6-8 March 2019

A Monumental City (6 March 2019, Rain Day in Cáceres)

A major weather front passed through the region, and grounded us in our hotel. The first day of Lent (Wednesday, 6 March) dawned with a steady rain and winds up to 40 mph. We decided not to go out on our bikes, especially since our next day’s ride to Plasencia would be a longer one than usual.

Around 4:00 in the afternoon, the weather finally improved. It was still very chilly, but the sun began to shine, and we were able to go out and enjoy the ancient city center.

The city inside the medieval walls in Cáceres is known as the Ciudad Monumental, or monumental city. The designation comes from the fact that the entire city center was declared a national monument in 1949. It contains the best preserved, and nearly intact example of an urban center from the 12th to 15th centuries, including a seamless blend of Roman, Moorish, Northern Gothic, and Renaissance buildings, without a trace of architecture from the modern era. Over 30 towers remain from the Moorish period.

We wandered into this medieval wonderland by passing under one of the original gates, the Arco de la Estrella. We could immediately see why this is one of the favorite spots worldwide for filming movies and TV shows that require a gothic backdrop. The city proudly proclaims that it has been used as the setting for King’s Landing in Game of Thrones. It all seems as if time stood still centuries ago.

One thing that really struck us while exploring this deeply beautiful city was how few people were there, especially after the Carnaval celebrations were over. The Monumental City was practically deserted, and we had the peaceful walkways and hidden stairways to ourselves. It’s such a huge contrast to many, less well preserved places in Europe that are typically mobbed with visitors. We were absolutely delighted to be able to discover this secret gem for ourselves.

Still a Chill in the Air (7 March 2019, 85.6 km, 53.2 mi)

The front that blew through on 6 March brought cooler temperatures to the region. Although the temperature when we got rolling was not too bad at 42F (5.5C), the high temperature for the day would not get out of the low 50s (around 12C). Luckily, the sun came out in the morning. Even when it’s quite chilly, the sun makes a huge difference in our comfort on a ride. It also helped that the route was on all paved roads. The miles flew by quickly.  

Our big event for the day was that we have now cycled our first 1,000 km for the trip. We took a moment along the roadside to memorialize the moment.

We stopped for lunch about 10 km outside of Plasencia. Not long before that, some dark and ominous clouds had crept across the sky. By the time we were back on the road, we were facing the real possibility of getting wet. Sure enough, about 5 km before we reached town, a light rain began to fall. We hustled into Plasencia, ready to get out of the weather. 

As we were following the route to our planned hostal, we went past the entrance to the Parador of Plasencia. Paradors in Spain are fine hotels located in historic buildings, usually old castles or monasteries. This one was in an old convent. We had passed quite a few paradors along our route, and started thinking it might be nice to stay in one, at least once. Here we were, wet and ready for a break, with a parador right in front of us. After a quick consultation, we decided that tonight was the night to give a parador a try.  

It was a little bit trickier than expected to get there. We were actually not at the main entrance, so we had to circle around the block, going inside the walls of the old city, to find the entry. Once there, we discovered that the access to the front door appeared to require climbing about 50 stairs. Hmmm. That would be a deal-killer. But then we realized that we could circle around another block, and approach the lobby entrance up an access road. It was a little bit steep, but certainly better than tackling the stairs. We finally made it, and checked into the grand hotel. 

But then there was the challenge of getting the bikes situated for the night. The storage room for the bikes was in the parking garage. You wouldn’t think that would be a big deal, right? But the parking garage can only be entered from a stone gate outside the city walls. So we biked back out and around, to find the parking entrance.

But there’s more… The gate at street level is one floor below the parking garage. So upon entering the stone gate, we had to ride up one level in an elevator built to carry cars up to the parking garage. It was definitely an adventure in itself!

The interior of the parador was a serene mixture of gardens, granite-domed passageways, and grand stone halls. After cleaning up, we enjoyed wandering around the grounds and exploring the hotel. It’s truly amazing how they have been able to turn these monumental historic buildings into modern hotels, yet maintain the unique qualities that give the buildings so much of their historic ambiance. We thoroughly enjoyed our night of luxury.

Into the Mountains (8 March 2019, 60.6 km, 37.7 mi)

The ride today was pretty much all uphill. After nearly a week of riding through the relatively modest hills of Extremadura, we have entered the region of Castilla Y León (the Castle and the Lion). The largest autonomous region in Spain, Castilla Y León is basically a high plateau, surrounded by mountain ranges. So, to enter the region, you need to climb a mountain. 

That’s what we did. We ascended into the Cordillera Central of Spain. Our finish in Béjar is 1,000 m (3,280 ft) higher than our starting point in Plasencia. Fortunately, the gradients were very manageable because the profile of the ride was for one, long, steady uphill ride. Some of the steepest climbs were on the parts of the route through towns, which all seem to be built on precipitous slopes. 

In fact, the most challenging part of the ride came after we reached Béjar. Like many others, this thriving mountain town is built on an almost-vertical hillside. The main roads zigzag up the slope in a series of switchbacks. But, not seeming to be able to learn our lesson about how bad Google bike directions can be, we set out following Google directions to our selected hostal. Instead of following the switchbacks, Google launched us vertically up the mountain on what is really a pedestrian walkway. It was ridiculous. We topped out at a gradient of 14%, once again pushing our heavily loaded bikes up the hill. We were lucky that stretch of the route wasn’t too long. 

Being high in the mountains, Béjar is chilly. While the high temperature in Plasencia was going to be in the 60s today, the high in Béjar was only 50F (10C). And tonight the low will be a brisk 35F (2.7C). Brrrr. We’ll need all of our warmest clothes for our departure in the morning. 

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