Today we cycle our second Via Verde. It’s a bit more difficult to organize. We plan to take the train from the end point to the start, but when we inquire at the station there is no room for the bikes. The bike places are reserved for the rest of the week.
We decide to drive to the starting point, cycle down to the B&B and worry about picking up the car later. We leave the car at Barracas station (which is closed now and has exactly two sandy parking spots) and start our way down. The path here is more comfortable and goes down constantly and sometimes pretty steeply. It’s a long way down, from the plateau around Barracas with its windmills, to Jérica in the valley where we have lunch.
Because this is hilly terrain, there are about five tunnels (the longest is 500 m) and many viaducts over dry river beds and gullies. Up in the hills we have great views, once we’re down in the valley we cycle through orange (I mean the fruit) fields. We regularly see the new railway and the Autovía. The first part is more fun, because there is more nature and less civilization. The road surface is better as well. While cycling done we do a little detour to a famous waterfall and go through the village of Navajas. There are ridiculously big old houses here and a charming town center with narrow streets. The waterfall is a little further than anticipated, way downhill and not very impressive. A good cardio exercise to climb back up to the Via Verde trail is the silver lining.
Not many other cyclists, but all of them with mountain bikes. After some confusion between Algimia de Alfara and Alfara de Algimia, we find the way to the B&B. we have a bubble bath and another one of Gemma’s great dinners, which always come with a small selection of cheeses, bread, a salad of some kind, a main dish and fantastic dessert.
Febe writes 