To Sevilla

November 8, 2023

I loaded up my plate at the hotel breakfast this morning and pocketed a snack for later. Today's ride will be one of the longer ones of the trip at 45 miles. It's also the last long ride with the panniers loaded up, so we're happy that it will be mostly downhill, taking us closer to sea level again.

One more look out our window to the northwest at the terrain ahead

We start off with a nice drop on another highway with fast cars, but not many of them. The road stays quiet and continues to fall gradually for most of the first 20 miles. It's a mostly sunny day with not much wind. Can't really ask for better conditions.

It's always comforting to see the bicycle signs on these roads, like a welcome sign.

The dogs at this farmhouse noticed us a long way off and alerted their canine friends on the other side of the road. All the dogs we've seen or heard on the roads in Spain have been behind fences. There haven't been any actual encounters, unlike our experience at home.

I like the yellow berries on these trees against the blue sky. Wonder what they could be.

Looking back at the mountains we've left behind

Part of a large solar farm in this otherwise empty stretch of road

Palm trees line the road into the town of El Coronil

We don't see ruins of old farm houses with this much style around home.

I wondered about all the unpaved sections marked on the RidewithGPS route today. My Wahoo beeped a few times to tell me we were supposed to be on the gravel track next to the highway. Um, no thanks, we're good here.

Barry heaves a sigh when I stop for another livestock picture, but this one has something new, cattle egrets hanging out with the horses.

After a quick lunch in Utrera we get on a service road next to the noisy A-376 motorway. As we chug along the flat, easy, boring road, I'm thinking back on the beauty of the mountains, forests and rolling hills of the last couple days in Andalucia and wishing for more adventure.

Soon enough, I get my wish as the road changes to gravel with big watery potholes. There's more rough road around the town of Dos Hermanas, then suddenly we're on bike paths the rest of the way to Sevilla.

The soft, sandy dirt track around Dos Hermanas is unexpected this close to Sevilla

A surprisingly wide pedestrian path next to the bike lane, considering that there are no people here.

Inside the city limits, separated bike lanes continue almost all the way to the apartment we booked near the city center. The ride through Sevilla caps off a mostly pleasant day on the bike with no drama.

Bike paths run through tree-lined linear parks in the suburbs

A peek at old things to explore in this old city

We must have scored a late season deal on this apartment. It's the biggest one yet. After a grocery run I get my grilled cheese comfort food fix. We settle in and study up on what to see here tomorrow.

Good-looking place for the next three nights

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Today: 45 miles, 1363 feet of ascent

For the tour: 903 miles, 58,703 feet of ascent

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 904 miles (1,455 km)

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