Day 86: Villanueva de Ávila (Drive)

A funny thing happened on my way to the Aire!

Whilst exiting the pueblo known as Mohedas de la Jara, I was stopped at a roundabout by the Spanish Civil Guard! There were two guards. An older man and a young woman. The man spoke to me in Spanish, and I didn't have a scoobee what he was saying! Fortunately, the young lady new some English: He had asked to see my driving licence. Luckily, I did manage to renew my International Driving Licence a couple of days before leaving the U.K.

They then asked me where I was going. Once I'd told them, they sent me on my way. Although I'd previously seen the Civil Guard at roundabouts and junctions stopping vehicles, I didn't no why. So, when they did pull my over, my first thought was I must have been speeding through the town! Having said that, I don't think I was, precisely because I was driving in energy efficiency mode!

On arrival at the aire I checked the numbers and my 110 mile journey took about 3 hours and 40 minutes of driving time, with an average speed of 30 mph. The main reason for the average speed of only 30 mph was due to a climb with approximately 1100 metres of elevation gain on a very winding single track road to the Puerto de Mijares.

During the descent, just as I was thinking I'd dodged a bullet, by not meeting any other vehicles on the mountain, my progress downwards was halted by a lorry coming upwards! In the end, I was glad to see that the driver was "happy" to drive his lorry off the road into a deep boulder strewn gutter! And I was happy to see him do so! Especially with all of the van's underslung paraphernalia in danger of being damaged, including a gas tank! Tomorrow, I'll be cycling up and over the climb.

• Distance driven: 110 miles
• Distance cycled: 0 kilometres
• Weather:-
  • General conditions: Sunshine and some cloud, no clouds later on.
  • Temperature: 9°C to 14°C.
  • Wind (Beaufort): Quite windy at the puerto, light airs this evening.
• Elevation: 1080 metres.
• Location: Google Maps