Introduction:

This web site describes my bicycling tour of the Extremadura region in central Spain during the summer of 1999. Actually, my travels took me into parts of Castilla and the Provencia of Avila but most of my time was spent in the Extremadura. I hope this report helps other cyclist plan and execute their own cycle trip to Spain, a small effort to repay the debt I owe to other online cycle journals that I have used.

Why the Extremadura?

It turns out the Extremadura is a very interesting part of Spain for any American because the people in Extremadura have had such a profound impact on the history and development of America.  For example, two most famous (or infamous) conquistadors, Pizzaro and Cortez, both hail from the Extremadura.  Many other people from Extremadura joined them in the conquest of central and south America by the Spanish.  Why? During the early 1500's, the Extramadura was a relatively undeveloped part of Spain, filled with minor nobility and controlled by absentee landlords.  There were few prospects for a second or third son growing up in this region, and it was a tough neighborhood.  The region had long been a contested area in the wars between the Moors and the Spaniards, it was dotted with walled towns, and inhabited by enduring people accustomed to hardship and violence.  The opportunity for wealth and fame in the Americas was a magnet for aggressive young men who had few prospects for inheritance and were well trained to fight for what they wanted.  Very many of them did achieve wealth and fame, very few of them died peacefully in their bed.  They were prepared to live and die by the sword and their wits, most did exactly that.

Addtionally, Extremadura had the important Roman site of Merida.  Spain has some of the best preserved Roman sites.  It was an early addition to the Roman Empire and was an important source of resources and manpower until the end of the western empire in the late 5th century.  I wanted to see some of these sites.

Getting To Madrid

I flew United Airlines from Spokane Washington to Madrid Spain with connections in Chicago and Frankfurt.  I arrived sleepy but excited and anxious about how things would work out.  It wouldn't be the first time I had flown into a strange city with no no idea of where I would stay but this time I had my bike to worry about.  As I waited for my luggage the box with my bicycle seat and clothes came down the ramp first, but no bicycle.  I waited, and then I waited some more.  Eventually everybody else had gotten their luggage and luggage from the next plane started to arrive.  Fearing the worst I went to the lost luggage desk to make a claim.  I had just finished filing a lost luggage report and was walking away from the counter when here comes a man wheeling my bike box on a cart.  I collected my bike, put it back together, and started looking for a hotel.

I decided to spend the first couple nights in Madrid to adjust to the time zone and to look for a map to show me how to get out of town.  Expressways represent the primary link to the airport, so I needed a map that covered the airport area.  I found a route that went thru a light industrial area to the outskirts of town thru a suburb called San Fernando de la Heneres.