Today was brutal with falls and withdrawals (hopefully temporary). We started out in the cool of the morning from Italica,, again with intentions of leaving at 0715 though dragging our sorry arses onto the saddle at 0745.
Earlier research suggested that the traffic was elsewhere and the roads would be quiet. It would appear that Spanish motorist didn’t get that email! Coming to our first round about it was an off ramp from a freeway and it took some nervous manoeuvres to come out the other side.
Fall number one happened when Grace whilst stopped couldn’t hold her bike upright and fell. I’ll save my rant on Bikes Iberia for another post. After dusting Grace off and a few tears we were on our way again.
We eventually got to the dirt track for the day and as I was the navigator with my phone mounted on a handlebar quad lock I was out front. Unfortunately at couldn’t see to the other of the conga line of our entourage of cats at was alerted by a phone call that Kymmy and Greg had missed a tricky turnoff.
Riding ,riding, riding the track became increasingly rough with large washouts making it difficult to navigate. At some point the party had reported to the steering wheel that kymmy had come a cropper. A little while later a shaken and ginger kymmy appeared with a damaged knee and claret stains on her sleeve. No she hadnt stopped for a quick Tinto de Verano it was Kymmy’s precious blood.
In the meantime the steering wheel didn’t communicate to the others that I was going to investigate a section that ended up being very tricky. As they came down this avenue of dispute and despair Pen came off between two rocks.
We continued on, pulling together to get bikes up hills and eventually onto the highway.
Arriving in town we found the municipal albergue and the good reviews were still evident as the hospitalier quickly went into action assisting us to get a kymmy to the hospital for a consult. Before long the cops arrived, it’s how they do it in these parts, and Kymmy was taken to a Medico. The advice was for a few days in a Parador ( swanky hotel) and rest.
We again finished the day reviewing our adventures with beer and wine.
Renee
13/05/2023Hey guys I am going to enjoy waking up in the morning and reading about your adventures. Kymmie stay in that hotel😂Stay safe all of you😘
Chris
13/05/2023Hi, Paul sounds like a bit of a mission at the start but i’m Sure it will settle down and be an enjoyable ride, hope the temp cools a bit or there will be a lot of beers consumed. Hope everyone’s enjoying it
Katie Eliasek
15/05/2023Well. What a day! Truely hope everyone is ok and that’s the worst of the cycling mishaps. I did have a giggle at the narration, your daily memoirs certainly paint a picture. Safe travels and look forward to more daily stories.
Georgie
15/05/2023Sounds like you all needed a drink after a day like that 🤣🤣 I hope everyone has a speedy recovery. Are there any beginner trails? Might help keep you all in one piece 🤣🤣