Daroca

October 8, 2023

We definitely have mixed feelings biking out on Calatayud, a town we’ve become fond of in our stay here. We would both have been happy to stay another day or two. And we’re both just a bit apprehensive about today’s ride, at 35 miles a somewhat longer and more challenging one that we’ve gotten used to lately. It starts with a long, steady climb - twelve miles at n east, steady pace of around 1-2% and followed by a couple of steeper miles. Then, an easy ten across a high plateau another descent before a 2-3 mile obnoxious second climb before finally dropping to Daroca, our home for the next two nights.

Leaving Calatayud, another in the long list of places we’d love to return to someday.

A last look at the collegiate church right next to our hotel.

We of course get an early start, aiming to get to Daroca around the time our hotel starts serving lunch at 1:30. It’s Sunday so we’ve booked a table there for ourselves to be on the safe side, and don’t want to miss out. Daroca is not a large place, with few restaurants. Who knows what else will be open there on Sunday? And, there’s one more thing to be anxious about - my somewhat maladjusted gears. I checked the bike shops when I got back to the room yesterday, but all of them closed for the weekend around the time I returned from my ride.

We’re biking pretty much straight south today, with the sun in our faces. For nearly the whole way we’ll be on this wonderful, nearly traffic-free road.

The ride ends up being fine though. The climb isn’t as much of a challenge as we feared, my gears are on the rough side but manageable, and the weather once again is brilliant. And I’ve picked an excellent route south. The main route follows N-234, the national road, the whole way - but I’ve mapped us to angle east to the other side of a ridge and ride a much quieter provincial road that adds about seven miles and maybe five hundred feet of climbing but looks like the better choice because it’s apt to be so much quieter.

And it is. We enjoy a wonderfully peaceful ride nearly the entire way, until dropping down to the national road just before reaching our destination. And the scenery is spectacular, especially toward the top of our long initial climb when we’ve got views across terraced slopes planted in vineyards, with gypsum hills further out.

Much better lighting if you look back the way we’ve come from.

Several of the small villages we pass by have a few brightly painted homes lightening them up. Some are whitewashed with blue trim, giving places a Portuguese look.

For the first third of the ride we’re following the Perejiles River up toward its source. We’re on another empty Aragonese provincial road rather than following the shorter, more direct national highway that’s on the other side of that ridge. For a few extra miles and a bit more climbing we’ve bought ourselves a much quieter experience.

Like my ride long the Jalón River two days go, the river bottomland here is planted in fruit trees.

Even some of the smaller towns here display their Mudéjar heritge. This is the church of San Cristobal in Villalba de Perejil.

After about ten miles we start climbing out of the valley. Actually we’ve been climbing ever since leaving Calatayud, but it stiffens for the last few miles at the head of the river.

Higher up, we’re out of the orchards and into the vineyards.

I don’t remember seeing a terraced landscape quite like this.

Looking back north from near the summit.

An hour and some later we finally top out from our fourteen mile climb and for the next ten miles enjoy one of my favorite type of cycling settings as we cross a broad upland plateau at an elevation of around 3,500’. Broad views, zero traffic, gorgeous.

Over the top, we spend the next ten miles crossing a broad plateau.

A view across the slightly rolling plateau.

Looking back before beginning the drop from the plateau.

It’s getting on toward one when we finally drop off the plateau, neither of us looking forward to the pointless up and down ahead: after about a three mile descent we have another 2.5 mile climb followed by a final matching descent. It’s getting warm enough that neither of us really wants to deal with that final climb.

So it’s like Christmas in October when we rejoin the national road soon after we start descending and see a sign saying that Daroca is only three kilometers away. Puzzled, I look at the elevation profile on the Garmin and see that the last up and down isn’t just similar, the climb and descent are an exact match. I’ve somehow mapped in a 2.5 mile backtrack to climb back up this descent we’re on. The final climb is a mirage, and we’re unexpectedly coasting all the way to the hotel, our ride five miles shorter than we expected. Yippee!

Video sound track: Autumn Serenade, by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

So we unexpectedly arrive at our hotel early, about one - a half hour before the restaurant starts serving, and a half hour before our room is ready. We find a shady table outside to sit and wait, and once our room is ready we check in, quickly change, and head downstairs for lunch.

I’ve been looking forward to seeing our hotel here because I like it’s name: Hotel Cienbalcones, Hotel f the hundred balconies.

Like our hotel in Calatayud, this one is branded as bicycle friendly, certified by Bikefriendly.es. It’s easy to just wheel the bikes into this room on the ground floor. There are charging stations for e-bikes, locks, and a floor pump.

And afterwards of course, we head up to the room for a nap until it cools down enough to go for a walk. I’m anxious to get out, because from what we saw on the way in Daroca looks fantastic. I nap a bit, work on the journal a bit, and then around six I can’t wait any longer and decide it’s time to go out even though Rachael is still out cold. I give her a nudge so she won’t sleep the day away and be up all night, and then go out for a look.

Daroca isn’t just amazing - it’s absolutely stunning. I’m about fifteen minutes into my walk, taking photos of things I’ll show you later in a separate post when the phone rings. It’s Rachael, of course. She’s calling to say she feels like she’s died and gone to heaven, standing somewhere high above town and so enthralled by the views that she’s giddy and almost incoherent.

She’s somewhere off in a different area though, so we continue on and plan to just meet back at the room when we’re done. And she’s right, of course - the red cliffs behind town are glowing in the late afternoon light, giving it all a feeling somewhat like Roussillon but with these amazing ancient walls and fortifications running through it.

Toward sunset I’m staring up at these cliffs, tracking all of the swallows or swifts swirling about and trying to see where any of them lands on the cliffs long enough and near enough for me to get a good view. Suddenly I hear my name, look up and there’s an arm waving at me, and Rachael’s face is beaming down, as radient as I remember seeing it. A completely magical evening.

Daroca is a small walled city in a fortified setting, backed by these astonishing red cliffs that remind you of Roussillon. I’m staring up at the moment watching the swifts or swallows, hoping one will land close enough for me to focus on, when I hear my name shouted.at me from above.

#201: Eurasian crag martin, a new bird to me. I think this must be the same bird Rachael saw swirling about the cliffs in Najera.

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Ride stats today: 29 miles, 1,800’; for the tour: 955 miles, 32,200’

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2023 Bird List

201. Eurasian crag martin

Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 945 miles (1,521 km)

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