Day 1: Donosti-San Sebastian (23.8) km

Well, we did it. It was touch-and-go for a while there, especially when the hail started bouncing down at 8:50 AM, coating the cars in the parking lot with little white balls. But in the end, it wasn't bad. The original path that we were going to take, which would have taken us around the coast, was way too soggy and wet to do properly (I've got a bike with at least 15 kg of gear on it, and I didn't want a repeat of last year, when I ended up having to dig the bike out of clay and mud on two different places.)

(Here's the video which shows the hail: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=CRCeBKpbLe4)

We took the GI-3440 for its entire length, right up from sea level to the Jaizkibel Pass (445m ASL) and it wasn't as icy and snowy as I thought it would be, though it was a wee bit nippy coming down (not helped by having wet feet!) But the payoff was that it was absolutely GORGEOUS. The cold helped clear the humidity out of the air and you could see deep into the Pyrenees, all sugar-and-snow coated like something out of a Christmas card. I only wish that I hadn't left my reflex camera at Stu and Jools's place, because it would have made for some stunning black and white shots. Oh well. Just have to live with only having the digital pix.

The descent wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. I'm not a a big fan of speed and tend to burn my brakes on almost every downhill that I do, but in the end, it was actually kind of cool, especially since the pavement was still bare and you could see the places where the Basque cycling fans had painted the names of their favourite cyclists two or three years ago, when the Vuelta went up Jaizkibel: (Iban) MAYO, (Floyd) LANDIS, (Haimar) ZUBELDIA...it was kind of like standing in the shadows of giants. (Or at least their tire tracks.)

So tomorrow we have to take the train to Andoain and then ride the Vía Verde to Lekunberri. The weather office is forecasting slightly warmer temperatures for the rest of the week, and it should be back up to about 16º-18ºc by the time we hit La Rioja next weekend. About time!