May 9: Day 12, Cabanes-L'Ampolla

While checking the bike this morning I found that the leftside screw that supports the pannier rack had come out. The other one fell out on the way to Arryo Frio. But on both occasions, despite the rack holding about 20kg of gear, it didn’t noticeably shift when it happened - and when I noticed, the rack hadn’t twisted much, the other connections must have been able to hold the weight which is impressive.

The replacement screw I used in Arryo Frio was still there and still tight, so I used another one like it. Hopefully that’s the last of the screws it loses.

From left to right: replacement screw #2. Random roadside sculpture. Solar powered light. Les Coves de Vinroma. Lunch!

I’d deliberately edited today’s route to take it away from roads as much as possible. That meant a mix of nice green areas, but also some rough country roads. The few roads I did have to go on were busier than I liked: the drivers were very considerate, but once or twice people weren’t able to pass because of incoming traffic and had to wait behind me.

The quiet roads were variable. There were some nice asphalt ones, where I could roll along at full speed. But at the other end of the spectrum was chunky gravel; there were a few places where it was so difficult to cycle I had to get off and push. And there was a steep hill which I was going down at speed, where I inadvertently went into deep stones: I put on all the brakes I could and fishtailed to a stop without dropping the bike, but it was exciting.

I stopped for lunch in La Salzadella, which was quite a small town. I found a bar/restaurant that had lots of people sitting outside, but it wasn’t until I’d found a table that I noticed that everyone was drinking, and there was no food. I went inside and they were kind enough to make me a sandwich though.

From left to right: Traiguera. Flower growing. This road had oranges scattered all along it; I didn’t see this anywhere else. The wilds - this area felt quite isolated, nothing but flat ground and abandoned buildings as far as I could see. There were a few riverbeds that look like they only have rivers for a brief moment each year; this one was the most spectacular. A picturesque bridge; obviously I need to zoom in…

… but before I could do that I heard a metallic “klonk”. I’m pretty familiar with the bike by now and this sound was new, and made me so worried I stopped right there in the middle of the road. Did I run over a piece of loose metal? Nope. Checked derailleurs, gears, chain, wheels, checked for some strapping that had got loose: nothing. Carefully crabbed to the side of the road and rechecked everything … to find it was my earbuds! They had come loose, dropped down and the metallic sound was them hitting the front wheel’s spokes. They still worked but were damaged. I have a backup pair but these won’t last and need to be replaced.

There was one other event today. I was following a road, which had thin cyclepath/sidewalk, but also a large concrete area next to that - so I thought I might use the big area. A guardrail appeared; I chose to stay on the concrete pad. A few minutes later Komoot informed me I need to make a turn. But I can’t; I was on the wrong side of the guardrail! I could go back (boring), or lift the bike over (ugh) or double down and go forward - which I did. It’s when the guardrail ended that things got interesting.

The road ran beside some sort of pond farm: ponds instead of fields, and causeways instead of fences. So I could double back along the road - or take the causeway though the ponds...

From left to right: The view from the road. Me on the causeway. To complete the farm look, they had tractors with custom wheels.

Not entirely sure it was public access, but it was a highlight, and I could got through and back on the road to L’Ampolla.

The rest of the way to L’Ampolla followed a fairly noxious canal: it looked nice and blue on the map but was occasionally choked with garbage. The gravel road beside it was mostly smooth enough to make good time on, which I was motivated to do.

Not a bad day! I finished in about 8h which I think matches the estimate, when you add lunchtime.

Tomorrow is a long day: I’m going to Barcelona for my rest day.

What I’m listening to: Twenty Eighth Parallel, from the soundtrack to the movie 1492, by Vangelis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U66_PX3_As
More chill piano - but the whole soundtrack is good.

The movie is a very clean and idealized retelling of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. His treatment of the native Americans was so bad that the people running the Spanish Inquisition recalled him to face judgement. The movie doesn’t go near such topics … and it probably wouldn’t have been funded if it did.