10/13/2023 Bikepacking Spain Day 66 : Crack-a-lackin!

Bikepacking.com had us pushing up one of those 1,500’ per mile dirt roads… but across the valley, Janet and I could see a trail cut. We decided to send the drone over for an inspection. Turned out to be one of the more awesome slices of singltrack of the trip. Bikepacking.com routes seem poorly vetted. Yesterday, they had us go down an unrideable rocky trail. Hikers said agast to Janet, “you prefer the trail over the road?” Today they had us climbing an extra 600 feet for nothing instead of taking the much more beautiful singletrack. 🧐 Glad we ignored them. When we have more than one bar of data, I’ll show you a video tomorrow of how glorious this trail was! —

“Our lady of the forest” says the tapestry. In this very remote location, we came across some hobbit huts that seemed like they may be inhabited. Kind of piques your imagination, “who would live out here?” —

Lots of great trails this morning! It was fun, but we progressed slowly. That’s half because it was hard, and half because we took lots of photos! 📸

You know how I got a new screen protector for my phone the other day? Today I decided to go for a swim and take the stuff out of my pockets. It seemed like a good idea to sandwich my phone between the passport and glucose meter to keep it safe. However, this was like a banana peel sandwich, and the phone slipped out. In spite of the short drop, another shattered screen protector! Now what to do? I mean, now i wish I had kept the old one and just damaged it more. Or maybe I can do the mental magic of tricking my brain into thinking that a cracked looking screen gives my phone character. I use this technique a lot: It is particularly useful for fooling myself into liking my old beat up car that everyone just laughs at. —

As our time in Spain winds down, I think we will both miss our luxurious mid day coffee stops. I’ve been finding that one espresso shot around noon is really nice. If you have your coffee first thing, the party is over before you start. If you have it to look forward to, then the morning miles are easier with anticipation. We like to charge our cache batteries during coffee, and so far everyone has said yes. I feel bad paying only $2.50 for two good coffees, and mooching electricity…. But imagine if you were an e-biker with two batteries… you could charge every day during a 1.5 hour coffee stop, and then still camp a lot like we do without electricity. —

I find your musings amusing. Clever to use the drone for route finding! How would Lewis and Clark have used a drone???

Dave S.