I decided to head to the nearest town. Jumilla. The TET did a loop and went there anyway, so I chose the tarmac for speed, thinking to find somewhere to get in and get warm. I found a service station with a cafe. So two cups of coffee and some fresh hot Tortilla in my belly and I had regained my hands, but my feet were still cold.
Once back on the bike, I got straight into loads of fast open piste type stuff. Dead easy riding and navigation, but enough movement and concentration to get my body temperature up. After this, it was into some rough trails on sharp limestone winding up into another forest section. Great views back across where I'd come from.
I finished the particular section of the TET and had to stop to sort out the next one, some 350 km long and heading into Valencia region. In one of the forests, I found a source, so stopped to pick up water, then saw a pool of stored water and decided to find the bloody leak in the Thermarest. So out it came again along with glue and tape. We'll see what happens tonight now!
At Villatoya I had about 30 miles of fuel left and the fuel garage was closed, all the windows were broken and the place looked properly abandoned. The nearest fuel was at Casas Ibanez. So that was my destination. Once there, I sorted fuel and another KTM 690 turned up at the garage. A french guy called Olivier was staying in his camper van nearby and was looking to go for a ride.
We ended up riding around the forest for a couple of hours, then heading back to Villatoya, where we swapped details and I set off back on the TET. He was a bloody good rider, quick and efficient. But then he should be, He was a dirt bike instructor who worked all over France and had done several rallies across Africa!
Once back on the TEt, I had about 1.5 hours before it was dark, so in El Hoyo, I bought some supplies, including some local wine and set off looking for a camp spot. I found one secluded in a among a load of vines as the sun was setting. Wine time!!
