Santiago!

 The final day of riding was both one of the nicest, and one of the ugliest.  Nicest because from the hotel we headed north along rural roads that we absolutely empty of traffic.  We knew from the ride profile that we would be climbing for about 5 kilometers almost right away.  And climb we did through forested mountain sides that were lovely to be travelling along.  As we reached the top of our ride the road turned into the trees.  I think it was a local park, reservation - similar to a undeveloped provincial park in Alberta.  The road was more of a cart path.  The morning was cooler and a little more humid that we'd been experiencing, but the smell of the forest, the pine needles littering the path and the quiet made for lovely travelling.  The caveat was the always present uncertainty that the path would actually lead us where we wanted to go.  RidewithGPS indicated it would after about 3 kilometers.  We wound around turning right, then left, then slight left - bending north.  The GPS on the phone announced a turn in 500 meters.  As we approached we could see we would leave the gravel path behind.  The road was once again a lovely country lane passing from small village to small village, past small fields with a couple of cattle, sheep and the occasional barking dog.  In 99 percent of the cases dogs along the way are well restrained by fences and or leashes from coming onto the road.  On only one of our days - perhaps from Alvaiazere to Condeixa did Sandy have to deal with a small dog chasing her ankles.

For much of the first 1/2 of the 40 kilometers or so we would ride to get to Santiago we followed the country road.  We saw two or three cars and few people.  The road followed the top of the range that we'd climbed to from the hotel rolling up and down along the way.  At about the 16 kilometer mark we began to descend.  Before long we were turning onto the highway in preparation for a river that we were approaching.  The GPS led us to a small bypass that was ideal for bikes.  A couple of yellow arrows told us that we were on a Camino route - although even now I'm uncertain which one we were on.  The Camino Portuguese was about 10 kilometers or so to the west.  The GPS had indicated it would have, overall, more climbing than the route we followed.  The Camino Francais and Camino Norte are north.  They join east of Santiago entering together on it's eastern edge.  The Camino that comes out of Spain following the Portuguese border some of the way was east of where we were although like us, approaching Santiago from the south.  Either way, it was a nice reminder that we were getting closer to our destination.

After crossing the river we paused for a coffee where the path we'd follow turned away from the highway.  We knew there was some more climbing ahead - and hoped that the 400 meters or so that we had left would be relatively gentle - not unlike the rolling hills we'd passed along earlier in the morning.  Initially, it seemed it wasn't so bad.  The numbers maxed out at about 7 or 8 percent over the first little while.  But as we approached Santiago the hills got steeper, and a little more undulating.  By the time we reached the last two climbs that the GPS counted as climbs \

The GPS is notoriously inaccurate when it comes to climbs and descents - it tells us relatively accurately the overall numbers but seems to have a mind of it's own about what constitutes a climb or not.   Different apps report different results.  On the computer the route may show four climbs and four descents; but on the Garmin it will begin by telling us we are on slope 1/7 with x number of meters to climb as well as the distance the climb covers.  Sometimes, in the middle of a climb, there will be a descent and yet the Garmin said there are 2 kilometers of climbing yet to go.  The scale is difficult to see for these 60 year old eyes (and depending on the lighting, difficult to read).  Not infrequently will the Garmin inform us that the climb is complete as we look at what seems to be an endless rise in front of us.  Sandy will inform me that I, or the Garmin, lied; complain about the hill, and soldier forward.

This became a problem on hills 5/7, 6/7 and 7/7 as we came into Santiago.  Hill 5/7 showed to be about 4 kilometers long with an average slope of about 4 percent.  It was, in fact, a rise of about a kilometer that went from about 4 to 8 percent, then a descent of 2 kilometers, followed by a city road at about 13 percent...whatever it was, it was ugly.  We were both tired and Sandy was threatening once again to quit.  Hill 6/7 followed shortly after.  We'd been riding near the freeway on a service road, switching from one side to the other on what was a relatively gentle undulation.  We were noting the playgrounds, soccer pitches and basketball courts built on highway overpasses - a tunnel for the cars below - and a playground for the adults and children above when the road descended quite sharply.  The GPS indicated we would go left at the bottom, under the highway, and right onto the service road.  As we neared the right turn the GPS indicated we were hitting the next climb.  The slope it showed was black, which I've come to learn is over 15 percent.  We'd turn into the hill on the left, and again as we turned right after passing under the highway.  I took the cowards way out on this one, warned Sandy that we were in for a rough climb and pedaled grateful for the pedal assist on my bike.  Sandy wasn't grateful...the turns were too much and she needed to walk up the hill.  We knew we were getting close.  The GPS suggested one more climb - the reality was a little different; in the city the climbs didn't register with the GPS.  There wasn't much we could do.  The final climb of the day we both walked while Sandy suggested that the problem was I could have gone a different direction...I really don't know whether we had any option or not - in the middle of Santiago it's near impossible to know which direction you're moving.  At the top of the climb we found ourselves blocked by a school full of children being released for the day.  The GPS indicated we needed to go left.  The road was full of cars honking, buses, vans, taxis.  We arrived at what seemed to be the busiest time of the day.  Our hotel was to the right - the end of the Camino involved riding deeper into the city and finding our way to the Cathedral.  There was no point in riding.  The sidewalk too narrow and full of pedestrians, the road full of all shapes of vehicles going in what seemed to be improbable directions.  We turned left and walked our bikes a little down the road and I realized that it was, in fact, the ring road around the old city where cars are have limited access.  It made more sense to walk into the old city alongside the many other tourists and pilgrims, dodging the salespeople trying to entice us to lunch in a restaurant, or to looks at souvenirs in the gift shops...there would be time for that.  We walked in a circle.  We grew frustrated with Google's lack of clarity in the small alleys of the old city.  BUT...we eventually found our way to the front of the Cathedral where it seemed hundreds of other pilgrims, coming from other directions were also completing their Caminos.  We were done!  A picture!  And now it was time to go to the hotel.  Time to shower and change and then begin to explore the city in new ways.

Jeff Rock and I had kept in touch.  Jeff, who seems to have trouble staying still for long, had taken a side trip on the Camino Espirituel - following the route that legend would have it brought the remains of St. James to this part of the world.  His plans, ever changing, made it difficult to know if we'd connect again.  The night before I'd received an email from him.  He hoped to arrive in Santiago later on Tuesday - did we want to have dinner?  After a bit of rearranging, our plans for Tuesday were a Tapas tour of Santiago, we were going to be able to connect.  We set a meeting time for 6 pm at the Cathedral with Jeff to let us know if it needed to change - he had a significant distance to hike to make Santiago that evening.  As Sandy and I enjoyed a drink at a nearby cafe an email came telling me he was in the city and 6 would work.  After returning to the hotel for a bit of rest we made it to the Cathedral and enjoyed the evening celebrating our success at completing our Caminos.

Jeff, always planning, was leaving for another part of the Camino on Wednesday.  He'd hike to Finisterre and Muxia before returning to make his way to Madrid this weekend.  Sandy and I will bus to Lisbon on Friday after a couple of days recovering, resting and preparing for the trip home.  We arranged to meet Wednesday morning to attend the pilgrim's mass at the Cathedral and enjoy one last coffee together before following our separate paths back to Canada.

It's been a special part of this trip travelling the Camino separately and yet together with Jeff.  It's made me much more aware of how our individual journeys are so, well, individual.  His walking 30-40 kilometers a day - often doing twice the distance of other pilgrims while we cycled.  I was skeptical in Lisbon of Jeff's ability to make Santiago without skipping important parts of the route - having cycled from Coimbra to Porto while he took the bus and jumped ahead doing so allowed him to follow paths we may never see - along the Camino Espiritual, for example.  By walking and staying in auberge's Jeff encountered and met more pilgrims along the way than Sandy and I.  Different experiences, different stories to tell and to share.  It's been nice for us to connect again ten years after his ordination and move to Red Deer to serve at Gaetz...good to share memories and make new ones along the way.