Carcastillo

September 28, 2023

We’re at the leading edge of something of a heat wave that looks like will be with us for about five days. Nothing too severe, but warm enough that we decide we should get an early start on the day ride we’ve planned for today. We agree to set the alarm for six and plan to be out the door by eight, when it should already be warm enough for comfortable riding.

Setting the alarm for six has the desired effect of getting us up by six. It doesn’t result in us leaving by eight though. Rachael brews me a cup of coffee and downs her cold cup she brewed and refrigerated for herself last night while I take my turn in the bathroom. She surprises me though when I come out by being back in bed, eyes closed. In the meantime she’s checked the weather report and concluded it’s not looking as warm as predicted so there’s not really quite such a big rush to get started.

So eight is out. Nine looks fine instead, but with one thing leading to another we don’t make that target either. Still, being on the sidewalk with the bikes at 9:45 is pretty darn good by our standards. Rachael puts on her helmet and gloves, mounts and starts her Garmin, curses when she realizes she’s left her rear light upstairs, and then groans when she discovers the lens has fallen out of her light as a feather but stupidly conceived glasses again.

She decides she’ll ride without either, but I instantly nix that idea. The rear light is one thing, but her uncorrected vision is bad enough that it’s a safety hazard to bike without them. So she goes back up to the room and returns a few minutes later, gone longer than I expected. She’s been half-successful - she found her rear light, but can’t find her backup glasses. So I go up and have my shot. I can’t find them either, but fortunately I’ve finally gotten the technique down for reseating her lens so I do that.

There will be a brief break in regular programming due to technical difficulties.

It’s maybe 10:15 when we bike south out of town, headed for Carcastillo. It’s getting warm already.

It’s a quite easy ride, not too long and virtually flat the whole way. There are a few modest rollers, but nothing that even breaks 5%. We can just ride, enjoying the pleasant agricultural sights and the day. Other than a few brief photo stops we bike straight through until we reach Carcastillo, with me never getting far enough behind that I can’t catch up again. None of the typical nonsense where she either disappears for an hour or doubles back on me just so she can claim an extra mile or two.

We’re in the broad Ebro valley. They grow corn here, among other crops.

The first several miles are flat all around, but eventually some contours show up to add interest.

We’re not racing. Or I’m not, at least. It’s too nice of a day to be in a big rush. If I had been racing though (and were about thirty years younger) I’m pretty sure I’d have taken him.

Slow down, ‘cause we’re comin’ to a town: Santaclara this time.

Torre de Santaclara, a minor sight in Navarra that I don’t suppose makes many tour lists.

The tower was built in the 13th century but destroyed in the 15th when the Castillians invaded Navarra. If that’s really true, it’s pretty remarkable that this shell is still standing.

Crossing the Aragón. It rises in the high Pyrenees near the French border and joins the Ebro a few miles south of here. It’s one of the Ebro’s largest tributaries.

For the last ten miles we follow the Aragón eastward. Here, the river runs just below that line of cliffs.

Carcastillo is another of those places that I’m sure doesn’t find its way onto many tourism lists. It landed on ours only because it was well positioned and at the right distance for a casual day ride. There’s just enough here to stop for a minute and sit in the shade of its church before hopping on the bikes and heading back to Olite.

In Carcastillo, looking up at its most impressive site.

On the opposite side of the plaza from the church is this place, which looks to be the town hall.

And this building, also facing the church plaza, is nice too.

The ride back goes fast. It’s still flat, there are few surprises to stop for that we didn’t see on the way out, and we have a nice tailwind. It’s definitely getting hot by the time we make it back to town just past one - in time for lunch at the place we ate on our first day here, but not in time to score an outside table in the shade enjoying a nice breeze, so we’re seated inside instead where it’s hotter and the TV is on. Not quite the same.

Afterwards I lie down outside in the shade on a cool stone bench while Rachael walks to a store for a cold orange drink. She’s back ten minutes later chastising me for not thinking to give her any money before she went. Is that my fault? She checks my wallet, finds only a pair of fifties, and decides that’s too silly for purchasing a fifty cent can of pop with so she walks back to the apartment to get some change and returns to the store.

The stone slab is still cool and comfortable when she returns, as refreshing as a can of orange pop I imagine.

Well, it’s out of town a ways but this is probably the real main attraction around Carcastillo: the Monastery of Santa Maria La Real de la Olvega, closed for restoration.

Video sound track: Estiama de Amor, by Kany García

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Ride stats today: 37 miles, 800’; for the tour: 708 miles, 20,800’

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 698 miles (1,123 km)

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Jacquie GaudetFunny about those glasses! I've had 3 pairs of reading glasses since I had my laser surgery about 15 years ago. As soon as I no longer needed coke bottle glasses, I opted for rimless-bottom specs. None of them have ever had a lens come out and they all got worn a lot as I needed them for work. The current ones are overdue for replacement but the lenses are still firmly in place.
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