October 30, 2024
October 30, 2024 - Cañaveral to Plasencia
Is this the motorway?!
Rincón Extremeño, Calle La Tea, 3, 10600, Plasencia
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THERE are numerous Caminos de Santiago that eventually lead to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. Through the years many people have traversed these routes on foot, on horseback or by bicycle. The way can be tough physically and emotionally but a common expression that many pilgrims (or peregrinos) use is 'the Camino always provides'. In other words, ask and you will receive. This might sound corny, but considering this same expression is oftentimes used by anyone at any time of their life when in need, things often just turn out for the best. Sometimes we ask, but sometimes the need simply presents itself to those in need. This was the case for us today. More than once. But from the start...
Rain was in the forecast for late morning so I figured the sooner we were out and on our way, the less time we would be pelted by unwanted rain. At sunrise, it actually was sunny with a rise and was a pretty and soft morning.
After eating our purchased breakfast goodies and packing up, we rolled the bikes up to the street in front of the albergue and were on our way. Uphill. Again.
We were just fine, though, and once we got warmed up we felt great. Once out of the village a few roundabouts turned us in our direction and from then on there was a bit of climbing but also a lot of descending which was quite nice.
The route was beautiful again as we passed through rolling hills of olive trees, and often we had vistas across the countryside for many kilometres. In fact, eary on, I was sure I could see back to the hills around Montanchez and Torre de Santa Maria.
The odd things was that the N630 'country road', which was the actual Eurovelo route was like a motorway. There were trucks and trucks and trucks and cars and more cars and more trucks in long streams of ten to fifteen vehicles. We usually had a decent margin at the side of the road but it was really unpleasant to have these vehicles all roaring past. Of course, it is their country and not mine, so I have no right to complain. But just stating the facts, ma'am.
In the next village I stopped to speak to a woman and asked her in broken Spanish what was going on. She spoke very quickly so I understood only un poco. Only that there was something for a while and she suggested a route to get a quieter road but that it was very hilly. Alex and I voted unanimously to continue along the N630 since we had the space at the side of the road. Something was going on because the southbound motorway lanes had vehicles but the northbound had none.
We whittled the distance down to about 20 km when I felt I was smelling something in the aair. Before long I noticed construction work on the adjacent motorway's northbound route where they were grinding away the surface asphalt and storing it in big piles. This explained our traffic - a section of the motorway had ongoing repair work so the traffic had to divert to the N630. And here was where the work ended so traffic could return to the motorway, so after our halfway point, the traffic dropped dramatically. Then, in the distance, I could see eveidence of a large built-up area. What I could also see was a hazy or rainy sky in the distance. Oy! So we zipped along just a wee speck quicker.
The kilometres kept coming down and it was at this point that I was determined to seek out a hop in the city where I could find some oil for our chains. With the rain over the past few days, our chains were fairly oil-free so were squeaking like a pack of angry mice. I had kept meaning to search out a shop, but in the old centres I just didn't see any or, more likely, forgot when I did.
We came to the city welcome sign and were suddenly in block after block of very industrial and commercial buildings including every car dealer, and car company repair shop, and then the Camino provided. There was a wee little motorcycle repair shop that looks like it has been there forever. There were parts and pieces everywhere, and inside the big doors were two young mechanics working away on some old motorcycles. I asked one of them if I could buy a bit of oil but he shook his head and just gave me his spray can of chain lubricant and would not take pay. When I thanked him in Spanish he proudly said' "You are welcome." in English. Rolling down the street was mouse-free bliss after that. The Camino had provided.
Traffic was non-stop but very respectful of cyclists so we comfortably made our way to the centro and then wound up and around and up, up and up to just off of the Plaza Mayor to our hotel. And it was only 1130 am. We were hustling today, and the winds were more reasonable with us.
This hotel is another with no full-time reception. We had to use the buzzer which connected to someone via wifi and they said check-in time was not until 3 pm, but someone would be there in 25 minutes. Camino support #2. Alex stayed with the bikes so I could zip over to the Plaza Mayor to find a quick anack (hungry!) then after only twenty minutes along came a young woman to let us and our bikes in. I wondered what we were going to do with the bikes but she had us bring them up a floor to their storage room - the Camino provided again. Third time.
We were able to get our room, checked in, then dropped our bags so we could go and explore the old city. The one serious issue is that our room had a sewer gas smell (memories of our room in Dubrovnik) but wasn't sure if I should say anything or not. So I didn't.
Alex was getting hungry so we went over to a nearby supermarket to get some prepared foods and drinks and returned to our room for lunch. We wanted to avoid greasy foods for a bit so it was very welcoming. Tummies happy, we went out and meandered the numerous tiny streets all through this beautifully walled old city. Again, no wonder Game of Thrones did some filning here. It was spectacular. But, it had been a physically draining day on the bikes (and week for that matter) so we picked up supper food and returned to our room to rest before heading out if the rain held off.
Returning to our room, as soon as we opened the door, the smell hit us again and in no time we both felt a bit nauseous. Nope, we couldn't have that, so I messaged the hotel via Booking.com and whatsapp, but didn't hear anything back within a few minutes. I went to check the reception office, and there was a soman sitting at the desk. Through my limited Spanish and with my tablet I explained the problem then returned to the room to pack our bags and wait in the sitting room. The woman called the owners, explained it to them, and within five minute we were in a new clean-smelling room with a french balcony looking along the narrow street in front of the office. The Camino had provided in a BIG way. St. James has been our patron saint on this trip, it woud seem.
Happily in our new room, when the time was right we had our sandwiches and salad, hoping the evening would be dry enough to explore the centre by night, whch is always so beautiful.
In summary for our day - maybe we wanted too much - but we got more than that, not to mention yet another fine day with my wee Alexio. Today was an 11.
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Today's ride: 44 km (27 miles)
Total: 268 km (166 miles)
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