What I love about this tour is it is exactly that, a tour. We are not racing to get from point A to point B, but rather touring to see then Spain countryside. Today we rode along the Ebro river and part of the reservoir comprised of the water from the same. The Ebro is the longest river in Spain, and as I said yesterday, flows all the way from the origin to the Mediterranean.
Our bikes are outfitted with bags that allowed us to dress for the weather and peel off clothes as the it got warmer throughout the day. Sunrise does not occur until around 8:00 am and with temps in the low 40's and foggy conditions no one was in a hurry to get n the road before about 9:30. The day warmed up to the mid 70's and we had sunny skies and vey little wind. Pretty much perfect riding weather.
The roads are in magnificent condition and rolled along the coastline of the resevoir past pastoral farms and through small villages. We saw plenty of sheep and horses today and cows sporting cowbells that seranaded us as we passed by.
When they dammed up the Ebro to create the resevoir they flooded some towns and so we saw the top of the sunken church and the steeple peeking out from the water. At that same location a we were visited by a herd of sheep being led by a cat, yes that right - a cat. They just sauntered past us and our bikes. I have heard of sheep dogs, but never sheep-CATS - a very comical sight.
We rode around the resevoir and on and UP to the Montes Claros (means clear colored mountains) Monestary where we had a picnic lunch waiting for us. The climb up to the mountain was very steep with 9 - 11% grades but we were rewarded at the top with magnificent views and a lovely downhill on the other side.
We rolled into Polientes about 3:00 in time for a beer at the courtyard of our hotel. We then had time to clean up and get ready for wine and our ride briefing at 6:30 pm and dinner at 8:00. We have a group of 19 and everyone is friendly and companionable. Overall a GRAND DAY,
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3 comments:
Great Pictures. It looks like a wonderful tour.
Very beautiful... Fun animal stories... :-)
Keep warm...
Great photos, especially liked the ones of the sheep and the cat. I showed them to Lucy and she yawned ;). She said she could round up sheep all day if she wanted to....
Thanks again for the photos and comments, I know you must be tired at the end of the day.
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