July 16, 2023
To Barajas, Spain (Madrid)
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I've had a great tour, but I'm ready to go home. This was our last riding morning, on what should be an easy riding day. I wasn't in a hurry to get going. We meandered down to breakfast. They had prefab scrambled eggs in the warmer, and little chunks of sausage that are best described as cooked pieces of the sausage you can buy at gas stations in long sticks. I took two, so I ate two, but I sure didn't take seconds! I asked nicely for a bag of ice from the breakfast attendant. We were set for the morning.
Our depart time was a leisurely 10 AM. We had gone over the route carefully. Jacinto's GPS wanted him to do a bunch of city riding in Madrid. I wanted to stay on the bike path, but reroute the section closer to town, where we had so many starts and stops on our exit five weeks ago. We accomplished that. We took out the dirt bike path that seemed unnecessary on our departure, and rode on the road. It was just fine.
I wasn't expecting much for today. Yesterday had been a busy traffic day, and I expected more of the same today until we reached the bike path. I was in for a pleasant surprise. We rode through the Cuenca Alta de Manzanares Regional Park - us and a bunch of day riders out for their Sunday spin. There were few cars. We had an extended conversation with one rider, Antonio, who slowed alongside Jacinto to hear our story.
The park lasted almost all the way to the bike path. There were switch backs going both up and down hill, all gently graded. RWGPS tells me 3-4%. I like those sorts of climbs!
At Colemenar Viejo, we saw huge blocks of high rise apartments. Antonio said they were being built for people who couldn't afford to live in Madrid, it was a 20 minute drive to Madrid from there. I gave a mental sigh of relief when we got on the bike path. Not only were we out of the city traffic of Colmenar Viejo, but we were headed downhill! There was a significant headwind, but who was I to complain? We had very little wind the entire trip. It did seem we had some good tailwind the first part of the tour, but when we headed back north, we anticipated a headwind, and that never happened. If we have a downhill headwind for the last 20 miles of the tour, that's good luck.
Jacinto got ahead of me here. I desperately needed to use the bathroom. The path was really busy. It wasn't good timing. For all of these cyclists, there are no bathrooms. I finally found a little side road with some concrete barriers to hide behind. I pulled out my apple. Jacinto would have to wait for me somewhere down the road. He did. He was in a skinny patch of shade. We got to the trickier part of the path, where it seemed to cross back and forth across the road unnecessarily. This is the kind of bike path riding I don't like.
We had speculated about city traffic on a Sunday. Would it be light because it was the weekend, or would it be heavy because people were coming back into town? We found 6-8 lanes across, but the lanes were almost empty. In doing my pretrip reading, I read that Madrid wasn't bicycle friendly. I did not find that to be true. Drivers were patient with us, slowed to go around, and went way around. The only incident we had was when Jacinto crossed on a path crossing, and then got on the roadway. He should have stopped at the roadway, as the traffic coming from the left had the priority. One car honked at him for not waiting. It wasn't an emergency situation where Jacinto pulled right in front, just that he should have waited. I did mention to Jacinto that perhaps drivers were extra kind to us because of our panniers, or maybe they wondered if I was handicap on that odd bike. For the entire trip, drivers were always courteous, in the city or not.
We were to the section we agreed to skip the dirt bike path. The road was empty, with just a few cars passing us with each change of the light. We were very soon to the plaza and neighborhood around the Hostal Vicky. I recognize these buildings! Hurray we made it!
We agreed to shower, and go to dinner at the restaurant on the corner, the Lizzaran. We knew they served food all day long. Menu de dia 11.50E. We were going to sit outside under the umbrellas with the misting water. But the only table left in the shade was next to a man and woman, both watching videos on their phones with the volumes up. Instead, we sat inside.
It feels good to have a successful trip. I had so many doubts coming in. Then there was all of the unknowns with Jacinto's knee. In the end, he thinks the KT tape helped. He had tried that at home, but perhaps hadn't given it a good try. A couple of days after trying the tape, he dared try riding standing up. Success!
My bike has gotten plenty of attention and admiration this trip. The size has not been a problem when traveling or parking overnight. Although one night we did have to stand it on it's rear wheel and bungie cord it to the stairs.
We are already looking at routes and airfares for a return next summer.
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Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km)
Total: 1,167 miles (1,878 km)
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