The goal for today’s ride was to arrive in Mérida in time to join the CB meet-up lunch with Team Anderson and Suzanne and Janos, who were all traveling east to Mérida from Santa Martá. During our route planning activities last fall/winter, it seemed highly unlikely that all five of us would be able to intersect in Spain. But we somehow found two nights in Mérida where we could all be together, if not for group touring at least for some shared meals and camaraderie.
I had 40 miles to Mérida, so I got an fairly early start on the day. It was a beautiful, crisp morning cycling along farm roads and canal byways. The route I’d mapped was direct and fairly flat, which made up for it's lack of interesting scenery. I called it the Ag-Industrial route, as it took me past large grain elevators, food processing plants, and mile after mile of row crops and fruit trees.
I made good time, stopping briefly in Valdetorres for a Fanta break and water resupply. After 28 miles, I left the small roads and turned onto EX105 for the climb up to Villagonzalo, a 2 mile ascent so modest it didn’t even register on RWGPS. I flew down into Mérida, navigated the city streets pulled into the shaded parking lot of the MPD Hotel Apartments at 1:30 pm, in plenty of time for our 2 pm tentative lunch date.
Cycling along a lonely road, just me and my shadow
The canal serves as an essential water source for the vast acreages of crop land. Irrigation infrastructure was plentiful, including the modern style aqueduct shown on the right
Tomates del Guadiana is a cooperative of more than one hundred farmers whose main activity is the processing of fresh tomatoes and fruits into purees. They currently process 8.2 million kilos of tomatoes each day
Tomatoes, they informed me. Of course!! I couldn't get my head around the idea that tomatoes might be grown in large fields rather than a green/hot house. It makes sense that the Tomates del Guadiana processing plant would be surrounded by fields of tomatoes.
Surprisingly, the parking lot entrance to MPD Hotel Apartmento also doubles as the hotel reception. When I went to register, I asked the staff if the Anderson’s had checked in. No, she replied, but on looking at the camera monitors she spotted a man she presumed was Scott standing at another entrance to the hotel. She headed up the hill to find “Scott” and sure enough, Rachael appeared followed quickly followed by Scott. Within a fairly short order, all five of us were together again, enjoying some Extremadura cuisine and each other’s company.
I retreated to my room after lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up and readying for my online French class with Alliance Française, Raleigh. I’d been taking their online classes for the past year, but debated whether to sign up again as it’s often difficult to find the time while on tour. I’m committed for the next 9 weeks of the spring session, but am thinking the intensive classes in Paris might allow for more rapid progress.
French class ended at 7:30, a perfect time to visit some of the Roman ruins with Scott and Rachael. Scott plotted a route to the to the Los Milagros Aqueduct, built during the first century AD. Along the way, we spotted another of Mérida’s three Roman Aqueducts and so detoured to the San Lázaro Aqueduct before strolling along the Rio Albarregas to the Los Milagros Aqueduct.
The early evening light cast warm glow on the array of browns and reds emanating from the mixed building materials used in construction of the aqueducts. Various species of birds soared in and around the aqueduct archways and crouched into crannies within the walls. The most striking were the storks. Nests were atop most every small pillar or archway of the Los Milagos Aqueduct, with males standing guard or swooping home with the latest morsel or news from afar. The three of us stood in wonder, at the both 2000 year-old engineering construction and the grace and elegance of our avian friends. It was an evening to remember.
This morning I joined Suzanne and Janos for breakfast at a nice bakery that served coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice and French-style pastries – they didn’t have the lightness of French croissants and pain au chocolat, but were tasty nonetheless. Suzanne and Janos were off to do laundry (and graciously accepted a few of my items) while I was bound for a bike shop to replace brake pads and clean the drive train - a little TLC for Vivien George. We all agreed to rendezvous for lunch at 2 pm with Scott and Rachael, who were off on their own morning birding and hiking adventures.
Vivien George spent most of the day with Sergio getting spruced up at Ciclos Net while I had some tourist fun before our luncheon date. The afternoon was spent with Scott and Rachael planning my escape to England during the Paris Olympics, and then it was time to retrieve Vivien George. Suddenly the day was gone and there was too little time for Suzanne's and my planned visit to the Roman Theater.
Gather round little ones, we're heading across the water
Our CB meet-up in Merida was filled with some wonderful shared moments, but was coming to an end. I was headed south in the morning, wending my way back to Seville while Scott and Rachael were bound for the North to catch a ferry to England. Suzanne and Janos planned to join TA for a few days, and then would begin the long drive back to Germany. There are plans for me to meet up again with each couples before I return to the US in October, and perhaps we can find a time and place where all five might cycle together again. Until the next time.
Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km) Total: 703 miles (1,131 km)
4 weeks ago