Olvera to Arcos de la Frontera

October 22, 2022

Including the Via Verde de la Sierra

We had a breakfast of tostadas at the cafe right beside our pension. Our hostess was already having coffee there with her pals, even having hosted a late-night family dinner the night before. Despite staying up late, Spaniards don't seem to sleep in.

Gail managed to find multi-grain buns at the local bakery while breakfast was being made - I think this was the best bread we’ve had in Spain. Then down the hill to the very nearby start of the 36 km long Via Verde de La Sierra. There were lots of people getting rental bikes - it's obviously a popular attraction. We visited the via verde's info centre, pumped up our tires using a pump borrowed from the bike rental kiosk, and we were off.

What a great trail with a fascinating history. In the 1920s and 30s, a huge amount of money was poured into construction of a rail line. Work was halted during the Civil War, recommenced again at the end of the Second World War, but construction was finally abandoned in the 1960s. No tracks were ever laid on this section of the line. It is 36 km long, with 30 tunnels and 4 viaducts, as well as 4 stations that are now used as interpretive centres and/or restaurants.

Our route was gently downhill. There were lots of locals enjoying the route on foot and on bikes, and also lots of tourists. This route is not only a cycle track, it's also part of a Camino de Santiago route.

We polished off our torta del lunes on a break. Despite this being a big area for griffon vultures, we didn't see any today. Maybe they're all further south where we'd been watching them earlier in the week. We met some Norwegian tourers who recommended an alternate route to Arcos to the one we had planned. At the end of the route, we had picnic lunch with yet another orange Fanta. We are slowly chipping away at our big round of cheese.

We started the day with some coffee and tea.

And another round of breakfast tostadas.

It was a short coast down to the start of the via verde.

The never-used train station is now an interpretive centre.

The via verde is also part of a camino route.

There are 30 tunnels. Some of them are very short.

But for most of the route it is well-packed gravel.

There was even a rare sighting of a watercourse that contained water.

After we left the via verde, we were still on very quiet rural roads. This was our first sighting of major olive cultivation.

After we completed the Via Verde, we took a route that took us gravel and/or poor pavement road through olive groves and other farms - we saw cabbages, and even cotton growing. After the town of Villamartin, we diverted from our planned route. The road was fine, but we encountered a nasty headwind, our first of the trip. We were truly out of the mountains now - we saw more farms, including a yam farm, and some vineyards. The last 20 km were hot and dry, and we were looking forward to the end. And that's where things fell apart. Since we had diverted from our planned route, my bike computer had been chirping at me all afternoon to let me know that it was not happy with our choice. I was hoping we could rejoin the planned route at the end so we could find our hotel. I should've just searched on Google maps. But I fell for Garmin’s oldest trick - it took us up a big hill, only to go downhill again nearly back to where we'd started. When will I learn? The Garmin's brain isn’t like Google maps. Its goal is to get you back en route, not to get you to your destination. Our original route came into the city on a high ridge, but we'd entered near the low point. So we pushed our way up a crazy hill, and then descended one just as steep. At one point, we were at an intersection with about seven streets all coming together. To add to our confusion, the computer suggested going the wrong way on a one way street.

We finally arrived at our hotel at about 5:30 pm, which is quite late for us. Luckily, we are staying in the 3 star Hotel Peña de Arcos. That’s ritzy for us. The bikes are in the hotel's parking garage, hidden behind a curtain. Lacking energy to explore the town (other than our earlier accidental exploration up and down the big hill), we had dinner of takeout donairs and beer. Then right to bed.

I failed to take any photos once we hit the headwind. You'll just have to imagine my frustration with the wind, and with our unnecessary detour. Still, in all, it was a great day!

Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 487 km (302 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	4
Comment on this entry	Comment	0