November 1, 2024 - Casatejada to Navalmoral de la Mata - Emerita Augusta to Madrid (Tour 26) - 2024 🇪🇸

November 1, 2024

November 1, 2024 - Casatejada to Navalmoral de la Mata

Reuniting with friends

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AFTER yesterday's washing fiasco, it was nice to find that the majority of our clothing was dry. Yes, that is right. Some of our things were quite damp, including the ones I would soon be putting on to cycle. Of course, I thought, that is fine since they will dry in the nice warm breezes and sunlight as the rays twinkle off of our teeth as we roll along smiling.

When I first awoke and looked out it was an absolute deluge outside and the town square was very wet. Fortunately as we prepared and ate our breakfast the rain slowly tapered off until it had actually stopped. As we bagged our gear just in case, we could actually see spots of clear blue sky here and there. What is that?

Once the bikes were out of storage and loaded up, and the GPS was pointing the way, away we went, though I set it contrary to the initlally-planned route. I had set the route to follow the road which parallels the motorway, but there seemed to be a more attractive route through the countryside and small villages so that is the way we went. Sure enough, the villages were picturesque with nice parks, pretty churches and quiet streets.

A few kilometres into the ride the Dahon bike that Alex was riding started to make funny sounds. I tried a few quick adjustments on the rear derailleur cable but that did nothing. I decided to switch bikes with him so while he rode the Cannondale I could try a few things to see if the bike was fixable or dying on me.

The first thing I realized was that the problem was not the rear derailleur which was actually changing gears smoothly (I had bought a derailleur hanger adjustment tool after the last tour and had sorted a bent hanger - that fix was still working fine). The source of the problem was in the rear hub which has three separate gears which, combined with the rear derailleur/cassette, gave the bike its 24 gears. As I switched from 1 to 2 to 3 and back, the hub gears seemed to 'slip' a couple of times which made pedaling quite tricky. I changed the hub gear a few more times and found at one point that when I was in gear 1 there was no skipping. Wanting to leave well enough alone for the time being, I stayed in gear 1 and I was fine to pedal along. I wouldn't win a bike race but I could still pedal along flats and more important, I still had the climbing gears. When I researched later in the day, it appears that the problem might be a broken pawl within the hub (ie toast in that particular gear) or it might be the cable needs adjusting between the shifter and the hub. I'll give it a try tomorrow on the bike.

Now with a bike that worked well enough, we continued along toward Navalmoral. Near one intersection with the motorway we say a restaurant/cafe and decided to stop for a treat. As we pulled up to the building what did we see on one of the outdoor chairs at a table but a beautful young cat looking like a sphinx on his throne. That would be our table!

I picked up two lattes inside then we joined our little cat who ind of ignored us but then started to bark-meow when he saw my pastry. I might have given him a wee bit which he gobbled up - which made him our friend for life. I gave Alex another piece which convinced our cat to climb into his lap and curl up and go to sleep, purring the whole time. Knowing myself, it was time to get going - as people may or may not know, I am a sure target for cute cats. I told Alex how I understand how crazy cat people behave - they nab every cute cat that comes their way! Not that I was going to take this one, but I would feel awful if it liked us and started to follow us toward the road and got itself injured or worse. Luckily, the furry little cutie curled back up on his chair, awaiting the next customer with food.

The rain started to sprinkle as we started rolling and increased until it was a fairly steady rain. There was a slight rise into town then we rolled down in to and through the old winding streets. A few times we pulled off the road to let cars pass and we kept on until we got to our destination.

Nine years ago I was cycling from Madrid to Lisbon, and on that tour I had stopped in Navalmoral at a B&B. I have kept in touch with this family over the years and when they heard we were coming this way, they graciously invited us to stay as their guests. We happily accepted their offer, and as the rain tapered off we had arrived at the house and were greeted by our friends.

The rest of the day we visited, we realxed, then went for a drive to see nearby Roman ruins and then to a cemetery for All Saints' Day. I did take some photos after being assured that this was not inappropriate. There were granite tombs and monuments in there that must be $50k or $100k or even more. Two specifically stood out to me. The full length top of the granite slab was about 2 m long, 1 m wide and 10 cm thick. It was in the shape of a book with the curved shape of a book. Then at the head was a 15 cm diameter arch that was sandblasted into the shape of a tree trunk with branch stumps. Unbeleiveable. Apparently these most elaborate monuments are Gypsy family members who are very showy in their death customs.

Once back to the house we took a walk through the old town streets then back home for a light meal and to bed. The day was wonderful and meaningful and many comparisons were made between Canada and Spain.

PS Today we learned that real paella does not include chorizo - that would be called 'rice with stuff.'