18th December 4pm : Spanish Snowflakes

Getting off the ferry was followed by the inevitable frustrating maze of unfamiliar roads to get out of a city, even with SatNav. I soon found the right road out to Burgos but 20 mins out of Bilbao it was beginning to snow. And it got worse as I headed south.

By 11am I was frozen- especially my toes but those bar muffs were doing a grand job. The biting wind would have stabbed easily through my armoured mx gloves but for the furred lined brown leather Rickman beauties and the heated grips (which only have 2 settings of tepid and palm scorchingly hot). Without them I would not have lasted the first 100 miles as well as I did. After another 100 miles the toes were beginning to sear like I imagine frostbite to feel. My boots are no longer waterproof and the Bilbao rain had penetrated and this was making it worse. Two stops and two changes of wet socks later I decided it was time for the plastic bag in the boots trick. After a no-shame drying and warming of my bare toes under the gents hand dryer at the petrol station I was on my way again in much higher spirits.

Lunch time came up just at I was getting cold again so I stopped at a hotel and pointed at the first thing on the menu which I thought was chips (fritos?) but turned out to be fried eggs and the tastiest ham/bacon I have eaten in ages. Then on the road again with a quick stop at McDs to get on the wi-fi which wasn’t in fact working. A free donut with the coffee and I was on my way again. Just 30km from Madrid, it is clear that I’m not going to get much further south than say Toledo. When I arrive I will get online somewhere and see if I can surf a couch…