10/14/2023 Bikepacking Spain Day 67 : You can rub it on my leg if you want.

by Brian · Published October 14, 2023 · Updated March 3, 2024

Photos:

Happy trails today and into some scenic canyons! —

See that 100 mile wide swath of no rain? We were in that this morning. And all around us it was yellow or red (didn’t think to take a screen shot until later). We got little sprinkles, but we’re lucky it wasn’t harder. I always wonder if these things are computer artifacts or real. For example, look how there is a diagonal wall of green on the right side of the screen capture. Does rain really move like that? —

I saw this sign and the first thing I thought was, “is that guy on a Pinarello Prince?” Only the nerdiest of roadies will appreciate that. —

Oh yeah, the title. You’re probably like, WTF? This morning, Janet and I huddled in a stone Refugio to hide out from the rain. Janet offered me a little piece of oily cheese that had been melting in her bag all day yesterday. It was mostly inedible waxy rind, but I extracted what I could. My hands got all greasy in the process. She says, “you can rub it on my legs if you want. That is why I have been doing!” Janet’s skin is a sponge for grease, and it works better than 3 Brawny paper towels. —

Today outside of the store, a guy asked me for money. I told him I didn’t have any cash. But then he asked for food. When people ask for food, I take them more seriously. And this guy was skinny as a rail. I asked him, “what do you want?” He said, “oil and sugar.” I was a little incredulous at first and asked again. Same reply. I went in and got him 2000 calories of peanuts, which is what i find most calorically dense. Afterwards, I worried to myself: He was so skinny…. Was he a type 1 ? Didn’t have the courage to go back and ask. There are so many things that could be going on, but when people ask for food instead of money, it often means they really need help. —

“I’m not dead yet!” Exclaimed mr. drone. You see, dronie faltered on takeoff - from a precarious rock. Rather than go up, it hesitated just long enough to catch a prop on the rock and tumble. It was a short fall, but he broke his leg. Luckily, it was still attached by the wires. I booped to Janet , calling off the photo shoot. She saw broken dronie. I wasn’t terribly upset, as you can buy new legs, and dronie is almost done on this trip… so I put it away. 30 minutes later, I couldn’t take it anymore, and got out the superglue and some tape and made a fiberglass-like repair on both sides of the cracked leg. After some waiting for the glue to dry and holding it carefully in position, the drone went on to scan the skies on two more flights! No footage, though, because we only have one bar of slow data again. —

We get some competition at these fountains somewhat frequently. We will be there filling up in a seemingly remote location… and then someone arrives ready to fill gallons of water. Makes us feel safer about the fountains. This guy claimed the water here was from a spring and better than his tap water at home. We end up scrambling to fill our bottles because we don’t want to make people wait. —