October 10, 2018
Flan of La Mancha
Today everything just fell into place. It was like tapas: little bites of a lot of things. We didn’t put in much saddle time, but that’s ok. This is the start of a new chapter in the journey. One doesn’t need to gallop right away.
Packing and moving 6 panniers, a tent, and 2 bikes down 7 floors in a tiny elevator isn’t easy, but we made it look that way. We somehow mounted all the gear in the foyer, which wasn’t much larger than the elevator. Then it was off to the old city. I could finally navigate there by memory. Our teeth chattered through the cobblestone streets until we reached Rafael Abad Bicicletas, a shop we noticed on our first day in Valencia. They had a couple of different handlebar bags in the window. I guess by the time we arrived, there was only one left, an Ortlieb that was very similar to mine. We asked for help removing Sunyoung’s old bag, which if you remember, was stuck to its mounting bracket. I thought we would only need wire cutters, but the gentleman appeared with a hacksaw. It did require hacking and sawing, but he did manage to break through to the other side and free the bike from its parasite. After that, I made quick work of securing the new bracket to the bike.
I should mention that Sunyoung was hoping for something more "interesting" than the standard Ortlieb bag, maybe something made in Spain, that she could count as a souvenir. I had to remind her that we weren't really in a position to be choosy. Her old bag was literally hanging by a single screw, and once that came loose, that was it. The bag would be gone, and all she'd have left was a mount and a bracket uselessly stuck to her bike. I think by the time everything was sorted out, we were both at least pleased to have this errand crossed off our list.
The next order of business was lunch, which we picked up at the Mercat Central and ate lazily. Then it was on to the train station.
Out of caution, we had purchased tickets for ourselves and our bikes the previous day. It turns out we had nothing to worry about whatsoever. The train was practically empty the entire way to Albacete. The space for bikes was odd: there were slots for them, but they jutted out into the passageway. We opted to ignore the slots and place the bikes lengthwise. With panniers removed, there was plenty of space. There was also plenty of room for our gear. I don’t know if all Media Distancia trains are like this, but I hope that we can expect similar results from our next trip.
I took time during the journey to work on the pannier hook that had failed. I scavenged a couple of washers from screws on my bike, and managed to get the nuts that secured the hooks to the pannier loose using a bottle opener, of all things. I installed the washers behind the pannier’s plastic frame, and slowly but surely, the hook was once again secure in its place. By the time I completed this task, we were in Castile-La Mancha and practically in Albacete.
There is a supermarket within the train station. We seized the opportunity to stock up on food. We spend far more time in markets when touring than when at home or taking other types of trips. We get to know the layout of the chain stores pretty well. It’s fun. Albacete has different food and different names for some things.
Fernando, our first Warmshowers host of the trip, was expecting us after 5:30. We had some time to kill, so we stopped by a park that looked nice.
The phone took us on a very rideable dirt trail along a canal. Fernando’s place was 12km out of town. He gave us one address via message, and another over the phone, which confused us. I couldn't even find the street of the second address on the map. We couldn't sort things out on the phone easily due to the language barrier. Once we reached the first street, I saw the name of the second street just ahead, and it became obvious. His house has a front and back entrance, and he just wanted to meet us around back.
Fernando had built up this patio like an oasis. A nice lawn, fruit trees, a trellis of delicious grapes, a washbasin, and a little bathhouse with shower and toilet. It was absolutely amazing, and Fernando was wonderful to talk with. It started out slowly, but soon we were chatting in Spanish pretty well. I was by far the worse speaker, but everyone was very encouraging. Fernando’s wife, Josefina, also came by to introduce herself and join in the conversation for a bit.
Afterwards, we set up the tent and had a nice meal using our camp stove. We rested well.
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Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 454 km (282 miles)
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