September 30, 2023
In Tudela
In some ways this was just a typical layover day for Team Anderson - Rachael takes a hike, Scott rides his bike. In addition though the day had a surprising social dimension that made it stand out in addition to the excellent hike and ride. There’s enough going on that we’re splitting it up and I’ll post my ride separately, other than for this one photo at the very start of it.
I’ve just crossed the Ebro on my way to Bardenas Reales when I’m held up by a bike traveler heading into town who’s trying to get my attention. I cross the road and he mumbles something in Spanish, and I apologetically indicate that I only speak English. So he promptly switches to English instead, which comes naturally to him because Kendal Aitken is a Brit. He wants to know the directions to the Decathalon store in town, because he’s flattened twice in the last two days and needs a new tire. I’m a stranger myself here so I can’t help him there either, but as long as we’re stopped we can at least chat a bit. Kendal’s riding from Bordeaux to Algeciras, on the third stage on his multi-year ride from the top of Scotland to the bottom of Spain.
Eventually we break it off, because he needs a tire and I’ve got a park to get to before the day heats up too much. First though I grab his email so I can send him a link to the blog, and he takes a video of me for his Facebook page - one of his projects is to interview random folks he encounters, asking what their dream is.
So I bike on, thinking about coincidences as I go. We have plans to meet with Ken and Judy for lunch this afternoon, and I heard from Ken yesterday. When he hits town he’s also in need of a bike store because he too has had a pair of flats in the past two days.
As I said, I’m saving my ride for a different post. But here are the photos from Rachael’s eleven mile hike north along the river and then atop the red bluff north of town. She reports that it’s a spectacular hike - great views, dramatic geography - but a bit short by her standards because she had to make it back to town before the day heats up too much and in time for our lunch date.
I’m back at the room at 12:45, Rachael returns fifteen minutes later, and we’ve heard from Ken. They’re in town hunting for a bike tire but then will meet us in the plaza as was planned. We both shower and head out to the plaza, which is immediately outside the door. No Ken and Judy though - instead the square is filling up with a noisy procession of young folks sporting bright red scarfs, accompanied by a brass band.
Suddenly Ken is standing next to Rachael and giving her a hug, explaining that they’ve been waiting in a different plaza. Judy’s in the tourism information center, and after some discussion we decide that Rachael and I should try to get a table at the place we ate yesterday, before it fills up. We find exactly one small table in the shade, and I hold it while Rachael heads back to Ken.
When the three of them return Rachael and Ken hve interesting news. They ran into another English-speaking biker - Australian, she believes - and he interviews her. That’s one coincidence too many, and I think it has to be Kendal still in town. As soon as we’ve placed our orders Ken and I go looking for him, and he’s still where they left him - in the information center, trying to get recommendations on the best way to get to Algeciras without encountering a lot of people and traffic. He breaks out his Michelin map of Spain for he and I to look at, I give some suggestions, and then head back to lunch and a visit with our friends.
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We’ve known there was a theoretical possibility we’d meet up with Ken and Judy - they’re biking from Barcelona to Lisbon, so our paths will cross somewhere - but the timing didn’t seem at all likely to work out. I was really startled three days ago to hear they were on the Ebro themselves, biking north while we biked south, and wrote back that we’d be in Tudela for two nights if they could make it up in time.
Lunch was fine, if a bit on the spendy side. I was surprised to see that the Menu de Dia was 5€ more per person today than yesterday. Weekend pricing, or maybe it’s a local holiday? The company was finer though, and there was entertainment! First, the marching band ooh-pahed noisily through the square, playing Roll Out the Barrel.
Then, our considerate waiter brought over a second table to place next to ours so we wouldn’t be so cramped when our food arrived. Sounds straight-forward but was actually an interesting skit, one I wish we could have videoed. First, we had to slide our current table sideways to make room for the other. Unfortunately it was already place-set, with food, open bottles of wine and poured glasses. We all gingerly lifted the table and set it down again in the new location. Then though, the pièce de résistance: the waiter slid one tablecloth with its two settings, wine bottle, dishes and glasses, from one table to the other - sort of like the trick of pulling the tablecloth out from beneath dishes. It worked, barely, but only because there were hands ready to grab falling objects just in time.
And then Kendal stopped by on his bike, finally leaving town on his way to Algeciras. There was more chit-chat, and then he biked on.
And then there was another ruckus coming up the street, with more revealers and music:
And then, fifteen minutes later, here’s Kendal again biking up to our table, and stopping to talk about when he’s old and grey like us he hopes he can led a leisurely lifestyle like ours, sitting around socializing and taking it easy after a short morning ride. Pretty nice life, alright!
That was his line at least. Myself, I’m guessing that he made that up when he found himself back in the square again, too embarrassed to admit he’d just biked in a circle and was back where he started again. He’ll never get to Algeciras that way.
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