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Yesterday was characterized by the steep descent from Cruz de Ferro and a relatively gentle ride through a small valley to Villafranca del Bierzo where we were greeted by yet another downpour, and where we spent the night drinking Aguardiente(water with teeth), which warms both the body and the soul.

Yet another day of dualities, the sun shines in one place while it pours in another, and you can probably guess our location. The climb to O Cebreiro took most of the day, and just when you though you were getting closer, another turn, and another uphill. We rode through some beautiul little towns that reminded us of the Napa Valley, and then we encountered the Basques...2 nice guys who spoke not a word of english, but with whom we played tag most of the way up the mountain as they would pass us when we could no longer climb, and we would pass them when they were taking it easy, but hey they had mountain bikes... We were yelled at by some Pilgrims on foot, Nathan is still convinced they were cursing at the ease with which we climbed the mountain, Allen contends that they were merely shouting encouragement...And then we saw the summit, never a more welcome site had been encountered...

Once at the top of O Cebreiro the rain came again, and we took refuge in yet another bar, and ate our fill after the strenuous climb. After exploring the village, and the church were the bread and wine were said to have actually turned to the body and blood, we were set to leave and began walking back to our bikes when, with arms wide open and his head slightly tilted to the side, there was Frits...

As it turned out, O Cebreiro was not the only peak we would have to summit before resting that day, and for these neither of us was prepared. We left O Cebreiro and came upon a statue of a pilgrim tilting his head into the wind, it was a fortuitous sign to say the least, as just at that moment, the worst rain and wind of the day began, but we climbed the last 3 summits and were rewarded by a long descent into Triacastela. The descent into Triacastela was envigorating, but with very little brake left and the gusts of wind as you rounded every turn that threatened to blow you off your bike and back to Oz, Triacastela didn't come nearly soon enough.

O Cebreiro was by far the most physically and mentally challenging conquest of the trip, and has come to symbolize struggle. When we encounter struggle in our daily lives, we remind each other of the climb to O Cebreiro and realize that anything is possible. We each took a small necklace, an open circle, a symbol of the Celtic history of that place to remind us of our journey...