The hotel’s are very accommodating. This one told us to keep our bikes in the room I was funny wheeling to heavily laden, muddy mountain bikes up the entrance steps and through the lobby!
Breakfast today was not so fancy. First we discovered restaurants in Zafra don’t open for dinner until 9, too late for us getting up before 6:30 so we ate in a small bar. Then found out no one serves breakfast before 8. First light is around 7:00 and we like to try to start out then to get a good start before the heat sets in so we rushed down to the grocery store before they closed. Breakfast was magdalenas, a pear and a banana with an orange tasting drink – all we could find!
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Today was a day of firsts, and learning that there is more to completing the camino than cycling endurance.
As we loaded up the bikes we discovered my back tyre was flat. We replaced the tube in the bedroom only to discover the pump provided was not working.
Thank God that the hotel was around the corner from a service center and that this had not happened mid route as we would have been in big trouble.
We pumped the tyre at the service Centre and got on our way but at 8;30 rather than our planned 7:30.
Our top priority was now to buy a pump and some more spare tubes. I rode over the rocky road from Almadén with trepidation
Fortunately we found a bicycle maintenance shop in the first town. This was very fortunate because 15 km layer, on a mud trail in the middle of aN enormous region of grapes we had another puncture in the same wheel. We got it fixed thanks to the recent purchases and then realized the actual tyre had a problem, we needed a new tyre. The next town did not have an open bicycle shop so when we reached Merida, 40 km later we searched out a sports shop and bought a new tyre and did a third tyre/tube replacement for the day.
Our other first was a relatively short rain shower. But again fortunately when e arrived here in Aljucen there was a downpour and in fact we had a power outage in the house.
Fortunately all is back up so I may get this posted tonight.
The forecast for tomorrow is rain and we have our toughest ride yet, over 100 km and lots of climb!
VDLPbyBike 
Thank you for the update, I was waiting for it! Hopefully that will be the end of punctures for a while. Tomorrow sounds tough but don’t forget there is always the road route, especially when you reach the 70km mark. You mentioned that a man in Seville who has done the trip a number of times suggested 70 km a day!
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Que Dios los acompanes!
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Well you certainly had some mechanical challenges today but i would say the Gods were with you. You know the boy scout motto “be prepared” and you were. Well done Dermot. Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be thinking of you as a sip on Starbucks.
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