To Castanar de Ibor

April 13, 2024

Two of the places I wanted to include on this tour of Iberia were the Monfragüe Natural Park and the city of Guadalupe, a town on the eastern slope of the Guadalupe Mountains that is famous for its monastery. The challenge was devise a reasonable itinerary between the two places that would not include days with both high mileage and high elevation. Hence, my decision to stay last night at a hotel on the autoroute. Castanar de Ibor lies a little more than half-way between the autoroute hotel and Guadalupe and though it was an ideal stopover, they had no available lodging.

Given the lack of lodging, I had planned to cycle all the way to Guadalupe in one go – a ride of 45 miles with over 4,100 hundred feet of climbing. I booked two non-refundable nights at the Parador in Guadalupe, knowing I’d need a rest day to recover – if I even made it! In the meantime, I kept checking to see if something would open up in Castanar – and just last week I found the last room available at Solaire Hostal Restaurante. I grabbed it. It meant eating the cost of one night at the Parador Guadalupe, but I would have two days to enjoy cycling through the mountains rather than one crushing day of potential misery.

After sheepishly turning in the key to the room I didn’t sleep in, I was off to the mountains. The route started on the autoroute frontage road and then moved onto quiet roads through a scrub landscape of small agricultural communities – there were horses, chickens, sheep, and a cattle feedlot. The landscape opened up as I made my way up to Valdehúncar and then re-crossed the Tagus River at the Valdecañus Reservoir where I joined EX118, which would take me all the way to Castanar.

I liked how the sun illuminated her ear fringe

The big climb of the day began just past Bohonal de Ibor, over five miles with inclines of 10-14%. The route up the side of the hillside was visible for miles, more than enough time to psych myself out. It started out gently enough, though the traffic on EX118 was heavier than I liked for a climb. After two miles, the gradient took a sharp turn up – 10% the sign said. RWGPS had routed me on a side road, a not-uncommon feature that I generally ignore as it usually means a steeper route on a sketchy surface. But this seemed to be different - it was a paved district highway used by at least one truck that I could see. Thinking it might be a less steep truck route, I took it. And it was the best decision of the day – a two mile alternate route with a max gradient of just over 8%. More importantly, there were no cars. It was as enjoyable as a climb like that can be, relaxed and with enough time to stop and enjoy the scenery.

Psyching myself out, I wondered why they couldn't have chosen a route that didn't go straight up over the top of the hillside

And there was such a route - EX118R - highly recommended if you're ever cycling this way

Time to enjoy the scenery while climbing

My alternate route eventually merged back with EX118 and final nine miles on EX118 into Castanar were a delight, flying along on a balcony road overlooking a valley of olive groves rimmed with high peaks. I pulled off into a natural area where I met Julia, born here but now living outside Paris. Her family had once owned plots of olive trees in the area, and she comes back every year to rekindle her love of the natural beauty of Castanar and its surroundings.

I swooped down into Castanar de Ibor, barely stopping before making my way to the Solaire Hostal, located on the far side of town. Vivien George was stashed into the beer room and I enjoyed my sandwich and a cold drink while chatting up a couple of women from Belgium who were traveling around Extremadura. I retreated to my room, at dinner at the Solaire restaurant and put a cap on a wonderful day of cycling, and of great decision making.