue (even though I'm quite sure the priest twigged to the fact that we weren't that serious about the trail).

Outside, it was shaping up to be a nice day. Some early morning clouds had shifted aside to reveal blue skies and even sun! I was very glad I'd charged my camera the night before. After stopping to buy some provisions for the ride, we found the road to Tafalla almost immediately and were surprised to find that it was actually only 23km away. “Oh well, we'll work it out once we get there”

Having our target so close meant that we headed out a bit faster than we should have. “Let's see if we can make it there in an hour!” It took a bit longer than that, but the early exertion meant my legs were already feeling quite fatigued when we stopped at a conveniently located factory just before Tafalla. Checking the map, we decided on a new destination – Sanguesa, which was a decent distance away.

The weather was truly excellent – definitely the best we'd had the whole trip. The sun was out and shining, there were blue skies and yet it was still only about 9 degrees, so it was perfect for cycling. Days like this were what I was hoping for when I first started planning a winter cycling tour.

The terrain wasn't quite as pleasant. As if to punish us for going out early, we were faced with a series of long climbs. They weren't that steep, but I didn't feel like pushing it hard and Luke wasn't faring much better. It seemed very cruel that all of the towns were on an incline, though I suppose it makes sense when one considers that they've been there for centuries and thus being situated on a hill was probably a defensive strategy.

A positive was that the motorists seemed to feel the same way as us about the road. It was coloured orange on the map, meaning that it would have 'medium' traffic (and other orange roads we've been on would fit more into the 'heavy' category in my opinion), but it was almost deserted. I think the whole time we were out there (five hours), we would've been passed by no more than twenty cars!

The worst climb of all came 40km into the ride. We went from 200m altitude up to 800m in the space of 3km, so it was a very long, slow business. Every time the road went round a bend I kept hoping to see a summit awaiting me, but on and on it went. Eventually I made it and felt very pleased to have not stopped once. When Luke caught up, having pushed his bike up some of it, we had a well earned lunch and peered down at the downhill before us.

The view from the top
I could see another mountain range straight ahead, so I mentally prepared myself to do more climbing before the day was out, but at least we could enjoy this descent.

And wowee, it sure was enjoyable. With my pannier rack attached properly I could really let it rip. The faster I go the more secure the load feels strangely enough. When I hit 50kph, I could've sworn that my panniers had vanished leaving me completely unencumbered. Were it not for a vicious headwind I think I would've broken my all time speed record down that hill!

To our joy, the road just kept on going down. All the climbing paid off and the next 25km was essentially all downhill with only a few short sections where we actually had to work hard to keep going at a good pace. With such perfect weather, today would definitely count as one of my favourite cycling moments. This is what I signed up for!

It was almost a pity to stop at Sanguesa, but after 70km with the bikes, we were pretty knackered. It's a nice little city on the Aragon river with some very pretty views in every direction. Tonight we're staying in an Albergue (not one for pilgrims this time – there is one, but it's closed in December) at the municipal camping site. We've got a dorm to ourselves, so all our stuff is strewn all over the ground hehe. After an enormous dinner of lentils and 'mediterranean salad' from a jar, I'm demolishing a packet of biscuits. Cycling is hungry work!