No breakfast cereal this morning, my fault, remembered the beers and chocolate, but forgot the important things, one reason why I never go shopping, so made do with an orange and a bar of chocolate, hey ho, enough to fuel us up the big climb out of Cudillero.

Always going to be a tough start, only one way in and out of the town, here we go, straight into the 3 mile climb, always good straight out of the door, nothing beats warming up properly.

Blowing like a proverbial pig, when I finally made it up to the top, great only 60 odd miles left, what could possible go wrong!, thankfully still early in the morning full cloud cover, even forecast a bit of rain later.

Tough going for the first 20 miles, short sharp climbs, busting the legs and hard to get any rhythm going, just need to buckle down, pedal and look at the wonderful rugged countryside, with rhododendrons popping up all over the verge, not sure if they are classed as an invasive species here. [Not considered invasive: in fact some species are native: Ed] Red squirrels darting around the hedgerows, daring to run onto the road every now and again, least it took my mind of the burning steep climbs.

Both called an early stop, need some coffee and soft drink, my legs are feeling it this morning, little break in Santa Marina, fuelled the bodies with caffeine and sugar, then on we go. Climbs coming thick and fast now, another couple of 2 and 3 mile climbs, with the caffeine pumping around legs getting stronger, onwards and upwards we go, we know most of the climbs are in the first half of the day, so keep going, ticking them off one my one, as we reach the halfway stage.

Another sugar loaded coffee and soft drink, broke the back of the day now, we can relax, so celebrated with a tortilla roll breakfast, better late than never, before we set off again. Just one little climb left now and that’s right at the end, so full steam ahead, get these little legs pumps, great road, new tarmac we are flying, feels great after the early morning toil.

Just outside of Navia, met a couple of guys on touring bikes, well bikes, plastic crates tied haphazardly to the frame, carrier bags hanging off the handle bars, fair play to Carlos from Argentina he had been on the road for three year, mate he looked like he had! The other guy was from Austria, only been riding for a couple of months, but looked like he had been on the road a lot longer, he even had the bloody cheek to say “I was smart like you two when I left” I know we are no oil paintings, but least we have a shower whenever we can! Left them with a safe travels (viajes seguros) salute and off we went. Straight to the nearest bar in Navia, nice little refreshment stop, two cold beers each, watching the world go by. Seen the Austrian guy go past, carrier bags fluttering in the wind, he looked like “The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists” [a book by Robert Tressell written in 1914. He was an Irishman working as a house painter in Hastings. The book was subtitled ‘Being the story of twelve months in Hell, told by one of the damned’.] as he went on his merry way.

We soon joined him, Bingo missed him, but I got a wave, whiff of him and smile as he was snuggling under a tree, keeping out of the rain, for us the rain was a blessing in disguise, felt a bit refreshing, as we forged ahead. Still eating up the miles, down the last climb with ease, then pulled over in a little truck stop / bar place Tapia de Casariego, sat outside with a beer, got chatting to a guy, travelling around with his family, he was so interested, loved my South America shirt, took a photo of it, we got him onto the blog site, he was so interested in the whole experience, as it was raining, we had the time and the patience to go through the whole lot, his wife and kids, begging him to move on, he was having none of it.

After that little escapade, just a short ride into Ribadeo, across the rickety old bridge over Ribadeo Estuary, the bike path only just wide enough for the touring bikes, had to concentrate to keep the line. Then into the hostel, lovely rambling house, but the owner is a bit shy, think Bingo scared her. Easy done showered, clothes washed, need to eat, then bed.

Little walk down the small town, nice Italian place all fed, feel good, bed is beckoning.