To Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain

June 23, 2023

Heart

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This morning didn't start as planned. Last night we were told food was at 9 AM. This morning reality was no food until 10 AM. When Jacinto asked if there was a cafe in the area that was open, suddenly we could get a tortilla Frances (plain omelet). We each ate two. Jacinto drank two breakfast size (largest) coffees. He does like the coffee here. That's a miracle. Jacinto finished his meal with a joya (jewel) which is an ironic name for a prepackaged pound cake. That was his carbohydrate. Mine was a giant slice of juicy watermelon. Have I already said how tasty the fruits are in Spain?

Jacinto bought a bag of ice at the neighboring gas station. By the time we were organized and back downstairs, it was almost 11 AM. Jacinto adjusted his panniers again, and I discovered a missing screw from my rack. We had some admirers for our bicycles. One man started out inspecting Jacinto's belt drive, but ended up insisting multiple times that he could never ride my bicycle because he would fall asleep! When Jacinto told him where we were riding today, the man said he would take a taxi there. All of that took long enough for the fruiteria to open. There was a waiting line. We debated waiting. I was already sweating in the sun, but I knew I would want an apple later. Jacinto joined the que. Four apples and four bananas was 3.70E.

Off we went, uphill to start. My legs always let me know an uphill start isn't appreciated. I think that was our steepest hill of the day, although we did do plenty of climbing.

We were on 305 all day. I thought we were in the foothills. The road did have gradual rises and falls, but we still seemed to be on the plains. Today the notable change was seeing cattle. There weren't the big herds I'm used to seeing in Colorado, but each field had small herds of different breeds (or at least different colors) of cattle.

We went through a few places small enough that we didn't get lost. They were also so small as to not have big churches. There weren't storks on steeples - although some towns had storks on other buildings/structures. The water towers I've started to identify with towns were not present. I think the shape might have changed.

In La Fuente de San Estaben, we finally saw an open cafe. As we rode past, we agreed we didn't want to stop, and hoped that wasn't a mistake. This 4 PM finish to the lunch hour has been difficult to navigate. Leaving town at 11 AM is no help!

After Martin De Yeltes, we were on a frontage road. Scott was correct when he told me all of the traffic would be on the A road, and we would have the N road to ourselves. We did have several semis pass. One gave us a friendly honk, honk. Jacinto said that's the first friendly honk of the trip. There were also several honks on the A road that we thought were for us, as they were friendly sounding.

We were making good time. Neither of us were talking about the helpful tailwind. Jacinto was gleeful that we made it to town an entire hour earlier than expected. We had plenty of time to pick a cafe for lunch. We stopped almost to our lodging for a menu' del dia. We still aren't sure what we are ordering. Jacinto made a mistake and got a plate of cold cuts. I ordered asparagus. For segundos, I had pork and he had steak. Patatas and salad rounded out our food. For dessert I had lemon mousse which was delicious. Jacinto ordered chocolate, which he slyly traded me. I also preferred the lemon, but pretended I liked chocolate more.

Spaniards do eat very heartily. I just wonder why they have to be so strict on their food hours. Although it's inconvenient for me, I do admire their widely accepted hours of closure. Americans are expected to work all of the time, with no definition of private time. Here, closed is closed. You had better plan around it.

It was another half mile to our Parador. My body thought it was unfair to have to digest and bicycle uphill at the same time. The Parador is a splurge this trip. It's a former palace. Google tells me that the difference between a palace and a castle is that a castle is fortified. This is very fancy. I have taken my bike many places, but not in a palace! I felt slightly guilty, although the attendant didn't pause. Our bikes went in the cleaning lady's closet. I don't think she was as impressed.

We are signed up for the breakfast buffet in the morning. 19E each. Our entire bill for lunch was 24E. It's a captive audience here. I hope it's good. We have a climbing day tomorrow to La Alberca. Interesting that the following day is the one I"m worried about - we have a choice of two routes to Moraleja. One with 6,600 feet of downhill and the other with 6,100 feet. Those are very serious descents! There is also climbing, but I'm not worried about frying my brakes on the climbs!

It's 8 PM. We are ensconced in our room. the AC here doesn't seem to be working well either. The thermostat says 25C. That's pretty warm with running AC.

Tomorrow is 28 miles, 2,300 feet of climbing. It's a short mile day, but we will be working!