Today was very much a mixed bag, some things better than expected, other things not going to plan. But I got across those mountains and I’m now only fifteen miles from the centre of Madrid so all in all I am content.
Today's plan was simple: leave Segovia and head to the gardens of the eighteenth century Royal Palace of la Granja which Lee visited en route to Madrid; leave the gardens and head for Puerta Navacerrada, the pass Lee used to cross the Guadarramas; and then follow a route towards Madrid, either getting there a day earlier than planned or stopping somewhere near. I had plotted a satnav route for each section so I only needed to add sweat and effort to complete the day. Or so I thought.
I set off early from Segovia in light drizzle, followed the blue dot out of town, took a cycle path alongside a main road that seemed to head straight towards the mountains and then veered off into the hills. It wasn’t long before I was in the heart of pine forest, climbing ever upwards on winding, narrow and car-free tarmac. Dense woods, rivers and waterfalls provided a pleasing distraction to the effort I was making and, hills aside, it was a lovely and peaceful ride. After two hours I approached the end of my first leg, expecting to see the gardens and the palace appear. Nothing. I was still on a path in dense and hilly pine forest.
It turned out the gardens were some six miles behind me and my route had missed them completely. Yet my next leg did start there and, more disturbingly, took a route that I was not on. Somehow my planning had gone wrong. Did I go back, giving up nearly all the height gained, to rejoin the route over the pass some miles behind me, or did I try and work my way forward through these forests with a view to connect to the next leg somewhere ahead? I chose the latter. I could see paths on the navigation app that seemed to get me to the pass road but I had no idea of their state or profile. And with damp and water dripping from the trees causing the usual issues with my phone as I tried to use it to both navigate and take pictures any detailed planning was impracticable.
More pine forest and more climbing and more distracting scenery followed, the enjoyment now tempered somewhat with concerns over the unknowns of the route. But I had made the right call and joined the road to the Navacerrada pass at the start of a series of alpine-like hairpin bends four miles from its top. What is more, the route to get here had been far better than my original long road climb. But I was left with two frustrations: I had missed out on the Palace gardens; and I had actually had to lose height to make it to the road.
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| At the Road |
The road climb was slow and steady. The cars - and there were plenty - were considerate and the switchbacks prevented them speeding along even if they wanted to. In fact, rather than get annoyed at having to cater with a slow cyclist on the road I got occasional shouts of encouragement as I ground my way up towards the pass, rising to meet the clouds and the rain that engulfed the tops.
Despite the rain and the hills and with the added issue of those cars this was a very different experience to the day seared into my mind in Galicia. My head was in a far better place and today that pass was mine: not once did I think I wanted to give up and I would never have accepted a lift if asked. I counted down the last four kilometres by the regular markers, I tried not to but once I had noticed them I could not stop myself from looking. They were slow in coming but by midday I was there.
The summit pass was thick in cloud. You could barely see twenty-five yards. It was bad to the point that I got disoriented in a car park. If there was a view I was going to miss it. There is apparently a large skiing complex there but all I could see was cloud. I stopped for coffee at the busy pass cafe and then began the third section: the leg to Madrid. It could have been an easy forty-two miles of continuous downhill if I stayed on the main road but my route planner's criteria looked for quieter roads and tracks, far more preferable for me, so my journey to Madrid would be slower even if only slightly further. To date I had had no need to question the suitability of the routes it chose. Until today.
I left the pass downhill on the misty road to Madrid, then into the quiet roads of Navacerrada town and from there onto a track through more woods. But this was not 'hybrid bike with two heavy panniers' track. This was rocky walking track, not steep but not something I was willing to risk riding my bike on. So having managed to cycle to the top of the 6000 foot Navacerrada pass I now found myself having to walk down it. Things improved after an hour of walking my bike over the rough path and a far smoother track allowed me to then make decent progress through the woods and out into a more open landscape. But the route planner had also failed to mention the two fords I had to cross, water halfway up my calves as I carefully manoeuvred myself and my bike through fast flowing streams across the track.
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| The track down |
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| Ford! |
Now out of the clouds I was having trouble reading the route on my phone in the sun. Throw in my pannier rack collapsing (a screw had shaken loose) and my chain guard breaking away and I decided that I had had my fun for the day. Instead of having to continually stop to check my route in the shade I decided to stay on a road that my original route followed for only a short stretch knowing that I would intersect the route again a few miles along at the town of Colmenar Viejo. A stop there for coffee and a final push to a hotel four miles further along the route - now a cycle track paralleling a motorway into Madrid - and my day was done.
I have ended up in the small town of Tres Cantas. I am not sure of the legality of my cycling to get from the track onto exit ramps and bridges in order to access the opposite side of the motorway where my hotel lies but I was not arrested. I just need to do the same trick in reverse tomorrow to get back on the cycle path. In the meantime I have pizza for dinner and a massive bed to enjoy with only fifteen miles to do tomorrow to reach Spain's capital.
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