Sunday 12th October 2014 - Minas Riotinto, Spain

After more rain and thunder over night, dawn welcomed a cold but dry morning. As we woke up, we became aware that the van was being surrounded by cars and the hotel bar was soon full of men. It is Spain's National Day and, judging by the universal khaki outfits, the local men had decided to celebrate it by spending the day hunting. We were wondering how we were going to get out of the car park but after a couple of hours there was a great exodus and all was calm again.
Les and Ian then appeared and we were able to see them off on their second day through the mountains. This time the roads hugged the sides of the mountains with very few straight stretches. There was more down than up but the ups were brutal. To a cyclist, the sight of a hill with a crawler lane is always bad news. There were a number of those and they were steep and went on and on.
Meanwhile, we decided to call in at the aire that we had intended to stay at last night. The aire was at Cumbres Mayores and as we approached the village we saw a large, impressive, hill-top castle surrounded by whitewashed houses. It took us a while to find the aire but it was worth the effort. Just outside the village, next to the emergency helicopter pad, it had fantastic 360 degree views including over the countryside and the village and castle. To complete the idyllic scene, a goatherd was sat on a rock next to the aire whilst his flock searched for vegetation. Whilst we dumped the waste water and filled up, the sound of a brass band drifted across from the village.
We parked in the village and walked past the pretty balconied houses to reach the main church and castle. Mass was about to start and the band was resting in the square outside. We went into the castle that had impressive walls but no buildings inside. A young women custodian told us all about the castle, the many other castles in the area and the associated Spanish history. She was very nervous and frequently apologised for her poor English (she had failed her English exam she told us) but she was so enthusiastic about 'her' castle and village. All this fascinating information took a long time to cover and when she finished it was time for the castle to close. However she insisted that we took a walk around the battlements and told us what to look out for. The views were magnificent, we could see huge distances and we spotted two of the four other castles that should have been in sight. We were amused to think that the village football pitch was inside the castle just a few years ago - our guide told us that she watched matches from the battlements.
Much later than we expected we set off after the lads and soon received a text to say that they had arrived at their hotel in Minas Riotinto. You will not be surprised to hear that this area is full of mines, including a huge one run by Rio Tinto on the edge of the village.
Les and Ian told us of an amusing incident on the way. On one of downhill stretches, they came across a young, attractive girl hitchhiking. As each one passed, she stuck out her thumb and gave them a big smile. They gave her a smile and a wave as they cycled past - after all, going up those hills with a passenger would have been even more difficult!
Having problems finding the hotel, they asked a policeman and were escorted to their destination. Like us, they had some fantastic views on the journey - the best of the trip so far in Ian's opinion.
77km today and 4hrs 5mins cycling.
Photos: A view from our aire at Cumbres Mayores, over the helicopter pad to the village; A view of the inside of the castle at Cumbres Mayores where the football pitch used to be; A view from the castle.