Day 14 on the road was eventful! At about 40KM into the ride, the dreaded ping from the back wheel! Yes a broken spoke. Clearly the wheels are on a standard racing bike is not up to the task of long distance with extra loading. Regarding the load, I am not talking much. Its just a 25L back pack strapped to a bike rack. No more than say 7KG! As the wheel is expensive, the prospect of a fix is veery low. I am likely to need to replace the wheel.
Being in the middle of basically nowhere, there are no cycle shops nearby, but tomorrow, I will divert to Zafra where there are three shops to chose from.
So after using a sticking plaster to secure the spoke, I loosened the break calliper and proceeded to complete the final 50KM on a wobbly wheel!
This is what industrial tomato picking looks like. We are well into the crop season here and loads of trucks are on the road to take the tomatoes to processing factories. Nestle had a large factory near the hotel I stayed at.
This was one of the last factories I passed. A very large outfit. Kind of wondering what all of these factories do when there are no crops to be picked?
Wild fire alert. Luckily the wind is blowing in the wrong direction for this one to cross my path. There is activity and I suspect the fire will soon be under control.
Leaving the tomatoes behind, I am in another wine region. More hills and of course a wobbly wheel 🙁
Finally I arrive at the hotel during the afternoon. Got to the hotel before the rain got to me. So to fit into the local routine, its a beer at 1600 with a beer and then a snooze until 2000 when I get up for dinner.
For the afternoon snack, its Croquettes. Normally served on a plate, but this golden pig is just a ugly thing for serving food on. Is it a Donald Trump meme?