To Montellano

November 7, 2023

We couldn't appreciate how beautiful Zahara de la Sierra is when we got here at nightfall yesterday, so today we'll see a little bit of the town on our way to the castle on the hill.

Dazzling white houses at the top of the town where we stayed last night.

Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Mesa, a lovely 18th century Baroque church. The sun isn't high enough to light the facade yet, but even so, it's beautiful.

It's been awhile since I was moved to call any railings of the day. The color and design of these do it for me.

At the gate to the castle site, we pony up our 3.5 Euros to enter and start up the trail. In the 13th century the castle was a Moorish stronghold in the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. It changed hands a couple times and was ultimately taken by Rodrigo Ponce de Leon in 1483 for the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella.

Fun to imagine people hiking up to the castle on a path like this centuries ago

The tower rises roughly 1,000 feet above the reservoir below Zahara de la Sierra.

Inside are exhibits of medieval life in the castle and a short film of people reenacting, or reimagining, battles to claim the tower

Magnificent views of the surrounding countryside from the top

At the top we talk with Josie and Hans, a couple from Holland who point out the griffin vultures soaring overhead. Josie was kind enough to snap a picture for us.

Back at the house, we load up the bikes and start on the 33 mile ride to Montellano at 12:30, well past our target. We'll drop 800 feet of elevation today so it should be easier than yesterday. No time for a long lunch though.

Steep descents on cobblestones freak me out. Barry is already at the bottom of this hill waiting for me to walk down.

Looking back on Zahara de la Sierra from the reservoir

The first few miles are on quiet roads. We ride through Algodonales, passing goat and horse farms on the other side of the town. The quiet part ends when we pull on to the A-384 where cars are few but fast. It's not my favorite sort of road, but should get us to the Via Verde de la Sierra.

I keep looking for one of the famed Andalusian horses. Guessing that this isn't it.

We were happy that no cars followed us into this tunnel on the A-384.

This morning when Barry asked about all the unpaved miles on the route, I told him about the Via Verde. It's a greenway on an old railway route, like the Katy Trail at home in Missouri. Don't worry, you'll love it, I assured him.

After six miles on the highway the route turns left onto a dirt road that does not look like a greenway. According to the map we're a few miles from the Via Verde and will meet it later. It's been a few months since I mapped this route. I forgot about this part.

This is nothing like the Katy Trail, he says. Oops.

This seems like a good time for a snack to boost our energy and sense of humor. Continuing on, we steer around the potholes and ruts until we come to the actual Via Verde, crossing over a bridge above us. It's not easy to get to. We scramble up a steep bank to survey the scene on the bridge.

The trail is so tempting, but it would be a tough go getting our bikes and baggage up the slippery path to the bridge. It looks like our dirt road changes to blacktop just ahead. We abandon the notion of scaling the bank with our stuff and continue on the planned route.

The road we're on looks good ahead. No need to bail here.

The pavement turns not to be blacktop, but bricks. They make a fairly smooth surface that's fine to ride until the bricks end and we're on dirt again. Bricks appear whenever the road goes up a hill and stop when it levels out. It's not bad really, just slow going through quiet farmlands. After about three miles of this we're excited to finally join the Via Verde.

The Via Verde de la Sierra spans 22 miles from Olvera to Puerto Serrano. Thirty tunnels and four viaducts smooth out the grade through the hills. We're riding about eight miles of the trail and eight of the tunnels, including the Castillo tunnel - the longest at nearly 1,000 meters. So much of our tour through Andalucia has been up and down. It's delightful to be on a level course for a while - actually gradually falling in the direction we're going, just enjoying the lovely scenery.

Some tunnels are lit, some are dark, some short enough to see through to the end.

At the Zaframagon viaduct, a viewpoint for griffin vultures.

When it's time to turn off the trail towards Montellano there's a rough uphill patch to contend with, then we're back on a normal road enjoying wide open views of the rolling hills. This really has been a day of adventure, another memorable ride in Andalucia.

... literally, pushing our rigs up to the hotel at the north end of town

There's no trouble locating tonight's lodging

To cap off the day, the hotel is one of the nicest we've stayed inn - spacious with a great bed, a beautiful view to the north, and a heater that works. The maitre d'hotel offers to make dinner reservations for us. He sends us off with directions to walk until we see the frogs in the fountain near the restaurant.

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Today: 33 miles, 2,134 feet of ascent

For the tour: 849 miles, 57,340 feet of ascent

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 859 miles (1,382 km)

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Scott Fenwick"Don't worry, you'll love it". That line seems quite familiar. What a great day of touring and so well documented. I am really enjoying following along. Thanks.
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6 months ago

Janice BranhamWhy thank you! I appreciate Barry's general good humor about all the little surprises we encounter along the way.
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6 months ago