Leon to Astorga.

This morning starts with our guide Alfonso issuing us with our bikes, He also provides us with a leaflet on how to ride it, and his telephone number if we get lost.

After making various adjustments and repeating, yet again, how the gears work to my compatriot I.e.  three gears on the crank of which 3 is low and 1 is high, and 7 gears on the derailer of which 1 is low, and 7 is high. There is a glazed look and the question is, what does low mean?  This is difficult to explain to someone who drives an automatic. Her next comment is why are they numbered differently,  I walk away pretending not to hear.

Our first ride was literally for 5 minutes. We cycled into the walled city of Leon past a statue of our guide. This is not actually true, it just so happens that one of the Kings of Leon was called Alphonso, the name of our guide, and the rock band. Once in the city we paid 7 Euros for a tour of a Basilica to see a lot of ruins and famous artwork. Much like being at home.

The ride proper starts. Another 10 mins and the group is halted so the guide can go back and repair a puncture. 5 more minutes and we halt again for the guide to go back to sort a broken chain. Things are not looking good, it is midday and we have managed only 2 miles of todays 36 miles,and it is now very hot at 27°.

As far as I can remember the remaining 34 miles were mostly up hill, and this is supposed to be the easy day. My compatriot is managing much better than me uphill in the heat, and I am dragging along at the back. Note to self. Must move from beer to wine and eat more salads because my unhealthy diet must be the only reason for the change in performance.

We finally arrive in an interesting town called Asteria and check into a hotel opposite the church bell tower. We hope the bells are not going to strike every 15 minutes throughout the night. However, despite the bells, while my compatriot showers I drop off to sleep waking only just in time for a quick drink before dinner.

The walk to the town square has some great artwork on buildings which we did not pay 7 euros for the privilege to see.

Dinner was a bit chaotic. The booked restaurant decided they did not want to cater for a large group. Everyone went off in different directions to look for food, but four of us stayed and had a great meal.