I'm back. I'm psyched to be back. I don't know if I'm just not that good at being away from home, or if I do better when I travel with other people, or if it was maybe the really gross weather that Galicia was suffering from. The feeling of relief that I felt when the train pulled away and I knew that I was on the way home was like being dunked in a warm bath.
It's not that I don't like doing this job, writing about cycling destinations: to me, sitting on the bike and pedalling is like sitting zaizen, achieving a level of flow that I find is missing in the rest of my life. But the entire pilgrimage thing gets kind of lost when you realize that you're in the process of developing a very dysfunctional relationship with everyone else who's on the Camino. It's strange because you really don't mind seeing other people on the road, and it's fun to chat with others who are doing the Camino. As long as they're not barreling down slender paths on mountain bikes, six at a time...as long as their horses are not refertilizing paved surfaces in the rain. As long as they come two or three at a
t time -- not sixty of them getting up at one go at 4:30 in the morning.And cycling is exhausting, too. Not taking care of what you eat, not getting enough sleep - it all takes a toll after a week or so. Having to do three mountain passes on a fully loaded touring bike... exhausting. Having to be up and going and riding by seven in the morning... exhausting.
I'm not sure how long I'll sleep in tomorrow morning, but as long as I can stay in my own bed, with my own sheets, no one snoring in the background, I think I'll do just fine.
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