Spring into summer in Spain

[manners]

This one is at Otos. One of the two might be good for a quiet weekend stay.

Thanks again.

Otos is really nice you should find plenty of rides on the tracks around the village. There's remains of a castle high up behind the village but the path up is probably a bit much for bikes. Bocairent is worth a look on the road from Biar towards Otos, we normally overnight at the cemetery.

 

[Peavy]

Only been out of van for two weeks, although I'm enjoying it, I cannot find anything or need a refresher course on how things work...need a few days to get into my routine....bikes are out, prepared, and ready to go...

That's a very interesting thought. It's really true for us too, although we don't have the same amount of time as you guys do, of course, but when out for holidays, more than just a week, I start to feel more comfortable as days go by.

 

[CAB96]

That's a very interesting thought. It's really true for us too, although we don't have the same amount of time as you guys do, of course, but when out for holidays, more than just a week, I start to feel more comfortable as days go by.

I find on the first night, I'm standing there, thinking, what do I do next? I know I need to make these beds up but it doesn't seem possible

 

[jumar]

I find on the first night, I'm standing there, thinking, what do I do next? I know I need to make these beds up but it doesn't seem possible

Think you need a holiday..

 

[jumartoo]

I didn't get to visit the castle. We intended to go at the end of our ride but ... we had a bit of a testing morning out.

It will began beautifully. Lovely views back to Biar and the castle and then kilometres after kilometre of lovely track until it wasn't lovely any longer. The storms last year had done a bit of soil rearranging. We walked down some steep, rough tracks and then pushed up some steep, rocky single tracks (we don't DO single track any more ). Then we got riding again and then the rough stuff returned.

Once we arrived at a decent track we bagged the route we'd been following and sailed down a concrete and gravel track to the road back to Biar, missing out the castle.

We then drove the scenic route to our present spot. We passed Bocairent and drove through the gorge. Our GPS tried to bring us here on a very narrow road. We said NO and replanned. The way we came in was still quite narrow and vehicles over 7 metres in length are banned.

The parking here is ... OK. Nice views but a bit unkempt. We planned to be here over the weekend but we may yet change our minds. Oh, "here" is Otos.

Santuari de la Mare de Déu de Gràcia

And Biar and the castle from just beyond the Santuari.

Finca on the nice bit.

Snack break, between the bad bits

Single track (a nice section)

Banyeres de Mariola. We could hear fireworks, it must be another fiesta.

Walking down to our escape route

And the concrete downhill

And our overnight spot

And the view across to the village of Otos.

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[Peavy]

That area around Mariola mountains is lovely. We went there a few months ago and came across accidentally to the Festa de Moros i Cristians in Bocairent. You may probably already know that's a parade representing the fight between Moors and Christians, with its spectacular costumes. Difficult to describe in words. More or less each village in that area has a similar parade, being the one in Alcoi the most important.

 

[jumar]

Managed 27°c today and perhaps tomorrow too before reducing over the weekend... surprised to see so many Northern European vans around...
I've planned tomorrow's route on my Komoot app and will see how it rides tomorrow...
I have agreed with Judith...the trails today lacked consistency...easy flowing ones mixed with very loose boulders and deep water washed gullies...we don't ride for medals or ranking points...we ride for pleasure, with getting back in one piece our priority...more fun tomorrow..

 

[royandsharont]

We had 30C in Cordoba today & 46C inside the van when we returned after a full day sightseeing! The street time/temps said 35C but I’ve no idea how accurate they really are. Whatever it actually was it was too uncomfortable for us really.

 

[jumartoo]

We had 30C in Cordoba today & 46C inside the van when we returned after a full day sightseeing! The street time/temps said 35C but I’ve no idea how accurate they really are. Whatever it actually was it was too uncomfortable for us really.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was fairly accurate. Temperatures have suddenly soared. It was mid 20's here (32 on a street thermometer) and Cordoba gets much hotter than here in summer. I think it's going to dip a bit again after today though .

 

[jumartoo]

Martin had planned a good route today. It set off down the small cami that the GPS wanted to bring us up yesterday. It WOULD have been driveable but Martin's nerves wouldn't have been good during it, heading into the unknown. We turned back yesterday at this point.

We then did a loop around and then began to climb high up into the mountains and we rode many kilometres on a perfect track for emtbs.

The castle? wasn't identifiable from our viewpoint but the information board told us all about it.

We purposely ignored a suspect right turn and stayed on our wide, downhill track, to eventually ride a quiet road.

We did a van service on our return and headed to our present spot at Benissuera.

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[jumartoo]

Benissuera motorhome area is very nice and next to the Embassament de Bellús. It costs €4 a night to park a van, payable at the Ayuntamiento. In true Brit style we duly went to pay .

It's here

And in true Jumar style we parked under a tree for a little shade.

There's only one other van here atm, a German campervan, and he's got the tree that Martin covets . We've just moved back to the manicured part of the area, near the German, so we can strike if he leaves tomorrow . We've paid for two nights

We had a walk down as far as we could to the water.

But the vegetation got too thick.

 

[jumar]

What a wonderful quiet night that was...and now as the sun rises in the east over the lake, the birds are joining together in a wonderful springtime chorus..
Time to plan our next MTB route now..then breakfast..

 

[jumartoo]

Our overnight spot on the manicured bit. We were entertained by a pack of water pistol wielding kids yesterday evening. They were drinking water from the toilet tap . Martin went to speak to them and they were very subdued, thinking he was going to chastise them .

Right next to the motorhome area is a big area with playground and barbecues and a viewpoint, from which you can see a, very, tiny bit of the water . It's all very new.

The bar/restaurant wasn't open yesterday when we checked. We overheard some local women say its open at weekends.

Us, and the Germans with "the tree". They seem to be staying put, they were here at Easter. Not sure if they've been here ever since.

Heading down from the Mirador, disappointed

 

[manners]

We stayed there a couple of years ago, it gave a whole new meaning to pigs in blankets. Walking down to the lake there was three dead piglets an adut pigs head and trotters rapped in a blanket!

 

[jumar]

We stayed there a couple of years ago, it gave a whole new meaning to pigs in blankets. Walking down to the lake there was three dead piglets an adut pigs head and trotters rapped in a blanket!

Got to be more to your story...please enlighten us...

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[manners]

Got to be more to your story...please enlighten us...

That's it really, I presume a farmer must have carried them down in the blanket and dumped them there. They were just at the side of the track down to the lake.