My final day of cycling was a short fifteen miles to Lora del Rio where I would catch the bike-friendly Cercanias commuter train into Seville. I started out with breakfast at the bar/restaurant down the street that was owned by my posada hosts – a typical Spanish breakfast of tostada, toppings and coffee with milk. Antonio also made me a ham and cheese sandwich to go, and after thanking him for his wonderful hospitality and great food we were off.
The ride started with a nice downhill to the reservoir that retraced the last miles of yesterday’s route, and then closely followed the southern shore of of the José Torán reservoir. I'd feared that I’d left the storks behind in Extremadura but they clearly had a strong presence around the reservoir – poking around marshes like waterfowl, hanging out on with herons in the middle of the lake, and nesting in trees like backyard birds. It certainly wasn’t behavior I’d observed up north.
I neared the western terminus of the reservoir and after a short climb I crossed the José Torán dam, a towering high arch dam on the Guadalbarcar river. There was another short climb over the last ridge of the Sierra Morena, then a sweeping downhill that brought me to the agricultural plains north of Seville. It was an easy roll to the Cercanias station where the English-speaking agent sold me the 4€ ticket to Seville and pointed me to the elevator and the train, already waiting on the platform across the tracks. I had 15 minutes before departure and quickly found the bike car, the only car with a small ramp between the train and the platform. Vivien George was the first bike aboard, although more than half a dozen others would join her before we arrived in Seville.
Green algae scum began to appear on the water as I neared the end of the reservoir
The José Torán dam, a spillway measuring 78 m in height and 330 meters in length. The scale of the dam is best appreciated by noting the size of the delivery van crossing the bridge, just above the three squares in the middle of the picture
It was a pleasant 45 minutes to the at Santa Justa station, where an escalator ramp took me to street level. I enjoyed my picnic lunch at a bench by the station and walked Vivien George the one mile to my hotel. It was a bit of a shock being in such a large city, with the bustle and mix of pedestrians, scooters, bikes, cars, taxis and buses. There were few wildflowers and certainly no sheep, pigs, or cows – at least no live ones.
My room was ready early, and was big enough for both me and Vivien George. The cycling portion of the tour had come to an end, and we both deserved a little rest before exploring Seville.
