Noise started by 6:15am, with people going to the toilets and getting ready to leave. We got up at 7am and had breakfast at the hostel, where we chatted with two other cyclists, who mentioned that the forecast was for rain to finally start during the weekend, giving us more reason to try to advance as much as possible before the weather changed.
By 8:30, we were leaving Sahagún, taking "el Real Camino Francés" towards El Burgo Ranero, which meant to follow a narrow road next to the camino. There, we caught up again with the cyclists from Burgos; I stayed next to her for a while, chatting, but she was going fairly slow (even for me), so I had to say goodbye and continue. After El Burgo Ranero, we continued by this same small road, with practically no cars.
Camino and road, Castilla-LeónIn Mansilla de las Mulas, we joined an older lady on her bike, who continued with us til the end of the town. From there, the road changed to one with fairly busy traffic, so it was a little stressful; afterwards, the camino goes now by an area where they are building a new highway and then there are a couple of steep climbs, where a Brazilian cyclist (whom we had met in Pamplona) caught up with us and passed us, and Micael decided to keep up with him. A little while later, his partner passed us as well.
Entering León is confusing and stressful due to the traffic and lack of a separated route for prilgrims. We used sidewalks to reduce risk with the cars. After stopping to buy some fresh fruit, we headed downtown. Micael was going ahead of us and we lost him briefly, so Oscar and I took separate roads to reach the Cathedral, where he was already waiting for us.
Cathedral, LeónThere, while we had our fruit, a very nice old man, don Francisco Pérez Pérez, started chatting with us, recommending what to see in the city and telling us about his life, that he was 92 years old and how he was just a kid when he fought in the Spanish Civil War... and then he started to cry!
We looked at the Cathedral, casa de Botines (made by Gaudí), the Basílica de San Isidoro and the Hostal de San Marcos, before starting the nightmare of riding out of León, which didn't have many arrows to direct us and it followed streets with very heavy traffic. Very stressful!
Casa Botines, LeónNot until we reached Fresno del Camino and for a small distance, we had a nice camino, but there were portions where there was no option but to go by the very busy road.
Hostal de San Marcos, LeónJust as we reached Villadangos del Páramo, we caught up with a French pilgrim, his Chilean wife and their 13 month old son, whom he carried in his back.
Miguel y peregrino francés con su hijoBy 5pm, we were arriving finally to Hospital de Órbigo, with its Roman/Medieval bridge (every year, they still hold a festival with jousting) and to Albergue San Miguel, where the hospitalero welcomed us, showed us a safe place for the bikes under the stairs, we had a beer to celebrate our longest distance so far (Oscar wanted to go out and pedal until the computer showed 100km...), we showered and went to the local store, to buy dinner to make at the nice kitchen of the hostel.
Hospital de Órbigo
Río ÓrbigoWe shared dinner with a Danish couple, Bent and Gro, who had been walking all the way from France. Gro has lived many years in Barcelona, so she's fully fluent in Spanish.
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