Palencia – Toro
Luckily, days like this one are the exception. I’ve had pretty great weather on my four weeks of riding so far, but since the second part of France, I feel like I’ve been pretty unlucky with the wind. Two days ago, there was basically no wind in this region, and today I cycled into up to 14 knots of headwind for 105 km. There were exactly 1.5 km where I could roll without immediately losing speed, I don’t think I’ve been on my big chain-ring for more than 10 km. It was a real drag to get into Toro.
The thing about the wind is not only that it’s slowing me down, another thing that’s equally annoying is the noise—25 kph winds while also riding at a speed of 25 kph creates a lot of noise in my ears. Once I start to focus on that, it gets so loud that I can’t think of anything else anymore.
Riding through the Tierra de Campos is fascinating, however. It’s a plain with hardly any relief, just fields as far as one can see, at an altitude of over 800 m, however. The different colors of wheat, barley, and poppy fields at this time of year are fascinating to ride through.
Searching for something to eat on a Sunday afternoon, I took a stroll around the quaint old town of Toro. With many medieval town wall and fortification buildings, centered by the 12th century Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor church and a view into the so-called Oasis of Castile, this was quite enjoyable.
