SANTO DOMINGO DE LA CALZADA to BURGOS   <MAP>

I met a couple from Holland on the way out of town...I would wind up seeing them again later. I also rode for a while with a young woman from Andorra. At Granon, we split up. She was riding to Santiago on the walkers' footpath. I stayed on the road. It's mostly flat, and when not, rolling hills.

My cycle computer had stopped working, and I decided to try and get it fixed in Belorado, the next "big" town I would come to. Once in Belorado, I had trouble finding the refugio for my sello. There are two in Belorado, and the first one I came to - the one attached to the church - was closed. There had been a fiesta in town the night before, and they were taking down the decorations. I nearly garroted myself on a wire they had used for hanging flags. I met two young women from Dresden. When I did find the second Refugio, the guy who ran it walked half-way across to town to show me a bike shop that could repair the computer. It turned out to be nothing major.

On the way out of town, I stopped and chatted with the Stindls, a German family from a town near Heidelberg. The father is a recently-retired doctor. He was riding with his son, who would accompany him as far as Burgos. His wife was driving. She would go ahead and see the sights, then meet up with him.

I stopped for lunch at Montes de Oca. I had planned to take a "detour" that added 8 kilometers to the day's ride, but allowed me to skip a pretty large climb. The detour was magical. A quiet, well-paved road through small villages. At one point, climbing a hill, I was accompanied by a tiny blue butterfly. While it was mostly uphill, none of the climbs were difficult. Ultimately, the detour leads to San Juan de Ortega, an absolutely beautiful - and recently scrubbed - church.

An easy ride to Burgos followed. After being in mostly rural surroundings, it was a little disconcerting to be in a big city. Fortunately, there were signs for the major hotels, so I didn't have any trouble navigating.

However, when I checked in, I realized that I had lost my Credencial. I knew I could get a new one, but I had lost all the sellos I had collected. To get a new one, I took off for the Cathedral, where I ran into the young woman from Andorra, and the couple from Holland, the Nikkens, I had met that morning. I thought I could get a Credencial at the Cathedral, but I was informed that I'd have to go to the Refugio - about a mile away.

Coming back, new Credencial in hand, I ran into the the Stindls. They were staying outside of Burgos, as they couldn't find a room in town. The young woman - Nuria - from Andorra was in need of a place to stay, too. It made me glad that I had booked all my rooms before I left.

Running into people over and over again is a real feature of the Camino. While not everyone rides the same speed, we all tend to ride the same distance - or have the same destination - every day.

The hotel I stayed in - the Rice - let me keep my bicycle in a ground floor linen closet.

Except for the Credencial loss, it was a great day.

8:02 total time. (Includes trip to get new Credencial.) 5:00 on bike.(Approximately, given the mis-functioning cycle computer) 97.3 km