Grand finale!

I had my sights on a 100km ride to finish. Rich set the ground rules… less than 3500 feet of ascent. Maybe he thought this was impossible being surrounded by mountains but as luck would have it, someone had plotted a ride that went almost past our campsite, around Santander and into the foothills - all for around 3500! So off we went!

It was very cleverly done to make the most of the cycle paths around the Santander headland. It did turn a bit complicated but a very helpful local on his bike asked where we were heading and said, follow me! He took us through a veritable maze of cycle paths out to the airport where life became much simpler and we went our separate ways.

We stopped at a lovely cafe at Liérganes and then picked up a beautiful valley which was lush and very alpine, the amazing smell of fermenting grass from the silage bales wafting past us. The roads became much quieter, the sun came out and we thoroughly enjoyed our last day in Spain. Of course, Rich lined us up for another cafe before we arrived back and he found the perfect spot too - in a bay overlooking the island and church I walked to yesterday.

A very satisfying and enjoyable day.