Headed north out of Potes and grabbed a quick coffee at a Hostal/Bar just before the turn on to the CA184. Hadn't been going very long when a sharp twang from the back wheel indicated a broken spoke. I slackened off the 2 spokes either side and whilst not being exactly true it was good enough not to catch the brakes. I didn't have time to remove the 2 ends of the broken spoke but used some insulating tape to make them safe.
The CA184 climbs up to Puerto de Piedrasluenga for 27km, gaining a little over 1000m at a fairly gentle gradient. Great views back over the Picos de Europa and a nice picnic spot at the top. A strange mix of boiled eggs, cashews, oat cakes, cheese, crisps, kiwi fruit and chocolate.
After that it was time for the descent, so we piled the clothing on and started off. Then stopped and piled some more clothing on. The road tops out at about 1350m above sea level and the village of Piedrasluenga was just over the pass in a sheltered pasture. The mountains above the tree line were covered with heather in full bloom.
We didn't have as far to descend on the other side but didn't have to pedal much either, except a short climb out of the village of Vañes. We saw what we can only think was a small brown bear (common in the area apparently) and many storks. The storks build their nests on the bell towers of churches or on telegraph poles - I'm not sure I have ever seen them like this before.
Bottom of the descent was the small town of Cervera de Pisuerga where we found a bike shop (closed until Monday so not much use for me). Took the road east - fairly flat and arrived at out B&B just before 4. Looks like a great place to stay and they do evening meals as well so no need to go foraging.
On the way up
View back over the Picos de Europa
Storks nesting on a church
No comments:
Post a Comment