The first thing I should share is that Spain is cold in winter, so if you venture here in search of winter sun be careful where you choose to be!
We arrived in the frosty north after an incredible ferry ride (much more absorbing then flying plus it gives you a greater sense of how vast our oceans are)
We borded a train to Vallodolid about 350 km further south and then with a little nervous anticipation of the unknown before us, set off on our bikes. I think we only cycled about 20km on our first day! It was beautifully warm and sunny and as we happended upon a pine forest reserve we couldn’t resist taking the trails rather then the road (the mountain biker in me perhaps!) The trails in places were icecovered sand, not the perfect terrain for a pannier ladened bike, but incredibly beautiful and with a magic that comes from exploring in forest with species quite different from those you already know. These pines looked like green jellyfish floating in the sky (thats a childlike impression… no drugs required)
Our map was far too big a scale to be of any use so used the position of the sun as our guide and went off trail in the general direction we wanted. We surprisingly emerged where we wanted but decided to venture back in to camp for the night.
It was a beautiful sunset, but as soon as the sun dipped below the horizen the temperature plummeted and we were huddled in sleeping bags at 6.30pm rising 14 hours later to a frozen landscape.
So we continued on cycling in thick mist with frozen hair and eyelashes, wearing everything we brought with us and spending long cold nights in our tent or in one instance an outdoor bunker, snuggling together. Everywhere we stopped we were greeting with friendly intrigue and help. Water stops often resulted in being invited in for food, or biscuits or wine at 10am! A little while later and a lift over the mountain pass from an incredibly generous warm showers host we arrived south of Caceres for christmas in a much milder climate! Phew!
With the warth we could relax and reflect on our experience so far. It was interesting to see how in moments of cold and hunger some of our ecological morals, didn´t go out of the window exactly but definitely got put on the back of the shelf for a while. The supermarkets we so avidly tried to avoid in the UK were when we felt weak and hungry greated like angel stores sent from the wild heavens to sustain us! Organic food less easy to obtain here was missed but not consumed. We had planned to forage for wild food, but in the frost in a country you don´t know biking in areas without wildnerness this is less of a realistic option. So yes it is easier to live by ethics when warm and fed but far harder when frozen with a rumbling belly.
So with food we struggled. It made me feel even more strongly how important wilderness is. How important trees are. Not only for food but for all our needs . Every evening as dusk approached we would start scanning the horizen for the patch of trees in which we would spend the night. We depended on this almost entirely. They sheltered us, hid us in safetly and kept us warm. I have never felt so much before a creature of the trees!!
The wise Ents know all and look after those who know this.