Straight forward day today - Having just about got away with my attrocious lack of Spanish in what appeared to be a Spanish only speking town (not even Portuguese was understood) I had breakfast which was my standard Cafe con leche and Pan Tomate ! and I spent 30 minutes servicing both the bike and my shoes !
Front derailleur adjusted, chain cleaned, saddle straightened, front wheel straightened and brakes adjusted, mud cleaned from frame and I was off.
Gentle uphill start to a reservoir (Embalse de Piedro Aguda) after 4 miles where I had to stop then straight on to Valverde Leganes and within an hour I was in La Albuera where normally I would stop for a drink and a stretch. Not today. today I was on a mission as the Toon match kickoff was 2pm (3 in Spain) so I had 56 miles to cover in about 5 hours.
A long straight road to Talavera la Real followed into a headwind and to make matters worse they had those kilometer markers marking every 100m !. The countryside had been rooling but now this part of extramadura is very flat- the fields were still quite bare and the vines seemed to have no growth yet.
I was in Talavera on schedule 28 miles in under 2hrs - with a tailwind it could have been so much better ! I didn't stop following acouple of winding roads and over a ford like bridge at Baden de Talavera before picking up a quiet road which would run a long way towards Merida through what I imagined to be quaint spanish villages. The first of which Valdelacalzada what pretty much Warehouse city with multiple factories to obviously handle and process the vast amounts of extramadura fruits & veggies. The next town Puebla de la Calzada was much the same so I pressed on but leaving town there was almost a road block where the police had a car surrounded at the last junction and there was plenty whistle blowing. I spotted a proper cycle path off the road looked at one of the police and headed off down the path. A strong whistle screech was heard, I looked back, still ahd no idea what was going on so I continued. After 400 yards I saw an ambulance going very slowly along the road, then on the cycle track a guy wearing number 112 running (quite slowly) with a helper. I guess he was doing something mega and I was in his way but the path was big enough for us to easily pass and I acknowledged his efforts with a solid "Ola".
Torremayor was next and it had a nice church but my camera was flat so no picture but I did put it on to charge. I then picked up a canal and followed it to its outlet from the Guadiana only 6 miles from Merida and I had an hour till the match started.
My route into Merida was on quiet riverside roads avoiding the motorway and dual carriageway emanating from it. After 3 miles however my route ended at very large factory gates which were most definitely closed. I retraced the last mile and was forced under the motorway and into town via a considerable climb on a dual carriageway before a considerable drop into town.
The bridge across the river had a large no cycling sign but then I spotted between the two road lanes was a dedicated pedestrian & cycle lane in the middle (a bit like the Tay bridge if anyone has seen that) The bridge was a gleaming white cable stay bridge and I took some pics. I made it to the hotel 20 minutes before kickoff however failed to find a sports bar (most bars were shut for siesta) so ended up streaming the match on my phone whilst sitting in the Plaza Espana feeling most aggrieved that the reffing decisions most definitely made the difference between a deserved win and what turned into a loss.