Laguardia to Miranda de Ebro

May 23, 2025

Our destination today is Miranda de Ebro, a small city of 40,000 about 100 km south of Bilbao. This was not our originally planned destination and the change resulted because I failed to flyspeck the route back in Oregon sufficiently to see what was possible. I had been thinking we would head up to Bilbao by riding through Vitoria-Gasteiz, a city I had stayed in 20 years ago and had really enjoyed, but when I drilled down on the route last week, I couldn’t find any accommodations between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao. So, we rerouted to spend tonight in Miranda de Ebro and Saturday night in a small country hotel north of Orduña.

Breakfast today was even more lame than yesterday and Dave’s opinion was the hotel was a B- overall. It was totally a hassle for Dave to get the bikes out of the bike parking area. Some delivery man or hotel employee had loaded a bunch of carts in front of the bikes and Dave had to move all of them to get to the bikes.

Two similar stacks of laundry crates were stacked in front of the bikes and I had to relocate them in order to get the bikes out.

It would be a terrible hotel for people with mobility issues because there are stairs everywhere. I thought the hotel’s charm made up for many of its drawbacks and the room itself was large and lovely and hey, apparently I dig green tile in my bathrooms.

And these stairs are just to get into the hotel. Oh, they're more once you go inside.

But you get a sweet view of the village from the top of those stairs.

Yep. More stairs! And these lead to the top of the tower.

Great views of the valley from the tower.

The ride route turned out to be great, exceeding expectations. Weather was chilly but sunny and seriously windy in places. We had about 600m of elevation gain today but it was all in one go; the climb up to the Balcon de la Rioja, and it was fantastic. It’s a well-known climb locally, and we saw (and were usually passed by) occasional road bikers. We climbed for 8 km and had some steep pitches and hairpin turns.

Once at the top we stopped at the turnout and paused to enjoy the views. You could see all the little towns in the Valley.

At this point we were only on km point 12 for the day and we then had a steep descent that lasted most of the rest of the ride. Descents are usually fun, but the downside of this one was we were riding into the wind, descending fast and it was cold. We paused to suit up which for me meant donning all three jackets (windbreaker, cycling jacket, rain jacket), ear band, full gloves and long tights. I was still cold. Dave later informed me his speedometer hit 60 km/h. I never look, and don't want to know. We made an on-the-fly adjustment when we realized after the town of Berganzo that Komoot was putting us onto some gnarly single track. The parallel road we opted for instead was wonderful and I think only one car passed us for 5 km. Komoot, what gives?

We enjoyed these great looks of the ruined Castillo de Lanos as we rode.

Unlike his adult guardians, this little guy was able to get to the greener grass on the other side.

We reached the outskirts of Miranda de Ebro painlessly, having crossed several major highways on a quiet road and then rode a cycleway all the way into the center. It was an excellent route.

Our Hotel, the Sercotel, was nice and had the essentials we like, ie: air conditioning, a tub, and it looked newly remodeled. It even had a Smart TV but Dave wasn’t able to access the HDMI port on the back of the tv because it was mounted flush to the wall. We watched the Giro stage on Dave’s tablet instead.

Every time we check in there is always a bit of an adventure as to where the bikes will be parked, especially if you don’t share a language. Today, we parked in the hotel garage but getting there was challenging, both to learn about it and to find it. The parking garage was located behind the hotel but since all the buildings on this long block are attached it was necessary to walk all the way around the block and then find the hotel garage (among many) which turned out to require a ride in a car elevator to a tiny seven slot parking area. Because it was so tiny we didn’t want to take a car slot so we just parked against the wall and hoped for the best — ie: that a vehicle would not back into us. On another trip through the garage we noticed the hotel had moved our bikes to parking slot 1.

Working to get the bikes ready for the day's drive.

Moving the bikes into the car elevator which goes to the street level.

After parking the bikes and unpacking we walked to the corner of the block and had a glass of wine (Jill), beer (Dave), and split a mystery sandwich and a pack of ham chips (no kidding - they really did taste like ham). The lady in the bar wanted to explain all the different red wines to me. Really I just wanted a glass of wine to warm up but I appreciated her kindness. Miranda is not a tourist town - it was all locals in the bar and that was fun.

Afterwards we strolled over to a nearby laundromat so Dave could evaluate his excitement level to do laundry. He decided it was high enough to do so and he packed up and walked over with a small load.

The late Spanish dining hour is killing us. Tonight, the earliest reservation possible was 9 pm, and we feel like the last week we have been forced to waste time for two extra hours until we can eat. We are not sure what regular Spaniards do. Dave thinks they go out and drink.

Oh - one other thing: thanks for the very kind words when I shared my knee drama, especially Dottie from the Grampies who has some good (or bad I guess I should say) experiences with that issue herself. The good news: since Tuesday it has gradually improved so my emotional state is much better too. Dottie suggested a knee sleeve which was a great idea. Ironically, Dave HAS such a sleeve for his own knee and it just never occurred to us to try it on me. But I will now! Thank you.

Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 919 km (571 miles)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesGlad I could help.
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3 weeks ago

Karen PoretJill…Dave and my husband would get along with their “excitement” with laundry! 😂
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3 weeks ago