Arcos de la Frontera to Jerez

October 23, 2022

A short and flat ride to Jerez

By this point in the trip, I was unsurprised to have another great sleep last night - our hotel was quiet and comfy. Our fare included a nice breakfast buffet amongst the pensioners who seemed to be the only other guests. There were pre-portioned bowls of corn flakes, each containing about 2 tablespoons. But also pastries, yogurt, and decaf café con leche from a fancy machine, decaf being available pretty much everywhere in Spain. Hurray for that.

We were in no rush to leave for Jerez, since our apartment host texted that we don’t have access until 3 pm. We decided not to push the access time because he’s nervous about our bikes damaging his walls in the apartment. We generally ask about bikes before making our bookings, but in this case we didn't leave ourselves enough time for a reply.

Now that we've reached the plains of Spain, we had an easy ride to Jerez. It was net downhill, and the wind wasn’t bad. The views were nothing special, mostly just bare farm fields. As we got closer to Jerez, there were strange looking giant overgrown paved areas. It turned out that they were parking for the Spanish formula one car race, which hasn't been held in Jerez since 1990. That explains why there are plants growing through the asphalt. We did bike right by the Jerez motor track, and it's still in use for motorbikes; we couldn't see them, but we could hear them zooming around.

There were lots of road bikers out for a Sunday tour, but I don't think this is the most scenic area we've biked in. And it was sad to again see lots of garbage on the side of the road.

Unlike yesterday, we had good routing by Komoot. Getting into Jerez was tricky only when we hit the old town because there were lots of twists and turns, and a fair amount of construction. Clearly, there are lots of tourists too.

A cycle track meant an easy exit from Arcos.

Abandoned parking area from the long-ago Formula One car races.

Since Jerez is the home of sherry, and we had time to kill, we felt we had to partake. We had a delicious lunch at a sherry bodega, La Taperia Fundador, including tastings of fino sherry, accompanied by paella, a seafood salad, and chocolate lava cake. I liked the sherry, but Gail wasn't a fan. This slow meal kept us busy until our nearby apartment was accessible. Tours of the sherry production area are limited on Sundays, so we missed out.

Heading to our lodging, we were a bit apprehensive upon arrival because our apartment looks to be in a really dodgy building. But it is very nice inside - bright and newly built, sort of loft-like. The furnishings are brand new. Despite the landlord's concern, we had no problem getting our bikes up the stairs - they are still part of the construction zone, so we didn't have to worry about damaging the walls. Across the street, we could see another building under construction; they had preserved the old façade, but had completely demolished the rest of the previous building. That explains our building's ratty looking exterior.

We did laundry and had a relaxing late afternoon while waiting for the landlord’s partner to drop off sheets for me to use on the very comfy IKEA pullout sofa in the living room. If we're in one bedroom apartment, Gail and I alternate who gets the bedroom. In this case, the living room was a great place to sleep.

Seeing the exterior of our apartment building didn't build our confidence.

Our apartment had typical Andalucian super-long pillows. They are at least double the length of any other pillow I've ever used. Maybe they're other places in Spain too? I've never seen them before this trip.

Here's a nearby building that is being constructed behind the old façade.

Jerez has some really nice buildings. This almost round building houses a restaurant and bar.

Many bike shops here (and at home too) are closed on Mondays, but I found a Trek store not too far away that is open tomorrow - I hope they’ll replace my brake pads first thing. And then we'll take the train to Cadiz to have a look around rather than biking. That'll give us a day off before our long-ish ride to Seville the day after tomorrow.

We walked around town a bit, then had pizza and beer outdoors. And watched a few YouTube videos on the big screen tv, which is a bit of novelty for us on this trip.

Today's ride: 33 km (20 miles)
Total: 520 km (323 miles)

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