Thursday 9th October 2014 - Caceres, Spain

The first four or five kilometres were downhill but it was raining and the roads were wet and a little slippy. The N630 that they had been on for many kilometres hugs the new A66 motorway for most of its route but at Canaveral it deviates. The road skirts the Alcantara reservoir, which Ian and Les said was very pretty but it was still raining. Ian tried to find some shelter from the rain at one point but there was only a quarryman's hut and it had a quarryman in it! It did eventually stop raining but then the wind started and that is just as bad when you are cycling.
They are building a new railway here (HS2???) and it is a massive project. We passed a number of new, elegant viaducts and cuttings and as the N630 and the motorway came closer, we all saw a new bridge being constructed over the river Tajo.
Ian had noticed that the forecast for the afternoon was very bad and the hotel owner had warned them that severe weather was on its way. Ian decided that the sensible option was to hunker down for the afternoon.
We received the text to say that they were in Caceres just as we had secured a pitch in the very busy aire in the centre of the town. Les and Ian soon joined us and after a quick lunch the boys set off to find a hotel. We then joined them for a sightseeing walk around the town. Needless to say, there was virtually no rain and it would have been fine for cycling.
Caceres is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has some lovely old buildings including many towers. It was a very interesting walk and whilst the boys changed for dinner (!?) we made a quick visit to the museum that had a very strange selection of exhibits from the normal religious art to typewriters and the old control mechanism for the town's major fountain. We had another excellent value meal in the evening but the expected bad weather was on its way.
A short but tough 50km today in 4hrs 20mins.
Photos: Building a new railway bridge south of Canaveral; The main square in Caceres; An intriguing statue in Caceres - I couldn't find any mention of the KKK on the inscription!