L2L Day 34 - Santiago reflections

Whose bike is better (or worse).  Please let us know in your comments.

    Cam's Bike Issues:

• Loose Crank
• Broken Spoke
• Unstable Drivetrain (tuned by Alex and Cam, then by a shop, then again by A&C)
• New Chain
• Garmin Front light screen shield melted 
• Brake adjustments
• Garmin computer lockup (once)
• Saggy saddle as it broke in (stopped after France)

  Alex's Bike Issues:

• Loose handlebars
• Bottom bracket replaced
• Flat tire
• Brake pad replacement
• Un-aero panniers
• Drive train tune
• Daily Wahoo lockup - reset/reboot
• Worn out pedal bearings 

Hostel/Hotel  Reviews - best/worst stays

Rated Overall by Country

1. Spain (best)
2. France
3. England

Best Hostel/Hotel overall 

    - Estella Spain,  Hosteria de Curtidores ($57 Euros, including breakfast and located on a river)

Worst Hostel/Hotel overall 

    - Tours France, Hampton by Hilton Tours Center ($322 Euros 2 nights no AC, windows don't open

       had to ask staff for a fan, which ended up being squeaky all night)

Daily Travel costs by Country

1. Tie Spain and France (least expensive)
2. England (oof spendy - need to rejoin EU)

Best Rides:

1. Saint Jean Pier de Port to Pamplona (Pyrenees mts pass)
2. Bexley to Faversham 
3. Villafranca de Bierza to Sarria

Worst Rides:

1. Belorado to Burgos (weather)
2. Tours to Chatellerault (weather)
3. Leon to Astorga (highway traffic)

Best bicycle infrastructure:

1. France
2. England
3. Spain (friendly drivers so make up for less infrastructure)

Today, we walk to the train station to buy tickets and figure out how to deal with bicycles.

L2L Day 33 - Melide to Santiago de Compostela

 Arrived in Santiago.  There was heavy rain at the beginning of our day and we (I) was worried that we'd have a long day ahead.  But it cleared up well and we had a pretty enjoyable ride into Santiago.  

About 10 miles outside Santiago, there must have been some sort of motocross route for dirt bikes.  We encountered many of them for at least 5 miles as they sort of weaved into and out of the forested areas.  

When we arrived in town, I stopped and bought a new chain for my bike.  Sorry folks, I had it installed at the shop, so no pics or videos of me doing the work on my bike.  It was a good thing, because there was no good space to work on the bikes near our hotel and also, we had to check them at a local post office for storage during the next few days.

We are running low on days as I've got our bikes scheduled to be boxed up for the plane ride on Oct 25 and I fly out next day.  So we are thinking about taking a train to Porto this coming Thursday.   But for tomorrow, we sleep in ;)

Cheers!  ~Cam and Alex