I had a fantastic nights sleep which always surprises me when you feel completely broken how well it repairs the body and changes the way you feel the next day. Filled my stomach with the brekkie the host kindly left for me the night before. With this was an orange which I have to say was the best I have ever had.
My family know this is a common joke with me, whenever I have a really good meal or drink I always say "That was the best I've ever had" And in that moment it is true. I guess the fruit doesn't have to travel very far as oranges seem to grow everywhere like dandelions and daisies back in the UK. There are even single orange trees growing randomly on the side of the road next to bus stops.
I went next door to the reception to get a couple of cups of coffee, which meant nipping out in the pouring rain in my t shirt and shorts. Oh well, first soak of the day. It won't be the last today as when I took a look out the window I could see the rain pouring down and a river running past the front door. Oh joy !!!
Today was going to be about 100 miles, due south west straight into Murcia, the 7th largest city in Spain. It is known as Europe's Orchard due to it's wealth of fruit and vegetables grown in the region of Murcia. By Friday I would be very well aware of this fact. I would like to come back and do this area in better weather conditions. It is like riding 100 miles through the biggest fruit basket and veggie stall on the planet.
I set off early again and only within 200 yards I found my first hoard of oranges ... they seemed bigger and better than the ones I spotted everywhere yesterday..
I knew from researching this route that I had to get over a bit of a climb after just 3 miles. There was a winding cycle path that took me over the tunnel which carried the main motorway called the A7. I always worry when I see a winding road, it tells me the extreme steepness they are trying their best to lessen by winding the road upwards. I later learned that this A-7 motorway went on for hundreds of miles and actually came to an end near Algeciras which is about 25 miles from the southern most tip of Spain..... my goal !! It would not be the last time I thought of hopping onto it for a fast flat easy option but I knew the Policia would not be very keen to see a cyclist on a 6 lane motorway !!!
The strava file for the day is here.... https://www.strava.com/activities/6870574769
You will notice on there after about 3 miles I start to climb about 800 feet.
Just after this picture the road went up very steeply hitting about 25% at a couple of switchbacks. The positive was I warmed up really fast from the early cold morning air. From the brow at the top it was a lovely downhill for about 5 miles and then the route followed the service roads either side of the A7 until I got to Ontinyent. Lovely place.... this pic is from Wikipedia, I had other things on my mind at the time of passing through here though as it started to rain and it was torrential.
My plan for very wet days like this was to implement Operation Drowned Rat. This meant putting on the rain cape. I actually already had put this on from the start of the day back in Xativa. The other elements were a pair of surgical gloves to wear under my cycling gloves which were now soaking wet. The secret weapon was my bonnet de douche (shower cap) that I had "borrowed" from a hotel a while back for this very reason and put it on my head under the helmet. I had to keep my hair dry, I spent half an hour styling it that morning hehe Lastly, I had 2 carrier bags which were called upon to wrap around my feet over my shoes and under my 2 pairs of shoe covers to help keep my feet warm and dry. This was genius. Warm feet, hands, head and neck are all you need to stay reasonably happy.
In Ontinyent I passed by Ralphs Bikes Shop and I could see him in there happily working on his bikes in the back but it was too early for opening. I really wanted to buy some better waterproof gloves. Hey ho, not here I wouldn't.
The only thing to do is keep pedaling and pray for the rain to subside.
Next up I reached Pou Clar, a really beautiful canyon with waterfalls and a really deep gorge. This led to the start of a simply stunning gorge. Is that were the term gorgeous comes from ?
This gorge was also a 3 mile climb and really quite tough. When the rain cape gets waterlogged it sticks to your legs and there is a danger of it getting caught in the wheels/chain etc so I tucked it under my legs. The problem with rain is it drops your core temperature by about 3-4 degrees. So the only way to combat it is to cycle harder than you normally would to generate heat. This is great when you are going uphill. I hadn't realised until looking at the ride now after the event but this was the start of a long 14 mile climb from just before Ontinyent to the 25 mile point up ahead. It was about 1,500 feet of climbing. On the way up I went past a beautiful hill top town called Bocairent. I really wish I had better pictures.
Another quote for you.....
"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams."
An annoying thing I found was that due to the fact that I relied so heavily on my phone for GPS, communications, etc I was really precious about it and tried to keep it as dry and protected as much as possible. So whenever I wanted to take a picture of a beautiful view I had to stop, lift the rain cape, lift rain jacket, unzip one pocket, get phone out, remove the waterproof case, take photo, wipe phone dry and then replace by following the previous steps in reverse. Phew !!! Hence, not many pictures were going to be taken when I was implementing Operation Drowned Rat ;) Apologies x
The road I was now on was dead straight and went up to about 2350 feet about a quarter of the way along to the 25 mile point and then went steadily downhill for the next 17 miles towards Villena. At the exact point when it topped out I stopped for my scheduled 25 mile rest, feed and 3rd coffee of the day. It was a Shell garage. First issue was I had to buy a face mask to get served. I have no idea where mine went. I packed a couple of them. Snoods pulled up over the nose do not work in Spain. I got 2 coffees, a double snickers and stayed to dry off a bit. So sorry for leaving a massive rain puddle on your floor mate...
At the time I had no idea that I had this 17 mile slight 1-2% downhill to look forward to. I also now had a tailwind which I only just noticed plus the wind had picked up quite a bit. I flew like a rocket into Villena probably averaging 20-25 mph WoooHooooo !!!! With every uphill there is always a payoff and a lovely downhill around the corner.
Villena became a stop in search for new dry gloves as my hands were really feeling the cold now. I had 5 layers on my body, 1 long sleeve baselayer, 1 short sleeve baselayer with arm warmers, my autumn cycling top, a rain coat and the rain cape.
I found the only sports shop in town but they only had S & M !!! So no luck...
I was hungry again so went in search of a warm café where I had another coffee and a big piece of cake. The more you go off the tourist areas of Spain the prices seem to go down by about 50%. I left a tip and the guy was insistent that I take the change. He probably felt sorry for me. I left it anyway. I really like the Spanish people. I found them to be very caring, religious, honest and sociable. I would be reminded of this many times this week, especially when times got really tough.
The next 9 miles were uphill, rain was constant but not heavy. The land here was crops of all kinds including quite a few vineyards along the CV-813 minor road. It was a lovely stretch of quiet, almost deserted road for miles and miles. I had hills either side and a bit of a side tailwind too. It was a great part of the day.
Just after a large vineyard called Bodegas Sierra Salinas the road name changed and it suddenly became very potholed and unkept. Adios Valencia Community. Hola Region of Murcia. The change in road quality was directly on the border of regions. I found this to be the same in France too. Obviously Valencia had a bigger budget for road maintenance than Murcia did.
Road quality aside, the next few miles were really quite stunning. I felt like I was in a film set for a Western. The area also reminded me of Death Valley with the same rippled rolls of earth built in to the sides of the hills. The wind was getting worse which was starting to worry me as this bike has wide 80 mm profile wheels and any strong side winds made it shake and bank over. Luckily, the bikes additional weight fully loaded really countered that threat. After around 71 miles I rounded a corner and was happy to see a beautiful vista where I could see the road drop south and was flat for the next 28 miles or so into Murcia.... a very welcome sight. The downhill was very scary as the sidewind was very strong at times and my brakes were starting to feel very weak. I put this down to the constant rain almost making them immune to the brake pads. Very worrying. I had one foot unclipped from my cleats and hanging down hovering an inch from the road all the way down just in case.
The next flatland area was really stunning with the same lava type features and dry river beds. It was just north of Fortuna on the RM-423. It looked like the same film set from earlier/Death Valley. Me and Deb went through Death Valley 4 years ago. We managed to go to Zabriskie Point which was on the front cover of U2's The Joshua Tree.
Check out the area here, this area is called Rambla de La Parra.....
Another influence I definitely felt from the buildings and general feel of this area was Mexico or southern USA. Really cool place and somewhere I would never had experienced or discovered unless I was doing this trip through this beautiful country. That is what it is all about.
Fortuna was a nice small town and had this same feel of USA/Mexico and had a race track. I did think there was some sort of link to racing here but it was only a Go Kart track ?
81 miles in the bag, almost the same as I did for day one but I now had another 18 or so miles to go. I was now starting to feel cold, wet and fatigue had set in. The wind was really strong now and I had a side wind for the next 12-13 miles. I wanted this day done. The rain was back so it was head down and pedal.
The miles ticked by like the second hand on a clock only slower and slower or at least it seemed that way.
At last I could see the large city ahead.
The weird thing about big cities is you arrive there and then have another 6-7 miles to get from the outer layer into the dead centre and that was where I was headed. Hotel Cetina, must be Spanish for dead centre. On the outskirts I went past this, stunning huge statue of Christ on top of a hill. Absolutely stunning. It is surrounded by the poorest housing, almost akin to a shanty town.
Day Two done.....
The hotel was really nice and the lady on reception was fantastic. She apologised as there was no laundry service or anywhere to dry clothes so she arranged for the manageress to take my gear away and get it dried out as I was sodden and dripping water in the reception area.
The rain was coming down like stair rods now so I guess she quickly understood when I arrived back in reception from my room holding a fist full of soaked clothes to give her wearing my florescent flip flops, T-Shirt and running shorts I was not fit for a night out hunting down the local cuisine of central Murcia. She booked me an UberEats of Burger King !!! What a lovely lady, you should be CEO of this central Murcia hotel. Shame it took an hour to arrive, not her fault. The burger and chips and coke never touched the sides, I think I almost ate the bag they came in. I felt sick after and prayed I didn't see the meal again....
Tough day, I was not in a good place mentally. I missed Debby so much and I thought what the hell am I doing this for. I did expect it to get this tough at some point in the challenge but not so soon after just 2 days.
I had done 98 miles, climbed almost 5,000 feet, average temperature was 11 degrees C, burned over 3,000 calories. Rain ranging from spitting to torrential lasted all day.
Recovery Plan......
Phone Debby..........
Phone Marc..........
Sleep.......
See what tomorrow brings......
Quote for the day.....
“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.". Anon
I am raising funds for Cancer Research UK in memory of so many people it has affected but mainly for my mum who died 30 years ago. Love you mum XXXXXXXX
This link takes you straight to the cancer research page to donate, it is safe and every penny goes straight into their bank account.
Thank you so much, stay tuned for Day 3
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