May 8: Day 11, Valencia-Cabanes
Breakfast was excellent! I think they're getting steadily better, the closer we get to France? I expect they will get worse as I go out the other side...
I needed to get the derailleur sorted out, so I was at the bike repair shop when it opened at 10. The owner tried to reproduce the problem ... and it worked fine! I can only guess that I'm changing gear in a way that's causing problems? He thought I should ensure the gear lever is pushed over in the down position, I'll try getting that to work reliably today.
Next stop: the City Of Arts And Sciences buildings. I think these are among the most spectacular buildings in the world, I definitely couldn't leave Valencia without taking another look. Here are some photos. I bumped into a raucous group of Belgians who were kind enough to take my photo as well.
From left to right: Random Valencia street on the way there. Palau de les Arts is the opera house, it’s also possibly from the future. A view of the landing legs. I don’t know what this structure is supposed to be, but I think it had a strong influence on the Resurrection Ship from Battlestar Galactica 2006. Assut de l'Or Bridge and L'Àgora, with a helpful lensflare. Me, among the buildings; thanks to a nameless Belgian.
Cycling out of Valencia - and cities in general - is one of those times I'm supremely glad to have a route app. There's usually safe cycle routes but they're not obvious, and vastly outnumbered by roads with heavy traffic so they won't be found unless you know where they are. Komoot set up a route that mostly followed cycle paths, crossed the main roads at prudent time, and snuck through backstreets when cycle paths weren't available. So much better than mixing it up with traffic, on a road without cycle lanes...
So leaving Valencia was a mostly stress free trip. There was one section where it directed me to join a road with an uncomfortable amount of traffic, but the pavement was wide and there was nobody on it so I used that instead; maybe it’s illegal but it’s definitely safer.
Like the way in, the route passed through some rundown areas in the Valencia outskirts. The surfaces were ok and there was little traffic so it suited me fine. But then it turned out that my direct route to Cabanes was roughly matching the path of a four-lane motorway going the same way. I was on a cycle path, safely separated, but it meant the route was never out in the wild. Unfortunate … I’ll check the route tomorrow doesn’t have this problem.
From left to right: castle on the skyline. Rural backstreets. Rough rural backstreets. Rougher, but still good to cycle on. A warning sign, but it wasn’t clear what for…
I’ve had three spectacular days before this one, hopefully it’s just a single mediocre one.
From left to right: the earth changed back to orange briefly. Cycling beside the motorway - fast, safe, and I’d rather not. An all-to-brief detour through a nearby town: I think I fell out of step, because many roads in there were one-way and I seemed to always be going the wrong way. My room.
Tonight’s room is 40eur at “El Raco De Navarrete”, which seems to be a hostel/truck stop. Fully recommended! Everything in the room is modern, clean, and does the job; nothing is luxurious but it’s nicer than the 100eur/night I paid in Alcalá del Júcar the other night.
I went to the town center for dinner, and had a very nice (and loud!) time in Bar Toni, which is actually a restaurant. I was aiming for another place but it was closed on Mondays and Google’s didn’t have that info.
Tomorrow is a 7h20 ride to l’Ampolla, which is a beachfront village, it’s got a lot of hotels so it’s probably a tourist hotspot in summer. It’s mostly on routes marked as cycle-friendly; hopefully the traffic and motorways are elsewhere.
Staying in more rural, non-tourist places is definitely nicer, there must be a way to find those places more easily…
