October 7, 2018
A viento
The wind and longing road
The noise started around 2:00am. It sounded like rain, but it was the rustling of the mulberry tree leaves. Once I realized this, I fell asleep again. The stiff breeze developed into a kind of wind that I hadn’t felt in decades: warm but strong enough to blow away anything that wasn’t tied down.
This included our tent. We haven’t staked it the entire trip. The ground is too hard, and the rain fly hasn’t been necessary.
When the sun finally rose a little before 8:00, we knew that we had to get ready despite the imperfect weather. We took shifts getting out of the tent, because one of us had to remain as ballast. I kept telling myself that this all worth it. It was going to be a kickass tailwind.
It was not a kickass tailwind. We had to kick its ass into submission. It pushed into us, then across us, and finally behind us. I am acting as a human-powered semi truck, and my rig is not at all aerodynamic. I feel every little shift in wind direction.
We spent time on every imaginable type of cycle path today. This was mixed in with many kilometers of orange grove maintenance roads. They looked like Valencias to me. The odd thing about it was that every so often, we’d pass a fig or persimmon tree. Were they planted for the farmhands to enjoy? Do they attract beneficial insects? I don’t know if we’ll ever know the answer, but suffice it to say we had our fill of figs. Don’t tell anyone.
We needed it too, because all the supermarkets were closed today. I suspected that might be the case, as we’ve encountered similar situations in the Netherlands. Luckily, we had fruit from yesterday’s farm stand encounter, along with an assortment of odds and ends from previous days’ purchases.
Besides the dust blowing all around that made the morning chaotic, we were fighting the psychological challenge of upcoming “zero days,” i.e. rest days. I like to use it to push hard for the destination, knowing that we will have time to recover. Sunyoung, on the other hand, uses it to start slowing down and smelling the roses. It was a little frustrating for me, to be honest.
I should have put on more sunscreen and lip balm, and drank more water. We were exposed to the sun and wind the entire day. There were also some bumpy roads, but all and all it was fine.
Being Sunday, the road and mountain bikers were out in force. We got a lot of “buen viaje”s and even a round of applause from one gentleman cyclist. It was very encouraging.
The scenery went from orchards, to a series of small towns, to the bustle of Valencia quite suddenly. I was looking forward to the route through the city’s extensive network of parks, but it was chaotic. Using a GPS to locate little turns on a walkway doesn’t work very well, and just feels silly.
Our last two challenges were fitting our bikes in the small elevator of our Airbnb host’s building (been there, done that), and finding something to eat at 7:00 on a Sunday. We found a market that was open, and put together a dinner that was just a little more extravagant than a camp meal. Just using real plates and glasses was a big step up.
Kike, our host, is a real nice guy. He has given us free rein to use his kitchen and laundry as we wish. He’s really into bikes, which is why I chose him. He doesn’t speak English, so Sunyoung is my lifeline here. Actually, I pick up on some stuff that she doesn’t, so we communicate better as a team. It’s good to know that we can manage a variety of different situations. It will serve us well when we visit other Spanish-speaking countries in the future.
Now we have two days to get our bikes fixed (a new tire for Sunyoung for sure), explore the city, and prepare for the next chapter of our trip. I will probably combine these into one journal entry. See you then!
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Today's ride: 95 km (59 miles)
Total: 394 km (245 miles)
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