He passed Alcubilla, now on Castile’s border;
He crossed the causeway that’s named Quinea;
He crossed the Duero, close to Navapalos;
And, at La Figueruela, my Cid then made camp.
Men from everywhere came there to join him;
And there, after his supper, my Cid sought rest.
A sweet dream came to him, he slept so deeply;
The angel Gabriel appeared to him, in dream:
‘Ride onwards, Cid, the finest of Campeadors,
For at never so fair a time did any man ride.
All shall go well with you, as long as you live.’
...
In the mountains of Miedes, they made camp.
...
Eat whoever would; and who would not, ride.
We’ll cross the mountains, so wild and high,
For, tonight, we will leave Alfonso’s kingdom.
We had breakfast at the hotel and it made a good start to the day even though it meant we were starting late. That doesn't matter as much here as El Burgo de Osma and Atienza are quite high and things are a little cooler and they do get a little rain in the summer.
Out of El Burgo de Osma we were on a beautiful paved trail with rock cliffs on one side and a stream on the other. This town would be a really nice place to live. I am impressed with El Burgo de Osma.
Soon we came to a large agricultural area ... kind of like the Holland Marsh north of Toronto, only bigger. (It was a topic in Grade 11 Geography ... grade 10? 9? whatever some random shit stuck in my brain). We could not figure out what the fruit was but Google says yellow-green apples.
The ride for the first hour was gorgeous. It wasn't long before Fortaleza califal de Gormaz started to appear. It is the largest European medieval castle. It was definitely worth the steep ride up. The views are stunning and we explored for quite awhile. I got some good drone video (hopefully). I crashed it but I think I am getting better at flying.
Leaving Gormaz we stopped at the next town for a coke and chips. Cute little town and we enjoyed the square with the church bells ringing for Sunday mass.
Before Berlanga de Duero the route wanted to take us on a bit of a dodgy looking road and we opted for the more direct path. I don't think we missed anything. Having some food in Berlanga de Duero we decided to trim about 10km and 400m in climbing by deviating from the official route. We probably would have made it but would have gotten in 2 hours later (maybe). Bob and I were both done after the shorter route so I think it was a good call. A cyclist blasting up to Gormaz told us it wasn't as scenic past here to Altienza so we thought we won't miss anything.
The "main road" route was pretty nice. We were on newly surfaced road done by the worst contractor in Spain. New but so bumpy. Hands, feet and butt really felt it. It was, however, a fast surface with a tailwind and we made good time.
There was still a lot of climbing and the countryside was really interesting despite what the cyclist said.
Altienza was a welcome site but it still took some riding to get there. This town is the first place AC isn't required in Spain. The hotel has a fan and a window that opens and that works well here. Bob and I were both done and Bob reported he didn't get to sleep until the fiesta music stopped at 4am. After showers, the legendary Bobnoxious showed up for beers. I think he is down for the night ... we will bring him back some food.
Wrong! Bob made it to dinner but there wasn't much to be had. Mike got the last of several items. It seemed to be a case of a lot of hungry tourists and not enough food in town.
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