April 13, 2011

We feel reinvigorated, the aches and pains have gone and we´re ready for the road. 

The day starts hot and totally wind free (hurray!).  All we can hear is the sound of bird-song (no squeak – hurray again!).  Ken is convinced that his cassette locking ring was the culprit.

The road runs alongside a lake for several kilometres.  We see a turn off onto a cycle path, thinking how nice to be free from the traffic (not that there was much) we take it, not realizing that it is a sort of leisure route around the lake, which comes right back to where we started – just what we need – a few extra kilometres! 

The route climbs over a range of hills – nothing too strenuous – coming out onto a high plateau at 1100 metres which stretches as far as the eye can see.  Parts of it have a very ´’English’ feel with green fields of cereal and even a stone church with what looks like a Norman tower.  It looks like we´re going to be able to put in a good long run today, although the last few kilometres are tough because, as always, there is a long climb to finish off the day. 

We arrive in Sigüenza which turns out to be a medieval town of gloomy stone buildings, with a magnificent castle and a ´hostal´  run by the Spanish equivalent of Basil Fawlty, the owner of which insists in talking to me in broken French (can someone tell me if I speak Spanish with a French accent?) and seems to be lurking in the corridor outside our room whenever we open the door.  For the first time since we started the trip we have difficulty finding somewhere to eat within our budget;  this is obviously a wealthy area given the number of trendy, expensive restaurants to be found.