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November 17 Thursday Bicycle touring Spain from Burgos Spain to a weeping willow tree in some farmer's Spanish field. We thought about riding all night. Seriously. The moon is almost full, so there is lots of light. But then it got cloudy and we couldn't see the road anymore. We have a shoulder a full lane wide to ride our fully loaded touring bicycles on and the highway is four lane, but we couldn't see if there were rocks or other possible hazards in front of us without headlights. We decided to get ourselves and our touring bicycles off the road. (It was a good thing we did. In the morning we cycled a couple of kilometres and encountered a drop-off that we wouldn't have seen in the dark. When you're on a long bicycle tour, it's a good idea to listen to your intuitions and have a large dollop of good luck in reserve, too.) We cycled off at an exit and found a spot under a tree. It was great -- except for the clay mud that we got stuck in as we pushed our loaded touring bikes across a farmer's tilled field. In the morning we spent half an hour digging the mud out of our cycle tires, brakes, and fenders just so our tires would turn. It is foggy again. We cycled to a gas station and waited for the sun to burn off the fog -- we couldn't see very far in front of us, so truck drivers probably couldn't see us either and our little touring bicycles either, even though we have plenty of reflective gear. Civil guards were at the gas station washing their vehicle. Civil guards don't seem to do a lot, except stand at the side of the road and watch traffic go by. We always wave to them as we ride past on our fully loaded touring bicycles. I think they like it. The trucks on the National route are still thick, but not quite as many as previously, since some have gone south where the road branches towards Madrid. We decided to cycle on a detour following a smaller road to get away from traffic for awhile. It was a good cycling road for the first few kilometres, then it turned into more potholes than road. It was an excruciatingly bumpy to be riding on a touring bike without shocks. The few kilometres we did were very slow. Luckily, when we cycled into a new province, the road improved remarkably. As another beautiful sunset drew the daylight to a close, we scouted the road side for a suitable camping spot for our light bicycle touring tent. The thought of riding all night once again crossed our minds, but we are on a narrower country road about 16 km from the National road, and cycling on this one at night might not be too safe. As we cycled along we spotted a secluded area under a huge weeping willow tree. We pulled our bikes to a stop and went over to it. As we were eating supper, a farmer came out of a field in his tractor. He must have seen us. He slowed to a stop right where we were and shone his lights into the trees. Then he carried on. Guess he doesn't mind that foreign cycle tourists are free camping on his land. Dogs barked all night. It must be a full moon. They can smell us a mile off I bet. We haven't had time to stop and shower for the past few days, riding our touring bicycles non-stop, even though we did see some truck stops with showers. Besides, it is cold. We'd freeze to death after having a shower. Although, as Sharon says, "At least we would die clean." We cycled on to a high plateau at over 2500 feet. Some highway signs have pictures of snowflakes on them, warning motorists and wayward touring cyclists of possible storms. Thankfully, we haven't had any snow, but it sure feels as if it is cold enough. The wind is in our face, but we somehow managed to eke out 175 kilometres today on our fully loaded touring bicycles. |
