We were flying blind today. We reached the edge of our only detailed map yesterday and couldn't find anywhere to buy a new one, so just decided to follow the road signs to Zaragoza. It worked to a degree, but I think we definitely could've found a better route had we had a detailed map.
The route we took was almost 100% flat, with no major climbs at all.
That meant speed, serious speed (at least relative to the rest of the time we've spent touring)! We did the first 25km to Tauste in just over an hour in spite of a slight head-wind. There were a few things that grabbed my attention on the side of the road, such as a large array of solar panels
and a few corn fields post harvest, but mostly I just kept my head down and watched the mountains gradually draw closer.
The only real excitement for the day came when we stopped to buy a map in Tauste. I managed to find one that'll last until we cross the border into France, but it's nowhere near as detailed as the Michelin maps we'd used previously (and even they aren't that great really). There didn't really seem to be a way to get to Zaragoza from Tauste without riding on the highway, but we just decided we'd wing it and hopefully there'd be a side road or something. We were leaving the town, when Luke asked me “Hast du das Brot?” (do you have the bread?) “Yeah, it's in my backpack...hang on, where's my backpack!??” Oh no! I'd left it outside the shop. It's the only piece of luggage that I really cannot afford to lose because I keep my passport and wallet inside it.
I raced back to the shop, heart pumping both because of the exertion and also because of the frightening likelihood that someone would have made off with it. Fortune was smiling on me though because it was still sitting where I'd left it, open with the wallet on display. I'd actually been worried and warned (by Spaniards even) about theft, so I feel both a little more relaxed and also a lot more wary about leaving my stuff out now. I'm very prone to losing things, so it's a miracle that that has been the only occasion this trip so far where something like that has happened!
Phew! Enough excitement for one day I thought. We kept on following the signs to Zaragoza even though it seemed apparent to me that it was just going to lead us to a highway. The road went past some rather spectacular cliff faces, apparently eroded by some very ancient river or sea (or maybe just the wind?).
We weren't really appreciating the scenery too much though, it was once again heads down and enjoy the sensation of moving quickly. A tail wind had us cruising along effortlessly at 35kph. By 1pm, we'd already gone 50km, and with Zarogoza only 25km away, an early finish was looking very likely if we could find a road to take us there directly.
Fuel stop
At one point, as we were wheeling our bikes back onto the road after a fuel stop, this road cyclist did a u-turn just behind us and gave us a 'Buenes dias'. I'm not really sure what his intentions were, whether he was hoping for a chat or whether he just wanted to show off how much faster he could go on his light-as-air road bike and full lycra outfit. If it was the latter, then he got a bit off a rude surprise! I took up the challenge and started 'drafting' (though of course it probably helped him more than it helped me) off him. We stuck with him for about 5km until he finally dropped us up a hill (that's where having a light bike actually helps!). In a situation like that, where there's a strong tail wind and a flat road, I think you're almost better off with a loaded touring bike because you can catch the wind so much better. I was starting to dream up a portable sail linked in with an anemometer (wind sensor) that would unfurl whenever one had a tailwind:P
After 57km, we reached the end of the friendly regional road, and were confronted with the A-38 – an 'Autovia' on which I was sure one was not allowed to ride bikes. There seemed to be no other way though, so I asked a service station attendant how best to get to Zarogoza with a bike and he pointed down the A-38. I was very apprehensive at first, but as Luke pointed out, there were no signs forbidding bikes or agricultural machinery or anything like that, so maybe it would be ok.
We didn't have the police pull us over and only two motorists honked at us (and I took the honks as complimentary 'Nice speed, keep it up!' honks, not the bad kind:P) the whole 24km to Zarogoza, so I guess it was allowed. It wasn't much fun though, and it was a case of trying to go as fast as possible so that we could get off there as soon as possible. Hopefully now that we've got a map, we'll be able to avoid situations like that in the future.
Still, we did the most distance we've done all trip (80km) at the fastest speed we've ever maintained (21kph) and finished earlier than we've ever finished (2:30pm), so we were both pretty happy with our efforts. I actually wanted to keep going. The trend of the weather getting better each day continued today, and we had still bluer skies and such balmy temperatures (11 degrees) that I didn't even bother wearing gloves (and my hands get cold easily!). I didn't want to push Luke though, so I gave him two options: to ride with me for another 20k or so to the next town, or to find a place to stay in Zarogoza and leave him there with the panniers while I rode a bit further on my own.
He was a bit more sensible than me and chose the second option, so we had lunch and booked into a Hostel (20 euros a night, so not too bad for a big city). After eating lunch (which was good apart from a terrible avocado, which felt nice and ripe from the outside but which was actually tough and inedible), I was having second thoughts about riding further, but I pushed them aside and went out for a spin sans panniers.
It felt weird not having all that weight. I actually felt like I had less control than usual, but of course that was just an illusion caused by riding with panniers for so long. One thing I noticed that was definitely true, but also very weird, was that I was actually going slower without the weight. It might've just been that I was tired, but I think all the momentum really helps to overcome the roughness of the mountain bike tyres I've got installed. In any case, it was a very slow but interesting ride around Zarogoza, which is a very modern, very commercial city but not without its charm. I had real difficulty getting the total up to 100km, which was a bit of an OCD goal, because so many people were on the streets doing christmas shopping!
Sunset in Zaragoza
I was very glad when three figures were reached and I got back to the hostel..and then immediately went out for a run...and got lost, so I ended up doing 1km more than I'd planned. The result is that I was dead tired. Feeling a bit better after eating a cold dinner of bread, kidney beans and tomato sauce though, so it was probably just that I was really hungry but didn't realise it due to the appetite suppressing effect of exercise. Anyway, I'm rambling, time to go to bed!
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