Cycling Palencia to Belorado, Spain: Thorns, Gravel Roads and Flat Tires
13-15 March 2019
Work Day in Palencia (13 March 2019)
We didn’t ride our bikes today, but that doesn’t mean we were idle. We had a ton of stuff to take care of, and just managed to get the most important tasks done before it was bed time. We took care of some regular items like doing laundry, planning our rides for the coming week, and catching up on blog posts. But on top of that we had to deal with our problem tires. PedalingGuy took a hike out to a Decathlon store a couple of kilometers away and picked up some new tire tubes. We also spent time studying the three damaged tubes to try to get a handle on what was causing all the flat tires. All of the punctures were tiny, and one tube had multiple leaks. It seems likely that the thorns we pulled out of the tires were the culprits. The biggest concern we have is that the thorns are so tiny, we can’t be sure we’ve removed them all yet.
Unfortunately, with all of the errands we had to do, we ended up with no time to enjoy the city of Palencia. But we were definitely lucky that we could layover in a city big enough to have the services we needed, like a laundromat and a store that sold our size of tire tubes. Our last few rest days seem to have involved too much work and not enough rest. Hopefully, if we’ve gotten a handle on the tire problems, we’ll be able to enjoy our next rest day a little bit more.
Palencia to Cavia, a tough day in the dirt (14 March 2019, 80 km, 50 mi)
On our layover day in Palencia, I took a close look at our bike route for the next five days, and decided to make some changes. In particular, I was concerned that most of the EuroVelo 1 route between Palencia and Burgos was on dirt roads, following the Camino de Santiago French Route. Those dirt roads can be rough on both us and our bikes, so I thought I’d be clever, and design a route that paralleled the Autovía (major highway) to Burgos. Bikes aren’t allowed on the Autovía, but there was a road right next to it that I assumed was a paved service road. I expected we would zip across the relatively flat terrain, and easily cover the 80 km to Cavia. Never assume...
Almost as soon as we were out of Palencia, we hit the gravel. Not only that, the road we were on headed straight up a steep, 137m (450 ft) slope onto a plateau covered with wind turbines. By that point we were kind of committed to the new route. Backtracking to another, paved option would have added about 10-20 km to our already long day. So, up we went, hoping the dirt section wouldn’t last too long. There was no way to ride up the gravel slope, which had sections that approached a 25% gradient. So we pushed our bikes.
Then I had a stroke of luck. Three guys came hiking up the road behind us. I still had about 1/4 of the hill to climb, when one of the guys offered to help me. Together we pushed my bike to the top. PedalingGuy managed to reach the top by himself, but he said he was still happy he didn’t have to come back down the hill to help me. So I guess it was a gift for both of us. I couldn’t say, “gracias” enough to that helpful man. He just shook his head and told us he thought we were crazy. In this case, he might be right.
The view back towards Palencia, Spain, after we made it to the top of a breathtakingly steep gravel road. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
After about two kilometers of cycling atop the wind-turbine plateau, we headed down the other side, back to our original altitude. We were fortunate that the downhill slope wasn’t quite as steep as the uphill, so it was rideable all the way down. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The big hill out of Palencia was representative of a major change in the terrain. For days we have been biking across essentially flat fields. Now the flat areas are sprinkled with pop-up hills and bluffs. The flatlands are mostly in cultivation, while the hillsides are usually covered with natural vegetation, including quite a few scrubby pines and cedar trees.
Shortly after we came down off of the wind-turbine hill, we came across a cluster of structures that were built into a hillside. A sign in the area explained that we had entered a region that historically produced wine in a vast network of small-scale, privately owned, subterranean wine cellars, called bodegas. In addition to serving as a place to make wine, the bodegas typically included underground social areas where families would gather to eat, drink wine, and stay cool in the summer. Some of the bodegas can trace their history back to the 16th century. But today, many of the bodegas are no longer used, as wine makers have joined large cooperatives that help them reach bigger markets. There is a major effort underway to restore bodegas to produce artisanal wines, engage tourists in learning about wine history, and help owners maintain the spaces for social gatherings. Once we were aware of them, we spotted many bodega clusters on the hillsides as we rode our bikes through the region.
One of the old bodegas (wine cellars) near Magaz de Pisuerga, Spain. They were historically used by individual families to produce wine for local consumption. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Although we did get to ride on some paved roads today, the vast majority of the route turned out to be on gravel roads. Fortunately, the gravel surfaces were pretty well maintained. That is, we didn’t have to contend with deep sand, mud, or lots of washboard surfaces. What we did have to deal with was the hills. And there were some real doozies. None were as high as the wind-turbine hill just outside of Palencia, but we ended up ascending five or six hills of about 50m (165 ft), that had gradients of around 30%. It was literally at the limit of what we were able to physically do, to get our bikes up those hills. Adding insult to injury, we were often grunting our way up a hill, when right next to us the Autovía was flat. No fair.
I didn’t actually make it to the top of this hill by myself. Once he got to the top (and after snapping a few photos), PedalingGuy came down to help me up the last stretch of this slope. Thank heavens. Note that the Autovía below stays flat. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Once you catch your breath at the top of a tough hill, a feeling of victory sets in and it’s easy to smile. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Cycling has a strong following in Spain, with some of the best professional cyclists coming from the country. We often see other cyclists out on the road, but they are almost always on performance road bikes out for training rides. Nonetheless, there is a lot of camaraderie between cyclists and we have had wonderful conversations with them while they have a break at our pace before they take off down the road. One of the things we have found to be curious is how few people we see with loaded touring bikes. When we rode across America on the TransAm route we would typically see people on touring bikes every day. We have been out almost a month now and have yet to see anyone on a loaded touring bike.
Something that has been common as we bike through Spain is that car and truck drivers that pass by often give a friendly honk and wave to us in encouragement. This is especially true when we’re going uphill. And today was no different. A number of truck drivers that passed us on the Autovía honked their approval. It’s a nice gesture, and it gives you energy. We always wave back.
The choice to follow the Autovía’s path meant that we didn’t pass through as many small, interesting towns as usual. But each town was welcome, because the roads were always paved within the village limits. Glorious!
A surprisingly ornate fountain in the tiny village of Villazopeque, Spain (population 59). We savored the ride through each town, on paved roads. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Amazingly, even though the ride took more than eight hours we arrived at our campground for the night with just enough time to cook dinner. We polished off the last of the wild rice in cream of mushroom soup. It was wonderful to have a hot, hearty meal in the evening. The campground also turned out to be a nice find. We had the place to ourselves, and pitched our tent on some of the softest, green grass we’d ever seen. This would be our coldest night sleeping outside on this trip - with temperatures dropping below freezing. So after a long day of biking, we snuggled into our sleeping bags and fell asleep early.
We had plenty of space to spread out on the soft, green grass at the Quinta de Cavia Campground, Spain. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Cavia to Belorado (15 March 2019, 67.5 km, 42 mi)
As expected, it was a very cold night, with the overnight low reaching 29F (-1.5C). The outside of the tent was iced over. Needless to say, we were not in a hurry to get out of our nice, warm sleeping bags.
It finally started to warm up, and we roused ourselves out of the tent at 9:30am. But after we got everything all packed up on the bikes, we discovered that PedalingGuy’s back tire was flat again. Ugh. While he changed the tire tube, I found and removed another 6-10 thorns from the tire. The light was good, and I now have a descent search-image for the little thorns. So this time, I finally feel reasonably confident that I got them all out. But the whole process, including patching the damaged tube before we left, set us back quite a bit in terms of time. We finally hit the road just before noon.
The first five kilometers of today’s ride was on gravel, but for the rest of the day we were on paved roads. It was a welcome change. Riding on gravel back roads can be fun, but riding on gravel next to the Autovía all day doesn’t have the same allure. We were ready to savor some smooth, fast riding for a day.
Within the first 15 km, we were back on the official EuroVelo 1 trail. That meant that we were also on the French Route of the Camino de Santiago - heading away from Santiago de Compostela. It was immediately evident that the French Route is more developed than the Vía de la Plata that we were on previously. Signs directing pilgrims along the route were everywhere. Businesses referenced the Camino and encouraged visits by pilgrims. Even the smallest villages had an albergue (hostel) for pilgrims, while bigger towns and cities had lots of them. And the cockle-shell symbol of Saint James was everywhere on signs, and even painted on the bike path through towns like Burgos. We passed another bicycle tourer, going the other way - the first one we’ve seen on this trip. He was probably riding to Santiago de Compostela.
Early on the day’s ride we passed through Burgos, Spain. It made a great impression. With a University, a major science museum, miles of riverfront park land, and streets full of people, the city had a vibrant and engaging feel to it. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The first 50+ km of the ride rose steadily in altitude as we climbed over a low spot in the Sistema Ibérica mountains on the eastern edge of Castilla y León. We’ve definitely left the plateau, and have moved into an area composed mostly of hills. It’s quite scenic.
A solitary church on the hills east of Burgos, Spain. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
This shrine, partially carved out of the stone cliff, caught our eye as we were passing through Tosantos, Spain. The Ermita de la Virgin de la Peña houses a small altar, with a 12th century image of Jesus as a baby. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Our destnation for the night was Belorado. Historically, the town was an important center for products made with animal furs. Today, its main emphasis is providing services to pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. For a village with only 1,200 residents, they have a surprising number of albergues for pilgrims (four), and other services being advertised (e.g., a company that will carry your luggage while you walk the Camino). We had a pleasant stroll around the quaint town center in the evening.
The Church of St. Peter, on the village plaza in Belorado, Spain. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
