Discovering the Via Verde de el Maigmó

If you have been following my blog for a while you will know that one of the things we love to do whilst we are away is seeking out new off road cycle routes. Purely by chance one day I found a Via Verde on the website (link at the end of this post) that we hadn't yet discovered and it was close to the area we were planning to visit. So, we headed south, stopping for a couple of nights at the El Palomar camperstop to indulge in the free use of the washing machine and tumble dryer as well as a lovely walk through the fields alongside ancient irrigation channels built by the Moors hundreds of years ago.

After leaving El Palomar, it took us a while, but eventually we found the Via Verde at Agost and a huge car park right next to the trail - a perfect place to stay for a couple of days whilst we explore the area.
The Via Verde itself is 22km from start to finish, built in the 1920's as a railway link from Agost to Alcoi the Spanish civil war intervened and the rails were never laid. The impressive viaducts and half a dozen tunnels have only been used by the walkers and cyclists who frequent the trail these days. The rough gravel track heads steadily uphill through dramatic mountain scenery to Maigmó where it ends conveniently at a service area with a cafe/restaurant and then its downhill with hardly a pedal turn to get back to base!

The dark unlit tunnels add particular interest to the journey through the hills, we were glad of our bright cycle lights! It was strange being in the tunnels, although they were built almost a hundred years ago you had no feeling of the passage of time once you were inside, the interior being completely sheltered from the elements, it almost looked newly built.
On our first day at Agost we cycled the Via Verde from start to finish and back and on the second day we took the adjacent road up to the top of the trail intending to head back down on it, but the weather was against us and a cold wind brought light rain so we whizzed back down the hill to the cosy warmth of the van. Since we arrived here in Spain the weather has been colder than average but when the sun does come out, if you can find shelter from the wind, it can be lovely and warm.

But having said that, I'm not complaining about the weather here in Spain-it's cold and snowy back in the UK!

Here is the link to this Via Verde:

http://www.viasverdes.com/en/itineraries/itinerario.asp?id=14

All along the Watchtower

It's not often you get the chance to have a whole Bell tower to yourself is it? I had this opportunity on our last day at the camperstop at Alcossebre, we cycled about 5 miles inland to the town of Alcala de Xibert, a town perched on a hill overlooked by an ancient castle. When we arrived the church square was pretty quiet and we sat on the church steps in the sun eating our picnic. In the far corner was a small tourist information kiosk and inside sat a lovely young man who gave me some local information and also offered to let us into the bell tower, at this point Keith declined as he is no fan of heights but I accepted the offer. Inside the ancient tower the steep stone spiral steps worn smooth with age wound up and up to the bell chamber - look carefully at the photo - that's me in the window above the clock! I then ascended more narrow stone steps (only room for one person it was so narrow!) to the next level - the views across the rooftops to the distant mountains were well worth the climb.

Coming down the steps was quite scary I had to cling on to the walls on each side as I carefully descended the hundred of steps, but what a great experience. I'm glad nobody else was in there as there was no room to pass on the stairs!
The next day we left the camperstop and found a gorgeous beach side location at Torrenostra, a quiet car park near to the town with just the sound of the waves to break the silence. Whilst we were there we were able to cycle on quiet roads through the wetlands all the way along the coast to Oropesa. We also met a lovely couple Rob and Hayley who we discovered had many shared interests - motorhoming, cycling, keeping fit, healthy eating and shopping in Lidl to name a few - we chatted for England until it was time we had to part. We hope to catch up with them again on our travels to continue the conversation. I think most motorhomers would agree that all the people you meet on your travels is one of the very positive aspects of the nomadic life!

Sunset at Torrenostra - how lucky are we to be parked in such a fantastic location  

Every cloud has a silver lining!

They do say that every cloud has a silver lining and following our misfortune of our leisure batteries running low we did a quick search for any nearby Camperstops where we could hook-up and recharge. We found just what we were looking for about 10 miles north of Oropesa at Alcossebre "Las Moreras AC" camper park. A great camperstop on the edge of a laid back resort town and right on the edge of the Parc natural de la Serra d'Irta, a perfect location for us to go walking or cycling. We certainly felt we had struck lucky - and all for 12€ a night!

The very next day we headed into the Parc on our bikes, cycling along rocky paths along the coastline, we cycled almost to Peniscola seeing hardly a soul along the way, stopping for a picnic on the rocky shore. It was hard off road cycling with a lot of loose stones but the bikes coped well on this type of terrain.
The weather was sunny but the wind was cold and we had to wrap up unless you could find a little sun trap out of the wind!
But we are not complaining- the big blue skies are beautiful!

Changing the subject - skip past this if you're not a motorhomer - Keith did a bit of research on leisure batteries for motorhomes and there are 3 classifications of battery for different uses (A,B or C) we have 2 'B' batteries which are suitable for frequent hookup whereas we should really have the 'A' type of battery suited to Motorhomes who rarely hookup and rely on solar power. At some point we would do best to change to type 'A' leisure batteries - finances permitting! Until now we didn't know anything about this - did  you?

The seafront Alcossebre

We booked into the camperstop for just 2 nights and ended up staying for 5 we enjoyed the area so much. We found another Parc natural heading south, very different with flat, wet lands, we also discovered by cycling through the Parc we could reach Oropesa on quiet roads and tracks.
All in all a very interesting area that we feel we would like to return to another time.
Now you know I'm not one to moan but having painted a picture of such a wonderful place I have a teensy- weensy complaint about the camperstop- it has lovely clean showers with plenty of hot water but with the recent cold north wind, the temperature in the shower block hardly reached double figures and it was mighty cold getting dried and dressed with a force 9 gale blowing under your shower curtain.... Oh! the joys of camping!!! 

2019 - A New Year - A New Adventure!

Magallon church (near Zaragoza)

On the Sunday between Christmas and the New Year, while most people were tucked up in their cosy beds we were up early heading towards Folkestone and the Eurotunnel heading towards Spain. We travelled (almost) Toll free over 5 days across France and Spain and the roads were surprisingly quiet as a lot of people were still on holiday, including the lorry drivers (note to self: use this time again to travel to the Spanish Costa in future!!)
We stayed enrouute on free Aires along the way usually driving about 300 to 400 km a day, we opted out of New Year's Eve celebrations, sleeping through midnight, just happy to be on the road again. We had a few cold nights - the temperature plummeted to -5°c during the night in inland Spain ( we were hopeful it would be somewhat warmer on the coast!)
It's a strange thing when you're travelling, at night you pull down all the blinds, go to bed and in the morning when you wake up you have to remember where you were when you last stopped so you know what to expect when you look out of the window- every day a different view!!

If you are a regular follower of my blog you will know we usually head for Castellon, we can fill up with water at the Free Aire then park up by the Aerodrome opposite the beach and the cycle lane that goes for miles along the coastline including our favourite Via Verde. We were shocked when we arrived- there were somewhere in the region of 100 vans there and we took one of the last spaces. We might have been squashed in like sardines but the sea, sunshine and lovely cycling more than makes up for it.
Until, that is, after a couple of days, we were joined by a troupe of New Age travellers ( do they still call them that? Our friend Paul called them Swampies!)
With their music, dogs and log burning stoves belching smoke we decided to move on the next day, so where to? We had decided we must try pastures new so we moved a few miles north along the coast and parked up on a scrap of land right on the beachfront.

A peaceful spot apart from the sounds of the waves breaking on the shore, our only fear was that we may be moved on by the Guardia.
Our fears proved to be unfounded, but we had another problem that we hadn't anticipated- our batteries ran low. The solar energy from our 2 solar panels, with the sun low in the sky just wasn't enough to supply
enough power to our batteries, the cold temperatures at night also affect their performance, as well as charging our bike batteries 3 days in a row - we needed to recharge with electric hookup. So where to go?
Find out on my next post!