Crossed south of the Jalón, and rode straight ahead.
On his leaving the Jalón, the omens seemed good.
It pleased all Terrer, Calatayud’s folk more,
But dismayed Alcocer, to which he’d done good.
My Cid spurred onwards; he rode straight ahead;
He lodged, on a hill, by Monreal del Campo,
The site being wondrously steep there, and high,
Thus, from either flank, the Cid feared no attack.
I think that in the day Mesón de la Dolores was a fancy hotel. You had the feeling looking at some of the old people they remembered a time when it was a high end hotel. It still felt a little high end but like the old clientele was getting a little dated. I would gladly stay there again.
Calatayud didn't really impress as a place I would jump at to visit again. The whole Zaragoza province didn't really make a great impression. The roads were generally the worse I've experienced in Spain and it felt a little more run down than every other province I have been to in Spain.
After leaving the hotel we stopped by the supermarket that opened at 7am. I got Aquarius and electrical tape for Bob's fraying handlebar tape.
The ride was mostly on busy N-234. The shoulders were not consistent or great and there were a lot of trucks. I complain but it would be pretty normal in California. There were a few trucks that passed on blind corners and just barely made it back in time.
The first 25km was not a great ride. Worst of the trip other than some of the bad gravel sections yesterday. At that point we turned off the main road to a quiet road between vineyards and forests. At the top of the hill was a geological/fossil area. There were information stands everywhere but we couldn't get much detail out of the Spanish.
After a nice downhill we followed our quiet road through some villages and into Daroca. It was market day and as we slowly rolled through the park path because thearket was in the road, old ladies chastised us for being bicycle men hooligans. The town has a spring fountain gushing water. It may have been Roman. Standing beside it was like having AC. There was a mobile rotisserie chicken stand and Bob and I devoured half a chicken with our fingers. Which were cleaned in the fountain.
I promised Mike beer by Noon and he said not possible as we never cover 25km in an hour. We were back on the main road and I pushed it to get him his beer at 11:56. Beer before Noon!
We had been reading some really bad reviews for tonight's hotel but I can report Hotel Fidalgo is fine. The reviewers clearly had ridiculous expectations from a 60€ a night truck stop hotel. There is no AC but it hasn't been a problem as it cools off nicely in the evening. The rooms are fine. The bar is open 24 hours and the food is good. Menu del dia this afternoon was quite good.
Tomorrow is the last riding day. We finish up at a fancy Parador hotel. Looking forward to that.
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