Our wayward reception lady did show up for the promised 8 a.m. breakfast service, and as what still looked like the only clients we had a reasonable amount to eat. We also benefited from our hotel being right next to a grocery, so we dropped in. With tomorrow being Sunday we wanted to make sure of lots of backup supplies in the food bag. Mercadona opened at 9, 5 minutes from when we got there. Dodie looked at that, and for some reason stomped over to the nearby Lidl. Lidl in fact also opened at 9, but it took us 5 minutes to complete the transfer, so fine. Dodie reported on coming out that this Lidl in fact had a good selection, and yes, some good salads and puddings and stuff did get stashed away.
Dodie had felt Lidl to be weak on fruits, so we were interested as we passed this independent store. We decided we were ok, though, still having some scavenged oranges and a couple of other fruits in stock.
Benicarlo's bike lane now became the object of some consternation. The wide area of pavers included a painted bike width lane, but that lane seemed to be designated no bikes. And this is despite a 10 kph speed limit also painted in. Yet all the effort with the paint did include sets of footprints, some straddling the "bike" lane. What a set of mixed signals! Not to mention that the rather chubby footprints did not seem to represent anyone that could do a 10 k in an hour, especially not without runners! So many thoughts needed, just to pedal down the way!
Now in the near distance appeared Peniscola, which is a peninsula jutting out over the sea, 12 km south of Benicarlo. Peniscola gives the same impression as Mont St Michel. It houses more of a castle or fort than a church. As as fort it started as a Moorish stronghold around the 11th century. But in 1229 it was transferred to the control of James I of Aragon, after he forced the Moors to cede several castles in the region. James II of Aragon then gave the place to the Knights Templar, in 1294. The Templars demolished what was there and rebuilt, completing work in 1307.
The last time we were here, we told ourselves that we should go into Peniscola for a close look. We know this because we cheated and re-read our blog last night. But that blog also contained a serious warning. Beyond Peniscola would lie for us a brutal journey up headlands on unpaved road. We decided that we had better sweep on by, and plan to actual stay in Peniscola the next time around.
To go into Peniscola we would have stayed straight. But we veered right.
Now in behind Benicarlo, we could see housing developments on nearby hills. These, and especially one, were quite dense and crazy and white. We know this type of thing from other travels in Spain, where we call them sugar cube houses, but this was our first encounter with them this trip.
This is sort of variable in design, and spaced out.
Karen PoretHope the tenants know where they actually reside …in the dark and during the day!.. Street names are probably the same, too.. “Main St, Main Avenue, Main Court, etc..” What do you say? Reply to this comment 1 month ago
Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Karen PoretHopefully they all know how to get about. Actually, don't see any streets or walkways so how do they get around? We probably just can't see the details, it was far away up the hill. Still...... Reply to this comment 1 month ago
You can see in this photo that cars can make it up here. We ran into a local cyclist, with a mountain bike. He was unloaded and had big cushiony tires, and gearing with one tiny wheel in the front and 12 on a rear cluster, ranging up to seriously huge. He was interested in our trip, and could sympathize with how we might struggle on this road, though he comes out here just for entertainment. Can't quite see it in the photo but Dodie and this serious cyclist both had Giro helmets.
Coming down past the tower, we are on our way to the sea level, visible up ahead. The road is concreted here because of the slope, but that will not last at all long.
Just because we made it up and down this one obstacle did not mean we had mastered the ride. Far from it. Now we had a dozen kilometres of almost always unrideable road. We pushed for almost the whole thing! From time to time we thought this was ridiculous, and got on the bikes. But soon enough it was clear that the large rocks really were going to throw us. We kept trying though. It was truly exhausting, and in the end this 15 km stretch of road took us 5 hours!
When you pass this, Dodie, you still have 5 hours to go before reaching pavement! The local authorities tout this as an ideal BTT route. (BTT is mountain bike. EV 8 likes this route, but is supposed to be for touring bikes. Ha!)
This was an area (one of several to come) where water was flowing in from the sea. We had been playing tag with a fellow from Barcelona, heading for Almeria, and with his dog in tow. We let him go through this one first! It was just fine on the edges, though rather deep in the middle.
Down the way, the man from Barcelona appeared to have a flat. After making sure that he did have a pump and tools, we left him to it, since we quite a way still to go.
Our destination was Torreblanca, and we were really tired by the time we almost reached it. So that is when a further barrier or challenge popped up. We saw that "vecinos" might have access. So that's how we defined ourselves! Notice also the ominous clouds. It will be a good idea to reach shelter sooner than later!
We decided to head down the road and to see how bad the blockage might be. Well, ok, they had those basically impassable fence sections, set into concrete blocks, and wired together. But that description, for Grampies, are only the starting conditions. More important is how are the parts wired together? What gauge wire had they used, and how much?
And now, at the other end, more wire meets its fate. This is not to say the Grampies are totally destructive scofflaws. Here is one mostly repairing the damage to the blockade. But the repair can not be too perfect - we are planning to bust through here again tomorrow!
