Showing far more enthusiasm
than I expected, one of the men excitedly climbed out of the hole and gestured
for me to head back, a mere 300 metres, in the direction I’d just come from, before
taking the first road on my right. This, he said assuredly, would quickly get
me back on my way.
As easy as it sounded, I
somehow sensed that it was not the precise information I needed. Judging from
my map, it was sending me off in an entirely opposite direction and one
I’d almost worn my tyres out on already. Probably
noticing the unconvinced look on my face, the man glanced at his partner; I
guessed for some sort of affirmation. Needless to say, none was forthcoming,
none I especially wanted to hear anyway.
The Basques love their cycling. There's cycling routes everywhere. You just have to know where they end up. |
Bemused, I stood patiently awaiting
the outcome of the two men’s rapid-fire conversation. The only
thing that held me there was the thought of not showing my gratitude given the
time they’d already spent trying to help me. Apart from providing them with a
long break from the pain and sweat of digging their hole, one they hadn’t yet
finished, their discussion seemed to accomplish nothing more than a vehicle for
proving to each other who of them was right.
As it turned out, it was neither.
With my head still spinning from the heat, my inability to find the right road and the plethora of Basque words I
didn’t understand – and that was almost all of them – I decided to continue
along the road I was on in the hope of at least coming to an intersection I
could recognise on my map. That’s when I caught up with another cyclist. An American from Nevada, who called himself ‘Lance’,
his bicycle was laden with more equipment than you’d see at a camping expo. With
every turn of the pedal, his wobbly load reminded me of one of those old
Hollywood movies where wagon trains beat a slow and weary path across America’s
Mid-West.
Books by Mark
Krieger:
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
‘Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round’ is available on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
‘Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round’ is available on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
“I still must abide by the rules of
the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization.”
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