Castilblanco to Real de la Jara

After waving a kymmy goodbye, wondering if we will see her again, we set off from Castilblanco De Los Arroyos. The road was so much quieter with a better shoulder to ride on. On the other hand what was different was that we were now off the flat plains and now rising into the higher plateaus that the majority of Spain sits on.

An interesting fact is that Spain has the second highest average elevation of any country in Europe, That is while it doesn’t have the towering peaks like France, Italy or Switzerland, a greater majority of its landmass sits on an elevated tableland.

Enough with the fun facts what this means for us is that these E-bikes need to earn their keep with power levels of Sports and Sports plus is now heard in the common vernacular of the ‘Hearding Cats’ cycle group.

The incline is rising though the traffic volume is making for a pleasant ride in the cool (very cool) of the morning.

Since a kymmy left the equation and we are meeting her in Zamora we have had an opportunity to rejigger the calendar with some shorter days and the opportunity to stay in Monesterio and Zamora which originally was going to be missed.

The riding is notably easier than the dodgy highway with tactile edging and narrow shoulders prior to Castilblanco. Here we are able to make excellent time with the help of our e-bikes into the town of Almaden de la Plata. I had considered in my head while riding that this might be our destination. However buoyed by our progress we agreed to continue onto El Real de la Jara.

Initially we set off on the dirt option of the Camino. This soon turned difficult as a wrong turn was taken and we found ourself on very loose and steep ascents and descents. So much so we had to get off the bikes and walk them down the hills rather than risk a fall.

Prior to the trip we purchased quad lock mounts so that I could look live on my phone where we are and what the options are. When you’re travelling on a bike you can easily miss turns as you navigate the path ahead. This was an occasion where despite the technology we still missed the turn. At this point we thought it safer to make our way back to the highway.

Onwards we travelled towards our new destination Real de la Jara that was now making this a 42km day and many uphill sections to go. About 2 hours later we make our way into town just in the nick of time as we have collectively about 5% power in our bikes after the numerous hills.

Finding a great albergue we check, change and head to the bar ……… on the way to the supermarket of course !!!