After a fabulous dinner last night, including a couple cañas and a nice bottle of rioja, we slept like babies and didn’t wake up until after 8. The guy from Iron Donkey also came last night and got Mallory’s tire replaced. So by the time we were ready to hit the road, we were feeling rested and confident. Of course, the fact that it was another perfect day didn’t hurt!
At the same time, we knew today was going to be a tough one, and it lived up the billing. Right off the bat, we climbed out of the Cabuérniga valley to a high basin and the village of Carmona. Here’s the view towards the top of the first climb, looking back towards Cabuérniga:
Over and over during the last two days, we’ve seen countless idyllic views like this one, approaching Carmona:
Carmona itself is a medieval village at its core, with many structures that appear to be hundreds of years old. Here, as in every village we’ve seen, I love how everyone puts lots of geraniums on their balconies (though this particular building is obviously not very old!):
At the top of the quick downhill to Puentenansa, I took this panorama of the breathtaking view across the valley:
We started right back up the other side, this time not quite as long, but still a workout. We started looking for a place to stop and eat our picnic lunch at the bottom of that second pass, in the town of Quintanilla (here’s another flower-laden house, below the rocky ridges we rode along all day):
We finally found a little rock wall to sit and eat on, alongside a pasture at the base of the next climb. This last one turned out to be the longest and hardest of the three! About a third of the way up, right before it got relentlessly steep, we found the quaint village of La Fuente. It featured an ancient (12th century) church:
And here’s Mallory posing next to a roaring waterfall just across the road from the church:
As I said, the last big climb of the three began in earnest above La Fuente. As an example, it began on this long stretch that was supported by a huge old wall on the downhill side:
Thrilled that we had the toughest part of the day behind us, we began the long descent to La Hermida. Across the way, we saw spectacular examples of how one must get creative to work the land in country such as this:
Along the many switchbacks to the bottom, we ran into some goats. Not sure if they were wild or not, but they didn’t look like your average domestic ones!
The final 15 kilometers to Potes, along the Rio Deva, weren’t bad, but considering we’d already ridden more than 30 miles and done 5,600 feet of elevation gain, we were pooped! The stretch wasn’t steep, but it was uphill, and our butts were sore! 😉 Here’s one last shot, taken of some of the ‘Picos de Europa’ that make this area such a popular destination:
We’re in Potes for two nights and have six or eight options for tomorrow’s ride. The most popular one is 23 km one-way, and goes straight up the whole time, for a total of almost 800 meters (about 2500 feet!). At the top is a cable car that goes another 1000 meters up, with a nice hike back down as an option. We’ll see if we’re up for another workout like that! Whatever the case, you can read about it tomorrow!
