Camino de Santiago (part 8)
September 11, 2024, was the ninth day of my journey along the Camino. I began this day in Burgos, Spain, and it felt great to hop back on my bike after taking a two-day break traveling from Cahors, France to Burgos. The sun was shining, the weather was pleasantly warm, and the landscape was mostly flat – it seemed like a promising day ahead.
The morning passed smoothly without any mechanical issues or navigational mishaps. As the saying goes, no news is good news. I enjoyed a delicious lunch in the quaint little town of Hontanas.

The afternoon, however, became quite warm. The landscape was flat and, if I'm honest, rather monotonous. This segment of the Camino, known as the Meseta, is characterized by its arid and level terrain. Still, I felt satisfied as I was making decent mileage.
Around 3:00 PM, I found myself riding along a straight road with minimal traffic. The heat was intense, and I might have been pushing my limits a bit too much. Suddenly, without any notable cause apart from a quick head movement, a wave of severe dizziness struck me.
I've dealt with this issue for many years, experiencing these intense dizzy spells roughly once a month or so. Typically, it happens when I've been stationary for an extended period and suddenly change my head position. Once it hits, though, there's little I can do; I just need to lie down for about an hour until it subsides.

When the dizziness descended upon me, I managed to dismount and attempted to walk my bike for a bit. Unfortunately, my condition worsened, leading me to collapse. Fortunately, I passed by a home with a tree providing shade. I secretly wished the homeowners wouldn’t notice me, as I'm sure they would have been more worried than necessary.

After about fifteen minutes, I felt strong enough to stand and walk my bike. After half an hour of that, I finally managed to get back on my bike and ride, albeit with some difficulty. Luckily, the next town, Revenga de Campos, was only a few miles ahead.

I spotted a sign directing me to a house that functioned as a cozy little hotel. I'm unsure of the correct term in English for such establishments, but it operated similarly to the one I had stayed at in Beduer, France, on day six. This particular house featured a lovely backyard with a pool, where I relaxed for a bit until I gathered enough energy to explore the town.
During dinner, I encountered an elderly couple from Denmark who were traveling across Europe in their RV. They were quite inquisitive about my Camino experience and expressed curiosity about my thoughts regarding the 9/11 anniversary. I had to admit I hadn't even recalled it until they mentioned it.

After dinner, I had hoped to challenge the gentleman from Denmark to a game of chess or something similar, but they retired for the night relatively early. Hence, I took a stroll around the small town since there wasn’t much else to occupy my time. On my walk, I discovered an Albergue where I could have stayed to meet other pilgrims. Unfortunately, I was unaware of it upon arriving in town, and due to my dizziness and mild heat exhaustion, I wasn't thinking clearly.

In my upcoming update, I will share the tale of my continued trek across the Meseta, heading towards the town of El Burgo Ranero.
November 21, 2024 Question
What is a way to arrange ten marbles so that you form five lines, each containing four marbles?
November 21, 2024 Answer
Create a pentagram and then position a marble at each point and each inside corner of the pentagon.

December 5, 2024 Question
An anonymous buyer has made an arrangement to purchase a diamond from you. The plan is to place it in a chest located in a public area. However, since the contents of the chest could be at risk of theft if it's not locked, how can both parties utilize their own locks and keys to establish a secure method for transferring the diamond to the buyer?