The Difficulty of the Camino

Its hard to tell sometimes by a photograph of exactly what it took to get that shot.

Our days now are starting up hill. We dress to stay warm, but after a short while, we are pealing layers down to shorts and shirts. Our climbs are now 1000' and back down again. Riding only at times, most of the super steep climbs have been unrideable and require pushing the tandem and constant stopping just to cool off. Figure the slope at times is a steep as a stairway. Wet and slippery, we take no chances. It took us over an hour to travel 5km yesterday out of town after lunch. Beautiful views all the way. After a very short while, the little town we left was way below.
We have been heading south more inland and in the mountains. When we come out of the very deep woods, we are in farm land. Cow country to be exact. The smell of sweet corn silage in big plastic covered bails fills the air at times. Its almost like sticking your face into a big bag of licorice. Wonderful! The smell of Cow is always present. We love it.
The Apple orchards of the past miles have dwindled.We are now back in Corn Country. There are still many different fruit trees that we pass, but for the most part, farmers are growing corn. (we have seen some lemon trees recently)
We love being here. The ever changing terrain is hardly boring. Were getting very good at getting on and off the bike. Starting together on hills has become easier with the constant practice. Its a little harder at the end of the day, but we manage quite well.
We know when to come off the trail. We have never finished any later then 7:15. Riding in the dark, on or off road would not be a good idea.
Our daily pedaling tine according to the GPS clock that is only running when we are moving, is about 7 hours. We are climbing around 5000'a day and are at about 2500' above seal level as I write this.
That being all said, We are happy and well. At times it gets tough, but the beauty out weighs the difficulty by far!