December 11, 2019
In Valencia, day 1: La Albufera
The morning begins well, with what the team’s breakfast connoisseur avows is the finest spread of the tour. They have almost everything - a good range of cereals, breads, and pastries. Bacon, eggs, tortilla, asparagus, paella, melon. Surprisingly, no churros or chocolate donuts. And, since this is Spain, there are not ten varieties of jam. Rachael forgot her phone in the room, or she might have taken a video.
We begin our ride with a short detour to the Local Bicycle Store for some assistance. When we took the bus here from Murcia I tried to remove my saddle stem so that the bike would fit better in the bag, but was unable to. No amount of tugging, wresting, hammering on the saddle would break it free. I’m careful to keep the stem greased when assembling it, so I’m surprised that it’s locked solid like this. It wasn’t a problem on the bus - I could collapse the mast with the saddle still on it and fit the bike in the bag - but it would definitely be a problem when time came to suitcase it for the plane. We’re really lucky to have discovered this when we did while we still have plenty of time to deal with it.
At the LBS, I pantomime the situation to the mechanic, a promisingly burly young guy with biceps that look like my thighs. He makes his own best effort, without success. In a way, this pleases me - I hate going up to someone for assistance on something that requires some strength and then have them effortlessly open the bottle or whatever, handing it back to me with a smirk.
No smirk today. Instead, he looks at me a bit grimly, says cortado (chop), and pantomimes a sawing motion. After I satisfy him by expressing alarm he smiles, chuckles, and walks off for a can of penetrating oil. Five minutes later he tries again; and after hammering the saddle with the palm of his hand a dozen times, it finally starts to give.
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We tussled in frustration a bit last night and this morning, trying to work out the best plan for spending our time here. How much biking, how much sightseeing, how much walking do we want to do? Valencia, the third largest city in Spain, sits at the center of a broad, pancake flat plain. A first glance at the map doesn’t turn up many obvious choices for day rides from the center - the city extends far out, and you don’t see any real contour in the land for about fifteen miles. We tend to keep most of our rides to about forty miles now, so we don’t see that much within our range that looks like a worthy destination. Not the most obvious spot for a five night stay on a bike tour, actually.
On top of this, there’s the wind. Today’s forecast calls for a coolish, partly cloudy day with 15-20 mph west winds. And this is the good day. The next three days all look similar, but with even stronger winds. On Friday, gusts of up to 40 mph are predicted.
After much back and forth we agree on a general plan for our time, beginning today with a ride out to La Albufera, the large lake/natural park that begins ten or fifteen miles south of the city.
We leave Valencia by following its excellent network of bicycle lanes, starting with the one that passes right outside our door. It takes us past the city’s famous City of Art and Science, a complex of giant, hypermodern structures that are one of the top rated attractions in all of Spain. We allow ourselves only a brief look in passing this morning, knowing that we will be back for a longer visit sometime in the coming days.
Four miles later we cross over the Turia River, leave the city proper, and soon find ourselves biking along a broad sandy beach beside the sea. We are still biking on the city’s bike lane network, by the way.
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Even this late in the tour, Spain just keeps on giving. Today is yet another of those days that we’ll look back on as one completely unlike any day in the saddle we’ve spent before. Outstanding, and unique.
La Albufera is a large fresh water lake, the largest lake in Spain. It was originally a salt water lagoon, but over time has been cut off completely from the sea by the narrow sliver of land that we bike today. Fanning out from the lake is a broad, flat apron equally as large as the lake that was (and possibly still is - I’m unclear on this) given over to rice cultivation. Rice is a huge crop here historically, and Albufera is the homeland of paella.
After riding along the narrow sliver of land that separates Albufera from the sea for several miles we come to our first views of the lake. Today the lake has an almost violent character, with wind-driven waves rushing across the lake and piling against the piers. Albufera is a famous tourist destination, a place people come to for boating on the lake and admiring fabulous sunsets reflecting off the calm waters; but not today.
We look at the lake with wonder for several minutes and then bike on, fighting the strong crosswind blowing across the lake for control of our bikes, thankful that we’re sharing this road with so little traffic.
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It’s time for lunch, and as we bike along we keep our eye out for a sheltered spot where we can get some relief from the wind for a few minutes while we scarf down our snacks of the day. To our surprise though, we find a perfect spot on the leeward side of El Palmar, a small town abutting the lake. The town breaks the wind completely, and we enjoy a very pleasant lunch sitting in the sun on a low wall, facing a surprisingly flooded field to the west, taking in the quiet drama of the place. In front of us, birds dabble at the edge of the water or alight on top of posts. A trio of black cats slinks around, keeping the birds a bit farther off than they might approach otherwise. Behind our backs, and old couple sit in front of their home - she sits inert facing the sun in her wheelchair, he is hunched over on the stoop next to her mending a fishing net.
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4 years ago
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After lunch we’re back at it, wrestling with the wind. For the next fifteen miles we’ll bike across the broad apron that surrounds the lake on a narrow paved lane that zigzags across the plane before eventually bending back seaward. At least I hope it’s paved the entire way - it looks like it on Google Maps, but it’s a pretty confusing route, cutting across a maze of smaller, unpaved roads that break the land into large squarish blocks.
The ride is not at all what I’d expected from looking at the maps, because it feels like we’re biking through the middle of the lake. The fields on all sides are flooded, the lanes extending out from our road into and then under the water, the water dotted here and there by structures - houses, agricultural buildings? - that are either completely surrounded by water or clinging on one side to a low finger of land. The road we’re biking on is above water, but barely. Water laps at the edges on both sides, and on the windward side laps up onto the surface.
The weather has changed too. A dark cloud formation has developed overhead, blotting out the sun. The wind has picked up, and some of the gusts must be 30 mph. It all feels quite raw and exposed, biking alone across this narrow strip of road across a vast wetland, buffeted by these winds. We both hope that I’ve mapped the route accurately and the road stays above water until we return to higher ground; and of course we hope it doesn’t rain.
At about the turnaround point in our route, we come to a locked gate that completely bars passage onto our intended road. A sign indicates it’s closed for perilous conditions. Not sure what to do, we decide to just turn back the way we came; but a mile later we come to another intersection, to a paved lane that isn’t shown on our map. By chance a car pulls up, the driver stops for us, and if we understand him right he assures us that it continues on to the coast. If it does, this should get us back to high land much sooner than by backtracking, and faster since it’s primarily downwind.
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Video sound track: Feel So Near, by Dougie MacLean
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There have to be some interesting stories hiding in that building.
4 years ago
4 years ago
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And it does. About three miles later we bike into El Perello, one of the seaside towns we’ve seen rising across the lake. Fifteen miles later we’re back in town, happy that the winds have abated and shifted a bit and are generally in our favor now. And a good thing - it’s been an incredible day, but we’ve had enough for the moment.
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Ride stats today: 43 miles, 1,000’; for the tour: 2,385 miles, 99,500’
Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 2,385 miles (3,838 km)
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I imagine that the presence of high winds didn't make it entirely relaxing .. but what awesome scenery, lighting, ... and birds!
4 years ago
4 years ago