Day 164
Crossing the line
The last few days my mood has been quite low. I was getting very tired. The odd day off helped, but when I rode, I was clock watching the whole time. I wanted the ride to end. The extreme cold, the strong headwind, the freezing rain and continual worry about the deteriorating weather forecast was sapping all our energy and our spirits. The views had been some of the best of the trip but I was ready for a proper rest. Then we awoke to a day with no head wind, still freezing, but a calm clear day. It was all I needed and my mood lifted instantly. As we prepared to leave Huerta de Rey, Tom stopped to film a Roman Pillar, the last few days I would have been grumpy and impatient, but today I stopped quite happily. Tom was very happy with his Roman pillar but what we hadn’t realised was just a few miles behind us were the remains of the Roman city of Clunia Sulpicia, where we could have visited the massive remains of its amphitheatre, wander through the buildings and even walk on the tiled floors. One for our next visit!
The town we were in was famous for its vultures, however the only one we saw was made of metal hunting amid the via ferrata. The road took us past a stunning pine forest, with steam rising from the trees as the sun slowly warmed them. It warmed us too both physically and mentally. The road through the forest steadily climbed, but at the top we were rewarded with a stunning view. Mist in the valley and snow capped mountains behind, it stopped us dead in our tracks. The mist washed over us as we descended through it and we emerged into bright sunshine, and for the first time since we left Niall and Suna, I didn’t feel cold.
The views continued to improve, we could see cliffs all around us, in the distance mountains. We spotted one that reminded us of Benbulbin, a table-top mountain we had seen in the Republic of Ireland. There appeared to be a dramatic shaped cliff ahead, as we approached, we realised it was split in two. Our road would take us through it via a massive tunnel, but first we had some vulture-watching to do. Dozens of Griffon vultures sat high above us, then one after another they took flight, soaring above us and giving us a fantastic aerial display. We stood for at least 20 minutes unable to tear ourselves away. Tom eventually remembered the tunnel and reluctantly we carried on. What a tunnel it proved to be, half way through we came out onto a bridge and could see below us a walkway. We were looking down on La Yecla. A narrow gorge, created over millions of years by water falling through the thick limestone banks. At the far side of the tunnel, we parked our bikes and climbed down the walkway to make our way through the gorge. At times it was barely a metre wide. We were deafened by the roar of the waterfalls and above we were given yet another chance to see more of the 100 pairs of Griffon vultures that live here. This time it was Tom waiting for me, I couldn’t tear myself away.
Finally, I retraced my route through the gorge and back to the bikes. We were heading just a few kilometres along the road to the Monastery of Santa Domingo de Silos. The monks there are famous for their Gregorian chanting and we hoped to hear them sing. We sat outside, munching on our lunch but we had timed our visit wrong. Still, I did spot a few vultures above so I was happy!
Onwards we rode, the earth returned to the red soil we had grown to love, the colours in the hills were a stunning display of autumn and we had this all to ourselves. We had barely seen a car for hours. We were ready for more food and needed a place to sit. And where better than at the feet of El Cid. Since leaving Elche we had been riding on or near the Camino del Cid. El Cid, (Rodrigo de Vivar) was a Castillian Knight and warlord who lived in the 11th century AD. He is remembered in Spain as a folk hero, a valiant knight, loyal and just. We gave thanks to El Cid for allowing us to rest at his feet and headed off to Burgos.
Our final few miles took us on a Greenway on a disused railway line right into the city and our bed for the next three nights. First though we had an important line of our own to cross. Over our journey we have ridden a few out and backs and loops returning over bridges but this was the first time we would actually cross over the gps line we have created, and very exciting it was too!
We were back in Burgos and we can’t wait to explore!
