Day 14 Barrax to Alcaraz

The day dawned grey and drizzly. We had an early breakfast and pedalled  off in the cold, gloomy morning. After a few kilometres we reached the village of Tiriez which had a superb panaderia where we bought enough bread and cakes to fuel us through the day.
This area of Spain is quite remote from the tourist trail. There are very few shops, indeed many villages have none at all. If they do they are tiny and not very conspicuous, so we are always careful to carry enough to keep us going.
After 30km we arrived at the Via Verde Sierra de Alcaraz aka Ruta Don Quijote. This was not as smooth as the one we used a few days ago, but was scenic. This huge project of hundreds of kilometres including many tunnels and viaduct was almost complete when a combination of civil war and declining interest in rail travel as roads were developed, caused it to be abandoned before a single train ran on it.

 Eventually we arrived at Alcaraz and are now staying at the excellent Hostal Rosales where we were served a superb meal on our balcony (the bikes are on it too).

That just left time for a stroll around the town before bed. At least the weather had improved!

Barrax to Alcaraz   72km, 500m ascent.