As usual, my hands were numb by the time I connected the last buckle, so when I set off, I was clumsy and a bit disjointed. Heated grips for 30 mins soon sorted that.
The trail wound through loads of farmland first thing, before climbing up into the trees and some zig zags. Another flat section saw me enter a village and surprisingly steep and loose descent into a valley bottom, with the same as a climb out. That woke me up! After the day just got better.
It remained cold until about 2pm, but the riding kept me warm. I entered the Spaghetti Western lands, Gorafe. The route through took me along the tops of the mud mounds before dropping into the dry river bed in the bottom of the canyons, then climbing back out onto other ridge tops.
The views were magic, evocative and inspired just as much awe as the last time I came here years ago. Once out of the main canyon sections, the trail goes past loads of farms, undulating and eventually climbing up to a rim. I stopped there for breakfast, sat in the sunshine, leaning against a tree and just staring at the vista of mountains, mud canyons and glowing white trees laid out below me.
Another section of flat farmland, then a climb on some rough rocky trails through some heavy woodland and I reached a mid sized town with fuel. This was a lunch break too! After this, more single track through woodland before climbing into a range of hills where I saw plenty of the Spanish wild sheep. They look like miniature deer. I've seen a few small herds now since crossing the Sierra Nevada. By 6pm, I was tired and getting a little raggy riding. I found a small picnic site next to a dried up river, so set up the tent there with about 30 minutes of light left. I'm not looking forward to another night with a flat Thermarest, so glad there are a lot of pine needles around for this one. I found one of the holes and have glued it up, but there are clearly more.
I'm going through Jumilla tomorrow and if there is a Decathlon, I'm buying another one as this lack of sleep is starting to affect my judgement and my enjoyment of the riding. Lets see if I can sort this problem out next! On a plus side, the correct oil in the bike engine has made a difference. The bike is running much better, although I may need a new clutch by the time I get back after all this 1st and 2nd gear riding!
