31: 30th December 2021. Jaen to Canete de la Torres. 37.69 miles cycled; 2,641 Ft climbed; and 4.31 hours cycling time
We left Jaen at about 10.30, to great weather, similar to our best Portugal days. The temperature went up to (or even over) 20C today, and I wore shorts and tee shirt for first time since Seville. We quickly got into the country and we cycled along superb cycle trails and roads – apparently it was a Camino pilgrims trail, going through hectares of olive groves.
The olives when I tried to eat them once straight from the tree were very bitter, and I want to find out how the olives go from being so unpleasant on the tree to being so edible when we eat them from jars or in restaurants. Note – in a conversation I had with some olive growers later (see tomorrow’s blog) and I told them I had eaten them, they said I shouldn’t have done that and almost regarded them as poisonous – very bad for the stomach apparently!
We took a break at a pleasant town called Escanuela, although we couldn’t find a cafe but did find a shop selling Spanish pies or a pie equivalent, and then we kept cycling through the lovely countryside, through olive grove after olive grove in temperatures now definitely in excess of 20C+.
At one point in the afternoon we came to a small village in the middle of what seemed no where, with an old castle on the hill. I think it was called the Castillo de Torre Alcazar, close to the town of Porcuna. It was abandoned in the 17th Century with only the keep now standing, but it was still impressive to come across it, unspoilt in the middle of the countryside on a very off track road.
Mid afternoon we suffered our first puncture of the tour; it was the first puncture we had had on either bike since we did our Tour of Norfolk in the Spring. This was in fact the same tyre on Debbie’s bike, and reflected I think an old tyre with much of the rubber protection worn off, and a road covered in small flints which if in the right position just cut right through. On the last occasion in Norwich we learnt that taking an inner tube for a road bike doesn’t work well on a touring bike (very different sizes) and we had to be rescued by our good friend Toby. This time we had the right tubes and we were able to fix the puncture, although not without some effort it has to be said, as rear wheels with panniers and all the gear does not make for a straightforward repair.
After this interludes we cycled onto the town of Canete de la Torres, a really nice town as we drove through it, although our accommodation was on the outskirts and too far for us to bother going back in and so we settled into our room and then had a very pleasant meal in the bar, although it was slightly strange as there were absolutely no customers – just us.
After our meal we settled into our room and binge watched several more episodes of Ted Lasso. We started watching this series I think when we were in Granada and I remember Debbie was not at all sure when I gave her the outline of the story (to recap, an amateur American football team coach comes to UK and manages an English Premier League soccer team) that this would be her kind of programme, as football and Debbie, I have learnt, aren’t good companions; however, she soon realised it was a fun programme – very well scripted and clearly intended to please both the US and the UK audiences, and once you get over the too perfect pictures of red phone boxes, and quaint English pubs etc it is an easy watch feel good programme – just right when you are knackered and want something easy to watch before sleep. Anyone who hasn’t yet seen it has a treat to come.
Cycle Touring Adventures! 