Day thirty nine

 

Interesting natural sandstone sculptures seen along the way to Alicante.

I leave the Hotel Ibi in what I believe to be Ibi town. It was a budget hotel but perfect and clearly thought had gone into catering for those less fortunate. A ramp into the foyer for wheelchair users made taking the bike in much easier and I am able to park it outside my room on the ground floor. The room was super modern and it was one of the cheapest hotels on this trip so far. 

I depart around 9:30 and head for Alicante with still 40km to do. However it is mostly downhill and I arrive in Alicante centre at midday ready for lunch. However I have no appetite and so I work my way towards the seafront when spot a cafe advertising English breakfast. Now that I could eat, I have longed for egg for over a week but the cold Spanish omelette cannot compete with the French quiche and they are rare in Spain. It is 12:05 and I go in and order an English breakfast but I am told they stop serving breakfasts at 12:00! Boy, was I disappointed. I leave and carry on down to the harbour.

I see a very nice cafe and ask if an English breakfast is possible. Yes, no problem and once again it comes with an orange juice, tomato tostadas, and toast and marmalade. I am in heaven when my meal arrives and feel confident this will set me up for the afternoon stretch to Murcia.

English breakfast at Depinchos near to Alicante harbour.

The ride to Murcia was not too bad and for sure helped along by the English breakfast. Of course I am still using Maps.me as it got me this far despite many annoying incidents. Today was no exception and I had to endure several dirt track diversions and some questionable routes but in the end I rode over 80km and headed for a town not too far from Murcia where I found a hostel for the night.

This off-road track was at least 4km long and never changed direction, it skirted a fascinating nature reserve.

Some of the cycle paths in Spain leave much to be desired. Dodging from one side of the street to the other and back again, taking long detours and some with markings and surfaces that are seriously dangerous. There is little thought for the cyclist when it comes to road building. An extra foot width of tarmac is all that is needed on many roads to make them cyclist friendly but the car rules and no one has considered the cyclist or even scooter riders for that matter.

This was one cycle path I had to use as the side road was eventually blocked and the main road (behind the hedge) was inaccessible, being fenced off and with a deep drainage ditch between.