Boats and Bikes!

Today its a very short ride down the valley as I wanted to have a day chilling in one of my favourite spots. Again, another great local hotel booked.

The day starts with a little up hill climb with roughly a 150m climb up to a view point looking down the valley. According to Strava, I managed to get a new PR on the hill. Now there is a good reason for this. On previous trips, the hill has been tackled at the end of a 80KM or more ride. Today its the start of the day!

Just before the hill, its a quick stop to fill up water bottles. Fresh spring water. I have topped up here before in the past as I noticed a few locals filling up cans! On previous stops here, I have cleaned the bike!

At the top of the hill, I am at the regional line between Castilla & Leon and Extremadura. As I enter into the next Junta area, the road is not so well kept 🙁

A view down the valley. Again on the way down, Go Pro will be capturing some film.

Arrive at 1130, so coffee and a swim, and then chill by the river until check in time at 1400.

Back on the road tomorrow with a longer ride south!

This is the 11th tour I have ridden in Spain. I would say that todays ride sites in the top rides I have done in this country. The weather was great and not too hot. The views were amazing. and to wrap things up, the hotel at the end was really nice. Lots of climbing but I was suitably recharged after a rest day at the Parador.

For those that do not know, the “Parador” is a chain of hotels which are located in very old and historical buildings. My first trip into a Parador was in May 1994 during a yacht trip from France. After nearly being sunk due to mechanical failure, we pulled into Ferol on the north coast of Spain where we stopped in the Parador, a former naval wardroom.

The Gredos parador a 4 star hotel is the very first Parador established in 1928, so nearly 100 years in business. I have found that in tour, a nice hotel like the Parador is a real treat, and surprisingly affordable in some locations if stopping during mid week.

Like many countries, Spain is a proud nation where you will often see the national flag flying in most cities, towns and villages. This flag was in the Gredos hills just outside one village. In the UK, we need to rescue the Union Flag from the thugs and display more like other countries. Sadly all we seem to do is strap Temu flags to light posts with zip ties and allow the whole collection to quickly get tatty. We need to stop doing this as its letting the UK down!

So, I am more than halfway up the major climb for the day. Over 1000m of climbing overall. After a good hearty breakfast, I was able to haul myself + bike up the hill with a small number of stops to take photos. The gradient was perfect so I did not even need to get off the bike and walk!

The picture above is looking back towards the south. I am about 120m from the top at this point.

At the top, 1909m possible the highest point for this ride. According to Garmin GPS at the end of the last leg, it reported that I had acclimatized to 500m. Since leaving Santander, I have been mostly above 600m.

This is a view down from the top. I will be filming as I drop down to 1,200m

The top of the hill is very popular with hang gliders. A very strong smell of Weed when I arrived. I assume the pilots were going to be high whilst being high!

And down the hill, a short pause to look back up to where I started. If you zoom in you can just about make out the mobile phone mast close to the view point.

Once into the valley, I have a few KM of easy riding on a slight downhill incline to El Barco d’Avilla. Nice small village with a castle. From here, its 10KM to Solana d’Avilla where I stop for the night.

The rural hotel is amazing and great value for money, Like many of these Casa Rural places, great food is served by friendly staff (Possibly the owners).  So it was perfect to round of an amazing day with a cool beer and a fat juicy homemade cow burger.

This is a very hilly one. But great views and good road surfaces. I was treated to a nice long flat run before attacking a few climbs. Close to 1000m in total. Again Komoot AI had a different idea of riding to me as it wanted to send me well into the bush. I stuck mainly to the N-Roads where I knew I could stop for coffee and top up water.

In the high temperatures, water is essential, especially when going up the side of a mountain. Running out of water is a thing to avoid at all costs!

And here are some pictures.

Starting out from Avila on a flat bit. Loads of cyclist out on the road today. Close to the end of the 28KM flat bit, I found the cyclist cafe for Coffee and Cake! So far a nice tail wind. The hard work is about to star as I hit the mountain!
At the top of the hill. Altitude is 1584m. The two pictures looking each way. From here, its a long downhill ride to another Cafe and then a further climb up to my hotel which is at 1642m above sea level.

And this is the Hotel, Parador Gredos. Here I will take a short rest as I stay here for 2 nights before I am back on the road.

Another day of interesting riding. Segovia was a very interesting city with lots of architecture to see. The viaduct was impressive and a place worth visiting. Hotel was brilliant. Good breakfast to send me on my way.

The destination for today is Avilla, another old city with great architecture. The journey was not so great in places due to road surfaces.

Starting out on a nice smooth road. Finally I have Komoot under control and stopped it from sending me up dead end streets and gravel roads.

Now we get to the rough part. Not as bad a a gravel track, but still not great. A rough surface adds to the friction making it a harder ride. At 40 degrees Celsius, it seems strange to see this sign recommending snow chains!

This road went on for about 25KM, uphill most of the way. As soon as I got to the county border (Avilla and Segovia) the road improved as it seems the Avilla council has better road funding!

At the highest point of the ride, I am at 1237m above sea level. Altitude tends to keep things cool in the morning!

And this is Avilla, my hotel was within the walls, so we managed to keep the riff-raff out.

Today I really took charge of komoot. No detours needed. Some great views along the way. Ride was flat with some hills along the way. More hills to be challenged in the days ahead.

Here in Wine Country they have solar powered grapes.

It never ceases to amaze me about the architecture throughout Spain. A nice Castle and right next to it is something a bit darker – a  bull ring!

Back out on the road, I am travelling along a nice smooth cycle track. Must be a budget cut going on here as the track stops for a dip and I have to navigate with a bike across stepping stones. There was a road immediately to my left which I decided not to use as fresh tar had been sprayed as part of a major resurfacing operation.

My destination is Segovia. Just before those hills which will become a main feature of the rides over the next few days.
And here is the famous viaduct. Hope the council is keeping on top of the pointing! Better picture as last time I came this way, it was poring with rain! I may add more pictures of this in the next post!

Nice weather again, but today I was faced with yet another Komoot challenge!

The route out of Valladolid is easy on good tracks. About 10KM out the track ends. Coffee stop one!

So its onto normal roads which is all fine. Next I am taking a lovely road down through a forest that suddenly changes to gravel!

I was not loving this part of the trip and as you can see in the distance, there is a dust cloud caused by a TWAT in a car driving to fast. Gravel pieces flying at high speed missed me, so time for a u-turn.

So in the map you see a detour. Not many options to take as the two main roads are motorways (One resumed as a N road which I joined later.

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 .

Day three and more distance today. Some nice downhill sections as well. Weather is still hot, but I got a move on before things really heated up.

Day starts very misty and coolish. Quick totilla for breakfast with coffee at the amazing service station and I am then on my way.

Not too far from the start point, I do have a climb ahead of me, but after that one, its an easy spin heading south. Sun starting to break through.
On the way up the hill, a quick pause to get a shot of where I came from. Great views not to miss!

So, at the top of the hill, I have broken into four figures. According to the computer, at this point I am 9.3KM behind where I should be. But that is due to the fact I hit the Go button at the hotel and then stopped for a coffee and Breakfast at the service station.

Taking things easy today. Feeling a bit sore from some cramps last night. Kind of normal for a ride on day one!

Starting out on a nice road via the Komoot plan. All seems to be in order…BUT…THIS!!!!
So Komoot wants me to go down this track! I have a road bike, not a mountain or gravel bike, but despite selecting a road bike, Komoot seems to be keen to take me to places I do not want to go.

So what is the key things I need to avoid?

1. I do not do gravel, so don’t be rude and suggest it.
2. I like quite N roads where there are frequent places to top up with water. Long 50KM sections with zero places to fill up is not required in 40 degrees heat!
3, I am not a massive fan of detours. Komoot does try and find quite routes but can add 30% distance to your trip if you let it.

So after ignoring the suggested route, I stayed on a quiet N-Road and stopped at Aguliar de Campoo for a cheeky beer before the final 10KM to my hotel.

Whilst I am at an attitude of over 900m above sea level, its 40 degrees and hard to believe that snow markers are even needed here!

Now, let me tell you about the hotel. At the moment, they are not cheap and in some cases in this region, I have seen rooms posted for £800 per night. Possibly eclipse related. But for tonight, I have a cheap spot, but its locked and nobody was there! A sign on the door stating that restaurant is permanently closed and the team now running out of a service station.

So a quick trip to the service station and a coupe, of soft drinks, they called the owner and I was let in.

Along many of the older N roads, you can see plenty of former restaurants and petrol stations as traffic is taken from there routes by new motorways. In the case of the A-73, its very new and only covers a few miles, but already the impact has been felt on the Hotel Canada which is now room only in the middle of nowhere. But what about the service station?

In Spain, things are done differently. The service station is not managed by a big chain like we have in the UK and filled with KFC, Greggs and Burger King, this place was amazing. A shop, main bar area and a sit down restaurant. All managed by a local team who used to operate the nearby hotel. So displacement does not aways result in the loss of livelihoods to the big players. This place has raving reviews! And I had a great dinner for €19 including a full bottle of wine! (Nope I did not drink all of it!) Here is a link! https://maps.app.goo.gl/fT1JLhcsrNmQqNr76

We do not often to get to see such an amazing sight. So, I will start with an amazing picture from my mobile phone!

People spend a huge amount on SLR cameras and as a owner myself, I am not sure I could have improved on this shot using my 2016 Cannon. Sure, a modern camera body and a lot of planning would have delivered an amazing result, but on a cycle tour where I need to travel light, a full SLR kit with lenses and tripod was out of the question. 100%!

So let me tell you about the ride to get this picture.

The ride was quite brutal to be honest. It was only 80 KM but with a climb close to 1400m during the 40% heat, it was difficult. I am beginning to wander how I managed this route plus a further 80KM in 2014. But back then I was just 50. I am now 62, so that may have something to do with it. Also it was a bit cooler as the ride was at the end of Aug!

For the rest of this tour, I am taking things a lot easier as fitness levels improve. I have 4 weeks to get to Gib, so the purpose of this tour is to explore at a gentle pace!

Before leaving the boat, I was treated to a nice sunrise. Departure from the ship was dead easy. Santander is well set up regarding EES. As a ship runs here just a few times a week, getting through is easy. So for those who want to avoid what has become a EES horror story on the cross channel routes to Dover, have a think about this route!

Getting out of Santander is fairly urban. Komoot got a few turns wrong, but eventually I was out of the city and on my way.

Stunning scenery on the way South from Santander. Also its the Camino route for the pilgrims. Not seen many so far!
First coffee of the day after about 30KM
And back to where I started. A picture of my bike next to a sun with a hole in the middle. It just looks wrong. Almost dystopian. But its a real thing and not an image created by AI.