After the tremendous storms of yesterday we left Teruel on a cool cloudy morning. Just 110 miles today. This was a ride I was looking forward to, in so much that according to my map preparation, it was going to be a nice scenic ride. Scenic it certainly was, nice it wasn't!
We left once again with grey skies and a cool wind. I wasn't expecting to have to wear arm warmers and a light rain jacket.
Our journey today was from Teruel to Benisano in the region of Valencia. Although it was over a 100 miles away it now felt that the end was drawing ever closer. To get to Benisano one leaves the Province of Teruel, pass through what is known as the Rincon de Adamuz (Corner of Ademuz) , which part of the Valencia region then briefly through the Provinces of Cuenca and Castilla La Mancha before finally enering the Province of Valencia proper. We followed the fast flowing river Turia which was red with the mud that had been washed into it from the previous day's storms. The area is very agricultural with all sorts of vegetables and fruit trees.
The road was fairly narrow, but busy and it was here that I was forced into a ditch by a lorry. Carrying on to the strange town of Ademuz (there are some cave houses here) we had a forced stop because the spare bike I was on got a puncture. As no 1 bike was still not fixed we had no option but to make repairs.
Stelly had gone on ahead and I followed the twisting road which ran alongside the Rio Turia below.Ahead of me I could see that the road appeared to turn left,via a small bridge, over the river, but from a distance it looked like something out of a 'Raiders of the Lost Ark ' film. It was very narrow (enough for one vehicle ) so I assumed thet Stelly must have gone that way. I rode over and looked down - what a sight! When I saw Stelly further up the road, I asked 'Did you get a picture of that bridge from the top?' Her reply - ' 'You know what I'm like with heights and anyway did you see the buches of flowers tied to the railings!!'
A view of the bridge. (the road is hidden but is on the right )
The Rio Turia below
With the bridge crossed the road began to go up for a while; not too bad I thought but then up and up and up............Like the Pyrenees all over again! Only this time there seemed to be no end because I couldn't see the top. It did eventually flatten out (sort of) to a plateau with sheep grazing but I'm not sure what on.
At last it was down hill to the small village of Titaguas from here on the road was reasonably level. Wrong!! up we went again to the top of alto de La Montalbana. By now the temperature had soared no cloud and a baking sun!
Then it was all down hill again towards the town of Lliria which just 5km from our destination .
Problem! When I planned this route I tried to keep as much as possible to minor roads. We were on the CV35 which is classed as a minor road, until one gets close to Valencia that is, where they turn just about everything into a minor motorway and still call it the CV35! For 5 miles I had no option but to get into the van until we were just outside of Benisano and I could ride to the hotel. I then repaired No 1 bike before showering, going for a walk and a meal!
Rolling down to Lliria
We've just been over those mountains in the distance!
A friendly wave
Quick repairs and a clean outside the hotel.
Benisano,
a quiet walk through town before dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment