I try to leave earlier, but one thing leads to another and I end up at the same time as on Sunday, except that this time I have eaten and had a good coffee!
So I don’t stop until I’ve passed the highest point of the route, the "Los Castanos" pass. Just after there is a van accompanying cyclists ("From Jejez to Santiago"), the driver takes pictures of me, even though I am not in their group. I stop to chat, the cyclists arrive and offer me some fresh water! Great, my water bottle was almost empty.
In the next village I stop for a coffee. I don’t ask for water and I’m a bit worried when I see that the water bottle is already quite empty. I have a reserve in my pannier, but... And then I see some people from the village filling bottles at a fountain. I stop and fill up!
As usual, the last few kilometres are the hardest: it’s getting hot, there’s a little headwind that slows down (then quickly feels good because it reduces the heat) and the road back to the city is tough: on one side the motorway, on the other the high-speed railway and in the middle the treeless national road.
But the arrival is close enough, and I am at the hotel shortly after 1pm.