8.05.2024
Miles: 52.73
Total: 4,974.81 mi., 8,005.96 km.
Today was exceptionally magical, which is saying a lot, given my routinely high levels of magic on this trip.
I set out from Zubieta on a more reasonable road than I came in on, and stopped at a bike shop in town to measure my chain wear and check out the merch. The owner was a Basque man who generously taught me some Basque phrases and even gave me an interview in this melodic language.
Those phrases came in handy a few miles down a shaded lane when I met Iñaki, a political cartoonist who was bicycling home from a weekend at a friend's house. After we exhausted my three words of Basque, Iñaki revealed his knowledge of English. We chatted along the gravel roads for many happy miles, exchanging epa's {hellos) with the all the other folks out for a roll or a stroll.
We parted ways when Iñaki headed south to his home in Irun and I bore north toward the French border.
The border was so subtle that I didn't even realize I had crossed it until, all of the sudden, the streetsigns changed to French and the police sirens started sounding like geese on the make.
After greeting the ocean again for the first time since Porto, I made my way toward my hotel in Bayonne. Now in my room, I just discovered that Iñaki emailed me this wonderful illustration, wishing me a good journey:
I am so touched I may be crying a little. I don't think anyone has ever made a drawing of me, and certainly not one that so accurately captures how I feel when I am riding my bicycle. He sees the flowers of happiness in my wake!
I am also amazed at Iñaki's endurance: after a day of riding, I can barely get myself a bed and fed. I can't imagine having the energy to create such exquisite art.
Thank you, Iñaki, for making my ride through the Spanish Basque country so special and for honoring my journey with your talent. I hope we have occasion to ride together again one day soon.
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