Day 89: Coín (Cycle/Drive)

Well, I nearly left Coín. In fact I did leave Coín, except I only managed to get a couple of kilometres beyond the town's boundary. The reason for making a u-turn was because there had been a road traffic accident that blocked the road that required an ambulance and at least two recovery vehicles. Given that it was about 6.00pm when the local policeman instructed me to about turn I decided to return to where I'd been parked and have my evening meal. Once consumed and washed up it was getting dark, and I couldn't be bothered to drive, so I decided to spend one more night in Coín.

Today's cycle ride was mostly enjoyable, except for the sections that had me cycling on the A-355. Indeed, when I first encountered the A-355 I was tempted to do an about turn. This is because the road is busy with traffic, including lots of heavy vehicles, and there is little or no hard shoulder and the traffic's speed was relatively high. Given I was mid distance of a 21 kilometre climb, I checked the Garmin (navigational aid) to see how much further I needed to cycle to get to the turn off for the Refugio De Juanar: the end of the climb. It was only about 4 kilometres, so I battered on! I'm glad I did, the 5.3 kilometres of climbing after the turn of were really enjoyable. Although, the climb ended at a hotel, which is not what I expected. What I did expect, I don't know why, was somewhere to have a picnic!

Man eats mountain!

The descent was good, and when I again reached the A-355, the Garmin (navigational aid) informed me that if I continued less than 1 kilometre further along the A-355 I'd reach the summit of the A-355 pass whence I could then descend to the pueblo Ojén, which is what I'd originally planned to do. So, although I wasn't too happy about cycling on this busy road, I did once more batter on.

I'm glad I did, because once off the A-355, the cycle in to, through, and out of Ojen was enjoyable. Here's a photo looking back at the road I used to climb out of Ojén.

Unfortunately, I had to rejoin the A-355 for approximately 12 kilometres but, fortunately, it was mostly downhill.

So, I'd say that all of the ride was good, except the bits involving the A-355. I doubt I'd do it again. Especially now that I have become accustomed to cycling on quieter roads. Having, said that, in total, I probably saw about a dozen cyclists on the the road and according to Ridewithgps' (cycling plan App) cycle activity heat map it does appear that the road is frequently used by cyclists ... perhaps I'm going soft in my old age!

• Distance driven: 6 miles
• Distance cycled: 59 kilometres
• Weather: It's getting warmer, at 21:15, with the van in full ventilation mode, the temperature inside has finally dropped to about 20°C from a high of about 36°C: the temperature when I returned to it at about 4.30pm having completed laundry, grocery shopping and the usual grey, black and fresh water chores (reverse order of execution!).

Today's slightly shorter route: