Pamplona to Estella, Day 24

Thursday, 10.8.2023, Day 24
Today we left Pamplona, Wohlgemuth, after a rest day and what should have been an easier stage ahead of us. We started late, at 9:30 am, which brought us into the scorching midday sun, 38°, on the asphalt it felt more like 50°. Despite the supposedly easier route, it was extremely exhausting due to the heat. In between, and this cost us an extra hour, we changed the front brake pads on Andrea's bike, and it took us a while because we didn't know exactly how to do it. In the end, we managed. It's a good thing we had the right spare parts with us just in case. Now we just need to refill a bit of hydraulic oil for the front brake at a suitable workshop because we lost some oil during the repair. The landscape was beautiful, it reminded me of California in some places, and we bravely continued riding until we crossed the Arga River just before Estella, which has now become a proper river. Just two days ago in the Pyrenees, it was still a small mountain stream where we filled our water bottles. As soon as we arrived in Estella, they barricaded the old town in all directions with heavy beams, and we already suspected that they were probably preparing for a bull run, similar to Pamplona. We pushed our bicycles through the old town, and a police officer asked us how we were going to quickly lift the bikes over the barricade when the bulls come. "cuando empieza la fiesta?" Well, he said, in half an hour. So we hurried. And then we watched the spectacle from a safe distance. Since then, the whole city has been celebrating, loud music from brass bands, celebrations everywhere. Now it's clear to us why we had difficulty booking accommodation until next weekend. But we did manage to book accommodation last night and prepared ourselves for the challenge of crossing Rioja.
And finally, the answer to yesterday's little quiz: What does the Basque word "Komunak" mean? It means toilet. Look at the pictures and wonder why you can't understand anything when reading a Basque text.