Day 92: Puerto Serrano (Drive/Cycle)

A 990 metre long "con illumination" tunnel, the longest tunnel encountered today!

Although I'd planned to arrive in Seville today, I ended up cycling the Via Verde de la Sierra (again) instead! Well, it was on the way anyway and, in addition, I fancied a easy, relaxing, recovery ride, off road and helmet free. It seemed a wasted opportunity to simply pass it by!

However, the ride almost ended before I'd warmed up! The thing is, not all of the thirty tunnels (I didn't count them!) you cycle through are illuminated and, as such, you need to have lights on your bike when riding the via Verde. Obviously, I attached a front and rear light to my bike. What I didn't do was check that they were charged/working! On arrival at the first non-illuminated tunnel, 500 metres in length, I switched on the front light only to discover it was not producing photons! No problem I thought, I'll switch on my mobile phone's flashlight. Only to discover I didn't know how to switch it on and, had no mobile signal to find out how to turn it on! (I've only had the phone for about 10 months!).

Fortunately, a fellow cyclist arrived that did have (working) lights and so I was able pass through this and the next tunnel, which was also not illuminated. Then, when I stopped at the mid-point feed station, I was able to go online to find out how to switch on the phone's flashlight, which meant I could return through the "sin illumination" tunnels unaided by fellow travelers!!

Apparrently the via verde passes by one of the largest vulture colonies in Europe at Peñón de Zaframagón (Zaframagón Rock). Here is a photo of it, where vultures were seen flying around its summit (if you zoom in to the top of the rock, you should be able to see some "vultures" against the blue sky!).

Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to actually see what they looked like. Fortunately, a little further along the via verde, these kindly vultures posed for a group photo!

• Distance driven: 14 miles
• Distance cycled: 70 kilometres
• Weather:The thermostat has gone up a notch or two! At least that's how it felt. It wasn't until 20:00 hours that the van's internal temperature had reduced such that I could have a shower (about 22°C from 34°C). All because the clocks went forward last night to Central European Summer Time! If the van temperature had been cooler on m return I would have had a shower and I'd likely be in Seville now!
• Location: Google Maps

Today's ride: