Sahara-Mike: Spain - Cycling Extremadura's open spaces

More than 2 years have passed since the last real cycling. So I thought it was really about the time to see, if cycling was still as satisfying as before. Therefore the trip's objective was not to set any personal records and do some stuff for the Hall of Fame, but just to cycle along, me and my bike, and have a good time with as less traffic and urbanization as possible. I put up a short, cheap roundtrip to South-East Spain (to be precise: South of Badajoz / Mérida, a kind of eclipse around Zafra), an area well know for it's low population density and in general dry weather. My wife Ros would drive me the 200+ kilometers, return home and pick me up one week later.

0st day - 23rd Feb 2002

We started the day easy goin', packed the car and left Lisbon around 11 am, heading for Evora in the Alentejo and reaching our destination Mourão around 15:00. After reassembling the bike, we had a goodbye drink and finally I hit the road at 15:45. Finally. The first time after more then 2 years I felt again the familiar, slow behavior of a packed bike. And it felt good. With still two more hours of daylight to go I took it easy, just wanted to cross the border, do some 10 or 20 kilometers and find well in advance a nice and safe camp. I knew that this could be a tricky feat, because this area had a lot of vegetation and most of the time there were fences all around. 6 p.m. sharp I was happy to see the sign of a rest area. Rest Area "Lara", to be precise. Just perfect, a big, nice, clean tube under the road, big enough to park the bike and to have a comfortable night. Some strange noises occurred after the sunset. Sounded like some kids playing football with some cans. But it was just the metallic road limitations shrinking.

1st day - 24th Feb

Camp1 "Lara" - Jerez de los Caballeros - Barcarrota - Almendral - Stª Marta - Aceuchal - Camp2 near Almendralejo

A fresh and moist morning, after some initial sun a strong mist set in and it would stay for some more hours.
I was woke up by a concert of birds and took it easy to get up: Don't panic on the first day.
After having some biscuits and chocolate I was ready for the first real day on the road.
Very mystifying minutes; alone, no traffic, the fog over and in the woods, cold, but the sun visible in the sky.
The first sign of human existence appeared in Oliva de la Fronteira, 27 kilometers after Villanueva. Where else in Europe can you find that, 27 kilometers between human settlements ?
The going was a bit tough, always up and down. No big climbs, no steep hills, just a bit and a bit down, always in nice and peaceful environment. This changed after Almendral and I was leaving the sierra behind.

More peaceful kilometers followed, only interrupted around Stª Marta.
It was getting late, but I was still in good shape and very eager to beat the 100-km mark. So I biked more then I should have because after Aceuchal there was just open space, farm land, and with each minute I was approaching more Almendralejo, which looked like a real city in the distance with all the inconveniences like houses, traffic and dogs.
The only camp available was an abandoned building, at first sight not very inviting. Some garbage, tumbled down walls, high grass. Also a lot of barking from all sides. I tried to calm myself down with the thought, that the dogs were all inside their proprieties and hoped, that no one would leave their gate open at night.

2nd day - 25th Feb

Camp2 near Almendralejo - Palomas - Valle de la Serena - Zalamea de la Serena - Camp3

Moist set in as early as midnight in a clear and bright full moon night, I tried to get some cover under the bivack sack with rather limited results. A lot of strange bird noises during the night kept it interesting. With sunrise I see the same pattern like the last days. At sunrise a clear, blue sky, but then a mist sets in and it gets colder. I hung around and waited for the weather to improve. Around 9:00 it was still extreme misty, perhaps 10 meters of clear sight and I rolled out, very carefully. I took some time time to find the correct crossing in Almendralejo and then everything was like before; open spaces, no traffic, no people, no settlements. And then finally the sun came out, what a perfect day for biking. In the afternoon, last day's afternoon repeated itself.

Eager to break 100-km, I drove too far again, it got late and so I had to choose just any kind of Camp, I pulled over in a dirt road and found some protection behind some rocks. Again, dog barking, strange bird sounds, the occasional bell from some domestic animal and.... the ring of my mobile phone ! Ros called for dinner.