This was definitely a ride of two halves! The first leg down to Plascencia was great, some good speed on a slight downhill “Flope” But minor mechanical for a few KM leading into Plascencia.
So I am off to a great start with some great views along the way.
So, the mechanical. After a coffee stop, the gears started to jump around a bit. Normally the first sign of a gear cable fraying and ready to snap. So as I was just a few KM from the city, I kept going and found a spot to pull over to investigate the issue.
And here is the cause. The soft link used to remove the chain had come adrift, so a quick fix from the chain tool.
The great thing about Spain is that most medium cities will have a Decathlon. Invested in a couple of Magic Links in case of further issues with the chain!
Getting around the city was fine, but as I tried to exit the city, it seemed that the only way out was via a motorway! As you will see from the map, a bit of wandering around and eventually I leave the city.
Not too far along the way, I hit another challenge. A gravel road. So again its a more re-routing to find a way to progress.
It seems that each way I try, I get blocked, so in the end decided that I will go with the gravel. But after a few KM, this route just stopped! Fenced off!
Overhead, a storm building up and it started to rain, so I back tracked to a twin and waited for the rain to ease off.
A nice view of a bank from a sheltered spot as I wait for the rain to stop.
Eventually I am on my way again with a large detour to I can at least keep the speed up and out run the storms. It kind of worked most of the way, but there was one section where I felt a bit of hail from a head wind. Luckily this was only for 1KM as I had a dog leg turn and was able to get away from the storm.
So, in a day, the ride goes from amazing to a real living hell. When I got to the hotel, I looked up the route I used in 2014 as I had no issues at all. If you can imagine a direct line between Plascencia and Valladolid, my previous route went well to the west. Back then I was not using Komoot but planning things manually. So going forward, I need to pay attention to where AI is trying to route me .