This is the first in a series of journal entries from our bike tour of Andalucia, Spain in December, 2010. We provide links to later entries at the bottom of this post.
Our carefully planned winter bike tour of Spain turns out to be one of false starts.
The flight is cancelled because there is too much snow. We unpack our bikes from their bags, rebook the ticket and bike home through the winter storm.
Three days later we try again. Now the snow is so thick we can’t leave home by riding our bikes. We push instead. Our normal 15 minute ride takes nearly an hour. Despite this, we do get to the airport in time and – even more amazingly – the plane actually goes.
We land in Madrid to perfect temperatures and our new Santos bikes have arrived in perfect condition, despite only packing our bicycles in plastic bags.
The next day – after a train journey to the town of Talavera de la Reina – we start cycling and for the first day, we actually have decent weather. We cruise down the hills.
We admire the olive harvest.
And we stop for many cups of coffee. At just €1 each they are cheap and a good way to meet the locals. “Frío! Frío!” exclaims one elderly Spanish mama as she serves us our cafe con leche (coffee with milk) in a tiny village.
“Cold! Cold!”
Yes, she’s right. It’s cold by Spanish standards. But we prefer cooler weather for cycling so we’re quite happy. As long as it doesn’t rain, we think. Maybe just the thought of rain was enough to tempt fate because soon the heavens open on our heads.
This is our second false start. We have already lost 3 days of our trip to flight delays and now we will lose another 3 because the pounding rain and winds make it impossible to cycle very far. One day we manage just 30km before collapsing exhausted in a hotel.
When we do manage to cycle, it’s a bit of a struggle. But somehow – between the storms – we snap some nice photos.
We wave at the sheep, huddled against buildings for protection against the driving wind and rain.
We enjoy the open, quiet roads (there is barely a car to be seen).
And we cheer when we reach the border with Andalucia.
Now it’s Christmas Eve and we’re promised sun for the next few days. We’re off to cycle some trails, and we hope that we can find some wild camping opportunities.
While we’re out in the wilderness, we next have to think about how to shorten our trip, because with all these delays the original plan of a 1,200km loop is now impossible.
After this entry, go on to Quiet Christmas Cycling, Mud & Mountains, Visiting Granada, Where Will We Sleep?, Cycling In A Painting and Reaching The Peak