Lose weight now! It’s painless and guaranteed and your life will be hugely improved as a result -just read this blog to find out how!

I was looking forward to today . Not even the wet tent and other kit which I was now carrying (and wearing) could dampen the excitement at spending most of the day ahead in sight of the sea. My route hugged the coast ,with the sparkling Bay of Biscay on my left all day .

Weather wise there was a coastal dampness hanging in the air , a surly hangover from yesterdays downpours, but with the promise of it being burned off pretty quickly, I got going as soon as I could.

As I wheeled out of the camp site I passed last nights super wholesome German bikepacker couple-they’d arrived just after me, high fiving and seemingly waterproof, probably because of their inner Zen. On route from from Paris to Portugal, everything about them was immaculate. As I left, they were too busy pulling some yoga moves to notice my spectacular bike bound slam dunk of last nights cider bottle into the recycling bin. They probably wouldn’t have been as impressed as I was.

The next couple of hours cycling was excellent. The skies had cleared and the road seemed to match every up with an equal down,giving plenty of time to take in the sea views as I snaked around the coast.

But. But. The bike was heavy and I was preoccupied with the naiviety of my packing. Maybe I wasn’t as ruthless at that stage as I thought I’d been. A conversation the previous night with my UK based Tour Director (😊) had thrown up the idea of sending some unnecessary kit home,and as I dropped into the coastal village of Ondarroa the sight of a Correos Post Office sealed the deal .

I bought a box and basically loaded both my front panniers and contents,including all my cooking kit and some clothes . The lady serving me was patience personified and with a combination of Spanglish,the art of mime and a bit of Google Translate I got rid of 12 kilos of weight for about £35. I was a bit alarmed when she asked me for my DNA but turns out it was just Google’s way of asking me for my identity and luckily I didn’t have to think of a mime for that!

I felt the difference straight away . The bike felt so much better and I was more confident on the descents especially. Knowing I’d done the right thing made the remaining miles fly by and I made it the campsite in good time.

Gran Zarautz Camping was a bit of a culture shock . A huge commercially run international site ,near the beach and very very surfy . It was also the first time I’d heard English voices since I arrived,which felt strange.

One of those voices belonged to Moss (real name). A dreadlocked surfer dude with a guitar, he provided the one chord soundtrack to me putting my tent up. His adoring surf girl fans, Quinoa, Karma and Hemp (not real names ) hung on his every melancholy tuneless strum

Also in my little section were a group of about ten Girl Guides. Or maybe they were Scouts-in any case they were about eighteen ,from Belgium I think and were wearing those coloured neckerchiefs things.

My tent was now up and I was fettling with my kit. Although Moss had thankfully paused the guitar the Guides were happily clapping as they sang the Belgian version of Kumbayah . My sandals,still wet from yesterday were also muddy and so I began to clack the soles together to shake the mud off -with horror I realised my clack-clack had dropped into the rhythm of my happy clapping neighbours. THEY THOUGHT I WAS JOINING IN!

Clap clap they went,clack clack I went,locked in a circle of fixed grins and synchronised clapping and clacking that I needed to break. Even worse, Moss was seeing an opportunity for Eurovision campsite harmony, man, and the strumming began. Increasingly desperate to show I wasn’t part of this I changed my speed, now for every clap clap I was clack-clack-clack-but they did no more than match me!! Nooooooo…….faster and faster went the singing, the clapping and the clacking, me too polite to stop but oh so desperate for the awkwardness to end.

Luckily Moss got so excited I think he snapped a string and the resulting fuss broke the spell, me taking the opportunity to disappear into my tent,international incident averted !

San Sebastián tomorrow,a short day to prepare for heading for Pamplona the day after……