In this entry we continue to enjoy the mountains before descending into the plains around Salamanca for a rest day. We do some lovely off-road riding along a Roman road, stay in a giant hostel with communal meals, and have a misadventure finding lodging in Salamanca.

Day 11: Baños de Montemayor to Fuenterobles (35km)

Leaving Baños involved a well-graded climb up and over the mountain pass and into the next drainage. We could see snow-covered mountains and for many miles afterwards we enjoyed looking back and watching the mountains slowly recede. After finishing the climb we chose to join the walkers on a dirt track that went steeply down into a valley.

For lunch we stopped at a small bar, where the owner was so charmed by our girls that he flagged down a friend riding by on a horse. They offered to let the girls take a short little pony ride around the square, joking that maybe they’d trade the bicycles for horses. H said she’d make the trade, and A said no way.

We continued on a dirt track through farmland and open fields. Along the track were Roman mile markers. The girls were inspired to learn about Roman numerals, and that night ended up doing Roman numeral math problems!

We rolled into the tiny town of Fuenterobles prepared to share a bunkroom with a bunch of hikers in a pilgrim’s hostel that is famous for offering hospitality to travelers. We were delighted to find that they had a four-bed room we could have for just our family. Hilariously it was called the American Room in honor of pilgrims from the US. I guess it was meant to be.

At 8:30 there was a communal pilgrim’s dinner and we ate with about 20 other people walking on this route. Everyone was friendly and they seemed delighted to have kids around. The host gave them extra olive oil on their fish. The girls were overwhelmed with all the attention, but when dinner was finaly done well after 9pm they were quickly asleep.

Day 12: Fuenterobles to Salamanca (51km)

We were the last of the pilgrims to leave the hostel, since no one in our bunk room was interested in waking up early! Back on the dirt track we took a turn to get back to the road sooner. It went through several cow pastures requiring opening and closing gates. At each one we held our breath, praying it wouldn’t be locked… and none were! We made it to the next town of Frades de la Sierra without incident.

As we rolled into a town a man called out to welcome us to his grain mill museum. Mind you, this was a random, tiny town in the middle of nowhere. We said yes. He welcomed us into the grain mill owned by his family for three generations. He showed us pictures of his parents and grandparents, explained how they got the machinery, and also how it worked. They used a steam engine to power it! All the farmers from the surrounding areas would bring their wheat to be ground. Jason would like to add that the mill shook the building so hard that the roof was reinforced with extra wood beams and suspension heists.

The ride into Salamanca was uneventful. Usually entering a big city is stressful with traffic, but we got on a separated bike path that delivered us right downtown without incident. Once there the historical area was packed. We walked to the hostel where we had reserved rooms, but found that it was in fact impossible to get the bicycles into the bicycle storage area. Actually, the storage area was a small corner in a stairwell that was already full.

We quickly scrambled to find new lodging and leave the old one. For only about $15 more than the crowded hostel we rented a two-bedroom apartment just on the outside of the historical area. It turned out to be a great decision.

Day 13: Rest in Salamanca (0km)

We were all happy to have another true zero day. We slept in, ate Argentine Empanadas, and did a small amount of traditional tourism. If I’m being honest though, we mainly sat around and ate. Jason and I took a walk to a big grocery store and ended up with a LOT of food.

We followed the advice from the outdoor store and took the Via Verde rail trail out of town.  What a fantastic experience we had on this trail all day long!  The trail follows an old rail line that was used until the mid 1990’s.  It’s conversion to a regional trail seems to be relatively recent.  We picked up the trail at its terminus in Plasencia.

Right away we started out impressed with a long tunnel that even had lights.  Out the other side we were immediately in the country instead of the densely packed outskirts of Plasencia.   A river raged below us and wildflowers burst from the ground on either side.  There were glowing poppies all along the trail.

In rapid succession we rode over two high bridges.  We were appropriately wowed and stopped to peer over the edge at the rapids far below.  We joked that this trail was going to take us twice as long as the road would since we were stopping so often for pictures.

H got cold from all the rock cut-out shadows along the trail and we stopped several times to add more layers.  As the day progressed it heated up and the shadows retreated. 

Eventually we emerged from the rock cut-outs into a wider plain with horses and cows and trees on either side.  At one point the trail brushed against a road and a service station so we could grab some soda and coffee.  We met a cyclist from Hungary there who had a heavily loaded bike and was sticking to the roads.

The trail climbed up gently towards the mountain towns.  Our pace slowed.  The girls delighted in sticking their feet to the side to have the plants brush against them. As we gained altitude we entered a treed area full of shade. 

Right before 2pm we entered the historical town of Hervas.  We wanted so desperately to get some ice cream, but the grocery stores here close at 2 for the siesta.  At exactly 1:59 Jason dashed into a supermarket only seconds before they started lowering the shades… and he emerged with ice cream cones!  We sat in delight and ate our cones as the local schools let out and packs of school children surged by on the pedestrian street.

The town was beautiful.  We walked and rode through the narrow streets back to the trail, which wound above the town and along the mountainside through lovely terraced farms.  Looking back on the village impressed us until we turned around the mountain and into the next valley.

Just as the trail leveled out it was time to descend to our destination: Baños de Montemayor.  There are some hot springs here that make the town a legitimate destination for tourists.  We are staying at a small hostel and we are the only ones here.  The small alleys and mountain-style houses are delightful to explore. 

We went out to eat for the very first time on this trip – H ate an entire pizza (not a personal pizza, more like a pizza for two). What a day!

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.

Every day I am surprised that this route isn’t absolutely swarming with cyclists. The roads are nearly empty, the scenery is excellent, and the little towns offer enough food and enough beds for cyclists and hikers alike. It’s not all magical paradise, but so far it has been good to us.

Day 4: Zafra to Los Santos de Maimona: Zafra was too busy for us to find a Saturday room, so we rode a quick 4 miles up the road to a small suburb where there was a very nice and very empty pilgrims hostel. It also happened to be a holiday, so the tourism office was closed. We had to ‘check in’ to the hostel at the local police station! We enjoyed the kitchen, bunk rooms, and patio without anyone else.

Day 5: Los Santos de Maimona to Mérida: Back on the road, we had 56 km to ride to the ancient city of Mérida. This was a FAST downhill (mostly) stretch of road into the open space of the Extremadura. We saw at least 100 cyclists on the road out for day rides! Remarkably, we were entering town by the time we needed lunch so we stopped for a picnic in the park overlooking the longest Roman bridge in the world. It was an impressive sight.

I made the kids walk across the bridge. After we dropped our stuff at our hostel and had a little rest it was time for more tourism! It was such a great day. Nothing was open after 3 pm (not even grocery stores!) since it was Sunday. We managed to find a tiny little convenience store packed with random items including chips and charging adaptors. We more or less had chips for dinner as we walked to see all the Roman ruins in the area. They did not disappoint! Even our tired kids appreciated the scale and grandeur of the Roman amphitheater.

Day 6: Mérida to Aldea del Cano: Before leaving Mérida we finally decided that the camp stove and cook kit we packed were not going to be used. The hostels we stay in mostly have kitchens and we couldn’t find any fuel so the whole thing was just extra weight. We wrapped it up with some down vests, a tarp, and a couple other unused items and mailed everything forward to Santiago. It is such a lucky thing that this service exists. For $30 we could send 13 pounds in a luggage bag and have it stored for up to 30 days until our arrival.

As we left Mérida we stopped to see perhaps the most remarkable ruin – the aqueduct. It was bigger and grander than I expected. Good thing too, since the rest of the day was definitely harder than we expected.

After leaving Mérida we rode past a small reservoir and along some absolutely beautiful wild land on a tiny road. Then there was some climbing (sloooow) into a little ridge where we stopped in a mountain town for lunch. The kids were so utterly charmed by the town’s small playground that H cried when we had to leave it behind, vowing to return.

It was a straight, slightly uphill ride into a headwind for the afternoon. The small town that we arrived in had an almost brand new pilgrim’s hostel managed by the town bar/restaurant. Good thing too, since that seemed to be the only thing open in town. We had fun doing a wander, and then around 6:30 we went searching for an open store for food. The grocery store near us looked abandoned, and apparently the other grocery store was closed for a week. I finally found a convenience store for dinner supplies and we had a surprisingly good dinner of rice and lentils.

Day 7: Aldea del Cano to Cañaveral. Let’s skip to the good part–Churros! We had some uneventful riding from the village where we slept into the historical and beautiful city of Cáceres. We opted to just ride through, but stopped to eat churros with chocolate at a shop recommended by our guide book. YUM. We ate so many that we were fueled for miles and miles.

The riding was dry and hot as we crossed through fields with not much but scrub brush and cows. Eventually we were riding along a huge reservoir. Sadly there was no place to enjoy the water; it really seemed to just be a location to store water and not recreate. From our quiet little road we enjoyed seeing the huge modern railroad bridges.

Our destination was a small mountain town with a pilgrim’s hostel and many small alleyways to explore. A and I spent well over an hour walking the alleys and enjoying the town. The hostel was quite busy and we shared our room with a hiker. It was not as nice as having a room to ourselves, but we all managed.

A final few thoughts to leave you with. Bicycle touring with kids is not something we can explain easily. We wake up and then have 5 to 6 uninterrupted hours of screen-free family time. We chat. We sing. We do math and spelling. We comment on the scenery. For some unknown reason, H tries to kiss my backside when I stand up going downhill. It’s pretty darn nice, overall (not the backside kissing part). Then in the early afternoon we all collapse on the bunks and read or play games until the evening. A reads nonstop when we aren’t moving. She likes fantasy books. H demands we play cards with her for hours. None of this is anything like a ‘normal’ vacation, but it’s normal for us. This is our third trip as a family and we are finally strong enough together to make decent miles.