EEC Tour Day 6 - Siguenza

They crossed the mountains ere the light of dawn,

And, down from the ridge, they began to ride.

There, amidst a wilderness vast and marvellous,

My Cid ordered the tents pitched, and food given.

...

Now dawn was breaking, the daylight advancing,

The sun leapt forth (Lord, how lovely a sight!)

While in Castejón all the folk were now waking,

And opening their doors, and making their way

Forth to the fields, to view the crops on their land.

The people went forth, leaving the gate wide open,

So that few remained in the town of Castejón.

The folk were all scattered far, outside the town.

The Campeador burst forth, swiftly, from hiding;

He plundered, most fully, the town of Castejón.

...

He won Castejón, and its gold and silver.

His knights brought Ruy Díaz their plunder,

And abandoned it there, like a prize of no worth.

Dispite the heavy night we met at 7:30 to head out.  Almost.  Bob had decided at 7:00 to retape his handle bars against my advice.  He met us at the gas station at the edge of town where we had gone in search of water 20 minutes later.

This trip we have been relying on public fountains provided by most towns.  The rule of thumb is do not drink continuously flowing fountains or ones with do not drink signs.  The ones with shut-off valves are city water and the same as the tap.  Local water taste varies but you usually can find a better tasting source just down the road.  Several times we came into town, tasted the water and dumped what we had.

The morning ride brought us past an area that had been on fire a few weeks ago.  There was often the smell of charred wood.  Some of the hillsides were blackened and beside the road burnt grass and shinged trees.  By California standards areas I could see didn't look too bad.

When we got to Jadraque the weekly Monday market was going on in the square.  We stopped at a bar beside it and had food and drinks.

The rest of the ride got hotter and there was a surprising amount of climbing and descending and climbing.  Siguenza was a welcome sight and we got in about 2pm.  Our apartment wasn't ready and communication was not perfect.  We left the bikes in front of the apartment and found a lunch spot.  All the places nearby were on the high end.  We had a really nice meal at Taberna Seguntina sitting on the patio.  Excellent service, great salad and loved the lamb leg.  Melon for dessert was fantastic.  It was a little pricey but this is clearly a tourist town.

I had to rush my melon and cafe solo to get to the apartment where the cleaning girls were waiting.  I had left Bob walking direction to the flat but somehow they arrived way later than I expected and from a completely different direction.  The apartment is nice and big with 3 bedrooms but those guys do have to share a bathroom.

I had a nice nap.

In the evening we wandered around town, stopping in places for a beer or Fanta.  We ended up at a place down near the very crowded park and had pizza.  Both got devoured along with the patatas bravas.

And now bedtime.