I’ve always enjoyed studying
maps. A wealth of information, they provide a colourful window of opportunities
to explore the real world. The only problem is, poring over a smorgasbord of
place names, wriggly lines and symbols in the comfort of a lounge room couch, is
but scant preparation for the real journey ahead. And when it comes to negotiating
an unfamiliar cycling route, it’s almost always more complicated than it appears
on paper.
Needless to say, my chosen
route from Moixent-Magente towards our two-night stay in Cheste was much longer
and more strenuous than I envisaged. Nevertheless, sometimes the experience is worth the
additional effort and inconvenience. Today’s ride, though unremarkable but just
a little different, was just that.
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| Quesa, one of the small villages of the Canal de Navarres. |
Keen to remain as far away
as possible from the Autovia de Levante which spans Spain’s busy east coast, I
headed west over the Sierra de Enguera towards a chain of small villages that
make up the Canal de Navarrés. An hour’s drive south of Valencia, this
compilation of high sierras and undulating valleys, adjoined by the CV-580,
seemed to be a popular route amongst hardened cyclists. A Sunday morning and
obviously unbothered by the terrain and the burgeoning heat, I passed many
travelling in both directions.
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| The road through the Canal de Navarres. |
Though rarely used in the Vuelta a España, part of the route was included in the 177- kilometre out and back stage from the town of Xàtiva, in 2009. A typically hot September day of nearly 40 degrees, it would have caused some consternation within the peloton.
That year, the Spanish tour left the far more comfortable conditions of the
Netherlands, just three days earlier. Now more of a custom than an innovative
idea the Vuelta began in a foreign country for only the second time in the
race’s history.
Declining in population,
some of the smallest villages in the Canal de Navarrés could be added to the
growing list of Spanish ghost towns. Relying predominantly on agriculture and
livestock, as well as jobs created by a small increase in tourism, many
long-established families have nevertheless been forced to find work elsewhere.
Conversely, in the even smaller villages of less than a thousand inhabitants,
labour shortages quickly occur when the young are forced to head to the bigger
cities to continue their education.
Books by Mark Krieger:
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
“I still must abide by the rules of
the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization.”
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