2 MID-LIFE CYCLISTS IN A MOTORHOME: January 2020

Mar Menor at Los Urrutias

3^rd January. When we first arrived here in October and enquired what a winter in Spain would be like we were told it would be warmer outside than in which we thought was odd but now we understand. The days are bright and sunny and it is lovely and warm in the direct sun but it turns cold very quickly in the shade and although inside the house it feels chilly all the time we need sunscreen to sit on the terrace.

We started the new year quietly with a short ride to San Cayetano and I did some baking. Today we decided to do a longer ride and after following the canal road to San Miguel we carried on and cycled around the Embalse de la Pedrera and then stopped at Torremendo for coffee. We then opted to cycle back via the hilly main road rather than the flat canal road. For some reason I was really struggling with my leg today and the pain was spreading up to my hip so cycling the smallest incline felt like a real effort. We cycled 64kms and I must admit I was glad to get back as it had really taken all my energy on the climbs.

5^th January. After a day of rest yesterday and doing a lot of calf and hamstring stretches I was ready to test my leg again today. We decided to be sensible and just do the shorter 44km ride to San Miguel for a coffee at the Nuthouse. It was a cold but sunny day and we now find we need our winter cycling clothes with base layers. This is quite novel as we haven’t cycled in cold weather for 6 years and although I don’t particularly like the cold it is much easier than riding in some of the extreme temperatures we experienced last summer. It was a good ride and luckily my leg seems to have improved.

Nativity scene on the beach

Today is the start of a two day festival in Spain, Fiesta de Los Reyes (Three Kings Festival) which is celebrated on the 5^th and 6^th January every year. It is one of the most important holidays in Spain and celebrates the arrival of the Three Kings in Bethlehem to give their gifts to the baby Jesus. On the evening of the 5^th January there are big parades to welcome the Three Kings while children line the streets to catch the sweets that are thrown to them. Traditionally children leave their freshly polished shoes outside in order for the Kings to place their gifts in them. The morning of the 6^th,the Epiphany, is when the children open their gifts and all the family come together. We have seen big displays of cakes, called Roscón de Reyes, in all the shops but hadn’t realised the significance. These sweet breads are circular in shape to represent the crowns the Kings wore and usually contain a small ceramic baby Jesus and a dried bean.

Children excited to greet one of the Kings

The cakes are normally eaten at breakfast on the morning of the 6th January and the person that is lucky enough to find the baby Jesus in their slice will apparently have good luck all year while the person that gets the dried bean isn't so lucky as they have to buy the cake the following year. We decided to drive to Santiago de la Ribera on the Mar Menor to watch the celebrations where the Three Kings broke with tradition and arrived at dusk by boat rather than by camel!! The streets were packed with families and there was a wonderful party atmosphere. All the street cafes were full and a stage had been set up where a singer was entertaining the crowds. We stopped to listen while he sang a beautiful rendition of Hallelujah and Ava Marie.

After admiring the nativity displays and watching the arrival of the Three Kings we headed back home for a quiet evening relaxing.

Tumbleweed

12^th January. After several days of rest, partly because of some very strong winds and the threat of rain, we woke to a lovely sunny day. The only evidence of the strong winds were the large tumbleweeds everywhere. We decided to go for a ride with no clear idea of where we were heading and ended up cycling just over 100 kms heading inland to Torre Pacheco, round to La Union and then back via the coastal route of the Mar Menor. It was a great ride and my leg wasn’t hurting so hopefully all the stretches were helping.

16^th January. We did a short ride to San Miguel a couple of days ago and yesterday we had a very relaxing day meeting friends for lunch so we decided to head out on the bikes again today as poor weather is forecast in the coming days. It has been my intention to cycle to Orihuela every time I pass the road sign when we are near Torremendo so today that was our planned destination. It was absolutely perfect cycling weather with very little wind and about 18° in the sun. It was a really nice route and we stopped in Orihuela for a coffee and tostada. As it was a long way back we didn’t stop to explore the area so we might have to go back in the car another day and see what the city has to offer. We had done 93kms when we got back so we carried on along the canal path and took the scenic route home so that we reached 100kms.

17^th January. Feeling no ill effects from yesterday’s long ride we headed out on the bikes again today as I was keen to ensure that I reached my 1000 miles target before the end of January. It was cold but sunny as we rode to San Cayetano. The temperature rose dramatically sitting in the sun outside the café and my Garmin showed it was 31° in the direct sun. We had almost finished our coffees when we heard a bang and Glynn’s rear inner tube exploded. While I continued to enjoy the sun Glynn changed the tube but must have pinched it putting the tyre back on as it went flat. Whilst he carefully used our last tube I added inner tubes to my shopping list as Glynn definitely has a habit of getting punctures, similar to the first year we retired and were travelling in France when Glynn seemed to be aiming for the world record in the number of punctures that could be achieved in a short space of time. The bike finally sorted we headed home. As you leave San Cayetano there is a huge field full of mint plants that borders the canal path and the smell is amazing. I inhaled deeply and hoped the nice smell would last until we had passed the sheep farm further along the canal path as the smell from there definitely didn't have a patch on the field of mint!!

Beautiful Ficus tree in Santiago de la Ribera

19^th January. We decided to go for a walk on the walkway past the mud baths at Lo Pagan today. You can actually walk a circular 12km route past the mud baths out towards the high rise hotels that you can see at La Manga and round via the salt marshes where the pink flamingoes are. The first 3 kms of the path is tarmac before it changes to compressed sand. We could see a little white windmill in the distance so we aimed to walk as far as that and back. The bad weather was drawing in and we could see in the distance that we weren’t going to escape some rain later. By the time I’d reached the little windmill I was in agony with my calf right up to my hip and l was limping badly. For some reason I seemed to be getting worse lately and was in more pain than I was back in December. To make matters worse there was a strong headwind as we turned back so it was a real effort to get back to where we’d left the car. I was in so much pain by the time we got back I could barely walk. Luckily we made it back home just before the storm arrived and the rest of the day was a washout with really strong winds and lots of rain. While I dosed up on painkillers Glynn made me a lovely fresh coffee, bless him.

Storm surge

22nd January. After two days of horrendous rain, strong winds and thunder and lightning the sun was trying to peek through the clouds today. We had read reports of all the flooding that had occurred again around the roads close to the Mar Menor. We took advantage of a respite in the rain yesterday to go for a walk along the seafront. The waves were still crashing in and seaweed littered the promenade where waves had crashed over the high walls. The sea looked brown instead of its normal pretty blue. Our area was largely unaffected by flooding however the rain had caused large areas of mud to slide from the surrounding fields on to the roads. We definitely wouldn’t be cycling today so we decided to volunteer at the local dog rescue centre. They were advertising on Facebook for volunteers to walk the dogs as they had been locked up for 4 days because of the weather. The more minor roads were blocked near Lo Pagan so we had to take the motorway to the rescue centre which was near San Cayetano. I had an image of a few cages with about 20 dogs but the rescue centre was huge with over 250 dogs of all shapes and sizes and the noise was deafening as the dogs were so excited at the thought of being let out.

Big softie wanting a tummy rub

I was surprised by how many volunteers there were and we soon joined them as we walked our first pair of dogs around the nearby lanes. Our route was limited because of the amount of mud following the storms however I don’t think the dogs cared where they went. One of the dogs I walked was a big hairy thing who looked like she was part St Bernard. She was hilarious and in spite of her size she tried to leap around like a puppy. As we were walking she would suddenly throw herself on the floor in front of me and refuse to get up until I had rubbed her tummy. On the way back she seemed to realise that we were going back to the kennel and promptly lay down on a huge pile of dirt and refused to get up. It took much tummy rubbing to persuade her to get up again and we eventually got her back to the kennel. It felt really good doing our bit to help the centre and we really enjoyed it so after promising to help again another day we headed home for lunch and a quiet afternoon reading.

23^rd January. With the good weather restored we headed out for a ride today but ended up taking several detours as we came across various road closures where flooding was still receding or mud blocked the roads. We had initially planned on cycling around part of the Mar Menor but with our route blocked we headed up to the canal road to San Cayetano and then dropped down to Los Narejos before heading to San Javier and then back via the N332. It was a bit of a magical mystery tour as we avoided the various road closures but we managed a nice 51kms. The poor bikes were caked in mud when we got back so we decided to hose them down before cleaning them thoroughly. While we were outside cleaning them Glynn’s rear inner tube suddenly went bang. His face was an absolute picture and I was desperately trying not to laugh. He couldn’t believe he’d got another puncture and he wasn't even riding the bike!! At least it happened after we got home this time.

Celebrating 1000 miles!!

26^th January. We enjoyed a lovely evening yesterday with a lot of the dance crowd when we all met up at a restaurant in La Zenia for a meal and dancing. I still can’t dance as the twisting motion causes instant pain in my calf but Glynn got chance to practice his jive moves when a variety of women dragged him on the dance floor. Today I was keen to get out on the bikes again as I only needed another 40kms to reach my target. It was a lovely sunny day but we figured there would still be too much mud on the canal path to San Miguel so we headed in the opposite direction and after cycling to San Cayetano we carried on down to the Mar Menor to add a few more kilometres. All the roads seemed to be open now although there was plenty of evidence of the recent storm because of the amount of dried mud that has accumulated against the kerbs. By the time we got back we had cycled 50kms which took my total to 1619 kms (1006 mls). I was so pleased at reaching the target.

28^th January. As the good weather has continued we decided to risk cycling the canal road to San Miguel today. Although the route is largely tarmac there is one long section of dirt which turns into a bog in the rain. As part of this area is sheltered from the sun by a high bank it takes a long time to dry out. When we got to that section it had dried out fairly well but was so deeply rutted from vehicles driving through the mud that it wasn’t ideal for road bikes so after stopping for coffee at San Miguel we decided to cycle back via the main road. Most of the roads have a lovely wide verge so that we always feel safe cycling however the majority of the road back from San Miguel has no verge at all. It is a very scenic route through woodland and past a golf course and has a nice balance of ascending and descending but nothing steep. We only had one car race past too close and disappointingly it was a British car. It’s a shame there is no verge as it’s a route I would take in preference to the canal road but we are too vulnerable on a narrow road as it would only take one impatient driver coming too close to cause some serious harm. Having seen the injuries we’ve both sustained on low speed crashes, especially when Glynn was forced off the road in Portugal by a vehicle coming too close, it’s not a risk I like to take too often. We made it back unscathed and no punctures for Glynn either which is becoming a bit of a novelty!!

The big softie laying down again

30^th January. We decided to volunteer at the dog rescue centre again today and I got to take the lovely big crazy dog out again. It finally occurred to me why the dogs were taking no notice of us at all as we were automatically talking to them in English which we found hilarious when we realised our mistake!! Funnily enough although I practice my Spanish lessons everyday and I know that dog is perro I haven’t yet had a lesson that teaches dog commands such as sit and stay. I guess that will need to be my research project for tonight. After we got back and had lunch we decided to go for another ride but only managed a short 22kms as I was really struggling with pain from my leg. As I can’t walk very far before it plays up I guess a ride on top of the dog walking was too much so we decided to head home and chill for the rest of the day.

31^st January. The last day of the month finished with more glorious sunshine. I took the sensible option and chilled on the terrace to rest my leg while Glynn decided he wanted to tackle the winding and hilly road that leads from Conesa Castle to Rebate. As he’s long since passed his 1000 mile target for the Cycling Down Dementia challenge he decided to increase his target to 1500 miles so he needed one more ride to achieve it. While I enjoyed a particularly good book on my Kindle Glynn was busy tackling a head-wind, hairpin bends and a few steep climbs. I think I chose the better option!! When he returned 57kms later looking suitable tired he had achieved a final total of 1517 miles and raised £1072.79 for Alzheimer’s UK so he was justifiably pleased with himself.

It has been a great month and, in spite of the cold nights, when the sun makes an appearance it has been lovely and warm. February is going to be a busy month as we have Darryl and Lisa coming to visit for a few days and after they fly home we plan on leaving here to work our way home. My dearest friend Tilly has moved to Chalabre in France recently so we will stop off and spend a couple of days with her as we head towards Calais. As we have only 12 days until Darryl and Lisa arrive we are going to make the most our last chance to get out on the bikes and explore.