Montellano to Olvera

October 2, 2022

Ever Been in a Wind Tunnel? We Have!

Well that was an epic day! It was supposed to be a dawdle on a rail trail. We are both still feeling a bit beaten up. When the weather makes the national news and there are wind warnings things become interesting.

Let’s start with breakfast though. It was just fine, and when Keith asked about making sandwiches for the road our host offered to bring us wrapping for them. He was a delight. I will always smile at our arrival at the hotel yesterday at about five when he greeted us with a cheery “Good Morning”. If you ever find yourself in Montellano, the Hotel Andalou is a wonderful place to stay.

The hotel had a bull fighting theme. There was even a bullfighter’s cape on display.

The paintings were amazing but the poor bulls. Not a great ending for them.

Getting organized to head out. Even with the wind in the forecast, it was warm.

We had about 10 kilometres to do on A375 to Puerto Serrano. The highway was busier than we anticipated, but the drivers were amazing. We had a useable shoulder, occasionally encroached on by olive trees. Somehow, whenever I had to move over because of the olives (pinch me here, isn’t that an amazing problem?) there was no traffic. I thought to myself that this wasn’t just luck, this was my friend Helen looking after me. She is my guardian angel on the road and I think of her often. The first few cars that passed us annoyed us. They seemed to be revving their mufflers as they went by. Then the penny dropped. The centre line was a rumble strip, which was wonderful. You hear the rumble, you know they have seen you and moved over.

It was busy, but between the shoulder, the rumble strip and my guardian angel it felt just fine.

We rolled into Puerto Serrano to have a look. It was a cute spot. I am sorry we didn’t take a picture of the awning which said ‘Coffee Beer’ and people were having both, well before Canadians would feel beer was appropriate. It was delightful to see people out on a Sunday morning enjoying life.

Public art in Puerto Serrano. I tried to interpret the Spanish on the sign but the only word I recognized was hombres.

These men were having a great time, were happy to pose for the CN, and then told him all kinds of wonderful things in Spanish.

Three fabulous methods of transportation.

I was so excited to head for the greenway.

We headed out of town, following the well signed road. We had a chuckle when we were passed by a more serious bike tourer it seemed…we saw him going and returning. He was from London, cycling with friends, and somehow missed Puerto Serrano. They were meeting there for breakfast before cycling the Via Verde to Olvera. We expected them to pass us all day, but they didn’t.

At the start of the Via Verde I was stopped by one of those people who makes your heart sing. ¿Habla Español? Nope! He spoke great English and told me to be careful at the 2 km mark where there was a steep decline and curve and that Puerto Serrano was having a cycle event today and there would be 170 cyclists and a car coming our way, starting at 12:30. Okay then! I instantly loved this man. Think Spanish Santa Claus with dark hair and no beard.

He was very concerned for my welfare, and just a sweetheart.

The Via Verde lived up to its reputation. It was a gorgeous ride. The CN thinks yesterday was even more spectacular, but considering the weather bomb that we were about to experience, we were very, very lucky to be on a greenway and not the highway. The wind became a major factor in our day. Our host tonight said it is so unusual, and such a big weather event that it has made the national news in Spain. He also said the direction of the wind is very unusual…meaning we had a head wind that built all day. Our weather app says the gusts were up to 72 kph, and I believe it. All on the nose of course. But the views!

That is not cloud you see. It is sand from the Sahara.

The goats aren’t bothered by a wee breeze.

There are 30 tunnels on the route. The longest was just 10 m short of a kilometre. Anything over 150 m had lights.

The surface was unpaved most of the way, but easy riding, except for the wind. Going the other way must have been a breeze hehe.

There are several stops along the way. Railway stations that were never used, because the railway was never used. Can you believe it? 30 tunnels, 4 viaducts, and a train never ran along here. The railway stations have been converted to hotels, restaurants and an interpretive center. We stopped for a drink at one. The wind was really starting to build, and things were starting to blow off people’s tables.

Your pop cans would disappear if you didn’t hold onto them.

After this stop the wind really cranked up. According to our weather apps, sustained winds at over 37 kph with gusts to over 72 kph. All right on the bow. The CN does not allow me to exaggerate in this journal. The tunnels became interesting. Some were a welcome respite from the wind. A couple were bizarre. I came out of one, and it was flat at this point, stomping on the pedals, standing up, and in granny gear. I could barely turn the pedals over. We both felt like we were in a wind tunnel. I decided to embrace my bad a$$ biker chick persona and just get on with it. It actually felt kind of epic, so it was fun.

Keith emerging from a wind tunnel. There were two that were at precisely the right orientation to enhance the breeze, as it were.

But the views were still amazing. Here is the CN about to take a picture.

Sometimes we were moving so slowly the Griffon Vultures were circling. They were huge. I loved the privilege of seeing them. We didn’t manage to get a good picture though.

This was a very aromatic farm if you know what I mean.

We had a navigational conversation shortly before Olvera. The CN wanted to take a short cut. I don’t often overrule him but this time I firmly put my bike shoe down. I was not going to hike a bike up a goat track no matter how many kilometres it saved me. We carried on to the end of the greenway. Then we rode up into town, to a point. There was a bit of hike a bike involved here too.

The find our B and B was hilarious. Somehow, the usually infallible CN got the idea in his head it was #13 B and B. We were up so high, and so tired we didn’t want to go down again, to have to go back up. A friendly bar owner gave us directions, down we went, on what turns out to be the steepest street in Olvera, completely confused, when this amazing man stepped out of #31 and said “I think you are looking for me”. We were. What a fabulous spot. We love everything about this spot. Our hosts, the rooftop terrace, the views. I even love the floors. Exquisite tile. Our hosts are Canadian, another surprise, and just lovely. What a wonderful end to an amazing day.

Dust from the Sahara. Hard to believe but it might explain why we felt so gritty on arrival.

It truly was an amazing day. It occurred to me today that so much of what you experience is in your attitude and after a bit of wishing the wind was in the other direction, I put my big girl panties on. It is a bit of a cliché, but attitude can turn adversity into an epic event, and when I was stomping those pedals to get out of those tunnels, into fun. I honestly wondered if I was going to have to jump off and walk.

Then to land on our feet in this beautiful B and B with the most amazing hosts! We are lucky indeed.

Did I mention we were doing the Via Verde in the uphill direction?

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 1,044 km (648 miles)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	4

Scott AndersonWe could do without the wind and Saharan dust, but Olvera looks like a great stay. We’ve only seen it from the distance before.
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1 year ago

Patrick O'HaraEnjoying following along. I like your attitude about attitude!
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1 year ago

David MathersAnother epic day and a great journal entry. We’re having a blast following along… keep up the great work!
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1 year ago

Suzanne GibsonAn amazing experience! Hard work yet so rewarding. It reminded me of my feelings crossing the 32-km Afsluitdijk, a dam in Holland, with no shelter and strong headwinds in our pre-ebike days. I describe it towards the end of the page in my journal here: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/2009summer/hichtum-den-oever/
Sahara dust - it comes as far as Munich sometimes!
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1 year ago