Day 21 — Thursday 19 May 2011

Soria – Arnedo

I got away from Soria at about ten o’clock and got to Arnedo at about five o’clock. I had a second breakfast at Garray, and pushed on up the steady inexorable climb to the Puerto de Oncala. Riding was good and I got to the top without too much difficulty having stopped at regular intervals for water and nibbles, at one point in a bus shelter. The riding just got better as I rode down the other side along a wide valley towards Villar del Rio. Lunch was becoming a missed opportunity as I had not seen anything resembling a bar or a restaurant since half past one, when restaurants in Spain tend to open, when I came across a restaurant tucked just off the side of the road as I was leaving Yanguas. Gratefully I screeched to a halt and propped my bicycle up in a small courtyard and went into the deserted restaurant. The man there cooked me a meal from scratch and very good it was.

The road after Yanguas zigzags through a deep gorge with amazing rock structures down to Enciso where I had a coca cola stop in a sun drenched road side bar.

Arnedo turned out to be a sizeable, modern and bustling place but without any campsites nearby so I made for the Oficina de Turismo which had a list of expensive hotels and modest hostals. The hostals turned out to be of no use for a variety of reasons so I rode back up the main road to a hotel I had spotted as I came into town. It was rather expensive but breakfast was included in the price and I was allowed to take my bicycle in the lift up to my room. The shower was a challenge, shooting straight out from the wall such that I managed to wet the floor thoroughly. But the luxury felt really good. I remember thinking that breakfast had better be good at the price.