To Estepa: Not paved and not flat, and a flat tire to add to the excitement

October 20, 2017

Today started nice and cool, a little bit hazy, and seemed like a great day for a ride. The wind had died down overnight. The ride was supposed to be flat, and after leaving town, it was. Of course, leaving town was challenging, navigating the one way streets and complicated intersections, and my route sort of blew itself up when one street was blockaded. I did, however, eventually find my way out of town and on to the planned route for the day. Based on yesterday's discussion, this would be the best way to go and would be flat.

It was initially flat, and I was riding through some pretty farmland.

The problems started within a few miles, when one of my planned turns brought me into a gravel road. It seemed okay, and the alternative would have been to back track, so I went.

Gravel road. It had a number and a speed limit, so it must be okay, right?

The surface changed.

And changed some more.

This mud really glopped up my tires and slowed me down.

I detoured to get back to the service road along the highway. The service road wasn't paved either, but was in better shape and not muddy from the recent rain. But the interchanges were confusing, and I had a hard time following the service road at one point. I gave up, and got onto the highway.

The red circle means not allowed. Don't expect the diagonal slash as we would have back home.

Someone somewhere must have taken note of my rule violation, and shortly after getting on to the nice wide smooth but illegal shoulder, I got a flat tire.

The cause of the flat wasn't hard to find.

That's a long nail, after I pulled it out setting on my knee.

I went down into the ditch by the side of the highway, and calmly fixed the flat. I just pulled out the old tube and replaced it, and realized later that I hadn't even looked inside the tire. After everything was back together, I ate a banana and noted that the afternoon wind had picked up. And the temperature had crept up, too.

I rode on until the next exit, and then got off the highway and struggled through my last 10 miles of the day. There was a long climb through an olive grove, and I thought about another campsite, but I didn't have food and badly wanted a shower, so I went into the town of Estepa.

Estepa is a mid-sized town built on a steep hill with a church and an Alcazaba near the top. I took a room at the first hotel I came across, the Casa de Larios. It's a modern hotel in very good condition. It is available on booking.com, but showed as unavailable for tonight. Unfortunately, when it's unavailable booking.com doesn't show any room rates. I was told 40 euros for the room, and after I agreed I saw that the posted rate is 30. My bike is locked in a garage down the street, and I might be paying for that. There is a kids bike in the hotel at the bottom of the elevator, but they wouldn't let me put my bike there.

But I got into my room and cleaned up, and found some dinner at a bar down the street. My hotel has what is supposed to be a good restaurant, but it doesn't open until 7:30 and I was famished. I'll see how things work in the morning, if I can get breakfast and get my bike back in a timely fashion.

Oh, yes, after dinner I patched my punctured tube in the comfort of my room.

Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 214 km (133 miles)

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