A short entry without too much riding to make way for an entry entirely about a perfect day of riding (on day 10).
Day 8: Cañaveral to Plasencia (41 km) Well, the night in the shared room hostel was noisy and not too restful, but we all slept well enough to get on the bikes the next morning. The hikers are always up and gone before we even are all awake, so at least it’s quiet while we get out the door.
The day started with an uphill climb that eventually reached our very first summit sign! This was our first summit sign *ever* as a family and we were delighted.
After the summit sign was a mostly flat/downhill ride into a headwind towards Plasencia, a walled city widely considered to be the cultural capital of the northern Extremadura. The ride was broken up by a stop at a highway rest station for the busy interstate. WOW was this as an experience for us! It was a bar/restuarante serving sandwiches, plates of food, and drinks of all types. It was absolutely hopping with people and we were the only non-Spaniards. We had a big and yummy early lunch.
As we rolled into Plasencia we rode along the ancient walls of the city. We found our hotel just outside of the walls – Hotel Dora, a one-star hotel that just barely earned that one star. It had been difficult to find lodging in the city, so this was the best we could do. It was clean and safe, but the air conditioning didn’t even pretend to work and the first floor smelled so badly of secondhand smoke that we rushed through it every time.
On the plus side, we found an automated laundromat and did a load of clothes as soon as we arrived. Yay for clean clothes!
Day 9: Rest day in Plasencia (0 km)
A true zero miles day (on the bikes). We got pastries for breakfast, found a city park packed full of peacocks, walked on the city walls, and did shopping/chores. The girls spent more than a few hours playing games and reading.
H needed sunglasses, so we stopped at an outdoor store and the owner brought out a whole box of sports sunglasses for kids for her to try on. As she decided, we got to chatting and I told him about our trip. He was very excited to share with us that a new rail trail had recently been completed and it could serve as our route for the next day of riding. We bought the glasses and took his advice – the next update will be on our beautiful and perfect day on the rail trail.
