CP1 San Bartolomé 14.08 @ 9.45AM I have been nervous enough, not the terrible stress pre-MittelGebirge, but now on the starting line, I place myself in the front. My heart is beating just above where it should be, I am willing to see the doubts disappear. After 6k behind the car, the group splits, then some of us join again before getting out of Bilbao. We are stopped for 15 min waiting for the slowest, smallest train to pass by (1st pic). It is like a 2nd starting line. I don't think much, I am happy to share a few kilometers with other riders ; Ana amongst others, she is impressively calm. First night & day fly away. In the morning I have coffee & a laugh at the big pile of fried greasy pork on the counter (2nd pic). It's Spain ! The smooth gravel from 1st CP in San Bartolome is just a pit stop before going further, much further... Later in a nice hilly area, a little group catch up with me. This guy (3rd pic) speaks a pretty good french and I tell him I am aiming for Tourmalet (there is still 500k to go), this is 1st goal on a long journey with many more goals. The guy knows Carlos (what are the odds !?) and tell me that he heard of some crazy idea like that, about 5 years ago. I spend the night in a quiet village, on a bench. At 2am, people are still chilling at the bar ; I can freshen up in the bathroom before riding again.