I forgot to pack chains...

 It was soo hard! I have ARRIVED on the Camino. It did not disappoint. In probably one of the most physically challenging things I have done in my life, maybe surpassing marathons and forest fire fighting I did while my 20's. I had so many OMG moments and it just kept getting worse. I was grateful for the weather though. I had two 10 min light rains, it could have been much worse.The hill climbing was so hard with my bike loaded with ~45 lbs of panniers and another 10lbs in my backpack.  I knew it was going to be hard; but I wasn't prepared for trail conditions. The ride was 10 miles road and 10 miles trail. The road was steep but the trail was muddy, slippery, rocky and some really steep uphill and then....SNOW! I crashed three times which were pretty minor but then I hit a large, steep down hill snow field that I tried to walk down and immediately slipped and started skidding down on my butt with the bike sliding down next to me. In another heart sinking moment; I noticed my cell phone had dropped out of my pack sometime in the past 3 miles from the top. I had to ride back down to look for it. About a mile back someone said they had spotted the yellow bag it was in about another mile back. Long story short, it was found and back in a more secure pocket. Thanks, Art for the Shotblocks, they just about saved me along with the Almond butter as I was cramping badly near the top. For those that I ride with, think about a muddy Kennedy about three times with paniers and snow at the top at 4,500 ft elevation!

 I forgot to mention the people I met along the way which is definately part of the experience here. There is such a feeling of instant frienship and common purpose, it doesn´t take long to make a connection. People that do this come with an open heart and willingness to connect, help and encouage each other. I met so many today as my biking uphill almost matched the hiking pace. There was Deb from North Carolina, Klaus from Germany, Kelvin from Canada and two girls from San Diego that gave me a coconut macroon at just the right time in the climb and the two women from Germany that picked up my cell phone and gave it to me.  Namaste :-) Despite what you have heard about hikers hating bikers on the Camino, everyone was cheering me on. Maybe seeing someone actually trying to bike those conditions, gave them a laugh!

  I'm in Roncesvalles now. A small 80 person town on the other side of the mountain and was so glad the hotel here had a room. About 30 min in a hot shower and voi'la. Really tired and can't wait for dinner and bed. I spotted two other bikers at Roncesvalles and they looked in perfect condition, no mud, good spirits. I asked them if they had ridden from St Jean, they said "yes"; I asked them how they came and they said they had taken the highway. They had been told at the Pilgrims office in St Jean that the trail was impassable to bikes due to trail conditions and snow. No wonder I was the only Mt Biker on the trail today! Lots of photos.. Interesting day!

Bueno Camino!
U No Hu..