On paper, this always looked the hardest day (with the possible exception of the day after tomorrow). Whilst it was only about 70 miles, it was across a very hilly/mountainous area. We spent around 6 hours climbing under the baking sun. Only interrupted by the occasional hairy decent. This is where all the hours of training proved their worth. One rule: never dismount. However slow.
The day started badly for JC, who breakfasted on a cocktail of both paracetamol and aspirin for her head. Not a good start for a day climbing on a fully laden bike. I had no sympathy and rode at a safe distance ahead so I couldn't hear her moaning.
The early part of day took us through a lovely wetland nature reserve between Santona and Laredo. Lots of wildlife. Mostly birds. The trip through the mountains was punctuated by the odd decent into tiny fishing villages and sandy coves. Each such visit ended, of course, with a long climb out. On one I counted 16 hairpin bends before the summit.
We were following, in reverse, the northern route of the pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. We passed around 30 of these people who, I guess, had about another 300 miles to walk. They all looked very miserable. Strangely they seemed to carry no luggage or even water. I read somewhere that the pilgrims expect to knock on doors and get food, water and accommodation. For free! It's a good job that such a route doesn't pass my house. Or John Whiteside's!
(Santiago de Compostela (Galician: [santiˈaɣo ðe komposˈtɛla], Spanish: [sanˈtjaɣo ðe komposˈtela]) is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain.
The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the city's cathedral, as destination of the Way of St. James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route originated in the 9th century. In 1985 the city's Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. - Wikipedia)

In Bilbao, saw the Guggenheim Museum. (One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture", because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something." The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts. - Wikipedia)
Currently staying in a dodgy hostel called Moon Hostel.
Chatted to to an old guy when we ate lunch on the beach at Castro-Urdiales. He was 71 and holidaying alone having left his wife, 75, at home. For three months! He was doing a stretching routine, in his cozzy, in front of some local and ageing lady, hoping to impress her!
Legs aching now. Hope tomo's less hilly.