Toledo was a beautiful historic town, but like always we must keep on moving south towards our final destination. Everyone appreciated the two very relaxing days in Madrid and today was support team 3's first day on the road. From the word go we were faced with an uphill battle. Our fresh legs zoomed us upwards and onwards and the day was soon in full flow. Throughout the morning our nasal passages were exposed to an array of foul smells, including the violating smell of a sewage treatment plant! Our mid-morning break took place under a large tree which provided shade for all. Whilst we all stood nattering, Julian discovered an extremely strange Spanish man who lived with his family of stray looking dogs. Everyone had a peak through Julian's binoculars and passed comment as he sat staring aimlessly. We all agreed that most of his days were passed in this fashion.
Soon before our lunch stop for the day we reached another milestone- the 1,000 mile mark! We have cycled through 3 separate countries, only had 3 punctures to date, a range in temperatures from 4 to 40 degrees and gallons of sweat! Not long to go now. The afternoon saw us ride past a selection of animals, including herds of goats and the famous Spanish torros (bulls). These massive torros looked very peaceful in their paddocks, however when they are charging in the ring it is a very different story altogether!
We arrived at our accommodation for the night in Ciudad Real after an hour or so of roaming the dead maze like streets. It was soon apparent that the woman who owned the 1 star hotel spoke NO English what so ever. As we tried to settle into our accommodation the owner lingered around muttering Spanish in pursuit of conversation. She didn't quite grasp that none of us spoke any Spanish, so there was a lot of smiling and nodding!
That evening we all took a stroll into the now vibrant city to walk off another serious feed. However we didn't last too long and all soon returned to rest our sleepy heads.
Today's distance: 79 miles
Average speed: 14.7 mph
Top speed: 41 mph
Time on bike: 5:43 hrs
Total Distance; 1048 miles
Max heart rate: 90% (180 bpm)
Average heart rate: 69% (138 bpm)
Calories burnt: 3200
- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment