With just over a month to this, has anyone given any thought to a plan?
I've made a few assumptions, if anyone disagrees or has better thoughts please shout.
1)The aim is to ride the full 700km in the direction (anticlockwise)that Ernesto has indicated.
2)We will ride on all 7 days available albeit the first and last days will be shorter to allow time for bike building/faffing.
3)We will camp the majority of nights but eat at cafes or buy the makings at shops en route. I'm planning to take a minimal cooking kit and porridge/coffee for 5 days. If anyone wants a screw type gas cannister getting, let me know.
4) Based on 100-120km of riding on the "full" days, we will get to the guarded refuge on Javalambe on Thursday evening. I've looked at the booking system and they require a €12 pp deposit which I'm happy to pay providing everyone agrees to this and to reimbursing me even if they don't use it.
5)Since his initial declaration of interest, I've not heard anything from maxap, I've pm'ed him but he's not read it. He indicated he's making his own way there so no worries about airport collection but I'm not going to include him in the refuge booking either.
6)Ernesto is riding with us on the first day and plans to leave his van at our finish point so we need to agree this. My thinking is we should get to the village of Bronchales as it's 80km from the start so will suggest this.
If anyone is interested in the recent history of the area we are visiting, Teruel was a key city in th Civil War changing hands several times and the area is full of memorials, might be worth a bit of background reading/googling.

Yes I started to have a look at things yesterday.

- Aim to ride the full route, but make a decision after a few days if its achievable. Option of taking the Atajos at La Puebla de Valverde if it seems like too much
- Was thinking around 100k a day, and see how we get on. Is it a full 7 days, as some fly back on the Saturday?
- Same thinking that Bronchales would be a good aim for the first day of riding ~80k in
- Is the refuge on Javalambe about 500k in? If so i'm happy to book it for Thursday evening and take the risk
- Food wise, was going to pick up stuff along the way. Part of the trip is interacting with the locals and eating local stuff

Good to see we're on the same page, the return flight from Castellon is at 22.25 on Sat21st so something like 60km back to Teruel, food and pack bikes would seem fine. Basically it's reversing the previous Saturday with me driving back to my place via Castellon then dropping you at Reus on Sunday. Yes Javalambre is 500km in so we could do there to Alcala de la Selva on Friday and back to Teruel on Sat. Do you need gas, you can't fly with canisters.

Looks like I can't make it.
Thought I had the time but too much to do.
Have a great time guys.

Sorry you can't make it maxap, maybe another time.
I've booked for 5 at the refugio, food when we get there, bed in the dormitory and breakfast Friday morning. I'll let Ernesto know about Bronchales. Let me know about gas as I'll need to pay a visit to Decathlon, if you use meths, I can get that as well.
Bear in mind that we set off on Sunday and there will be limited shops open in Teruel for stuff you may not want to fly with such as fruit, bars, trail mix etc. I tend to snack on fruit bars that Decathlon sell for €8 for a box of 10. They taste ok and fill you up well, if you want me to get some, shout.
It'd be good if someone can bring a Spot and set it up so we can be tracked by MrsPB or Ernesto, just in case we run into some insurmountable trouble.

Plan looks good to me Duncan. I just hope Ryanairs strikes don't mess thinks up.......again!

I hope lightning doesn't strike twice Hux, that would be a bugger.
Not heard anything from Andy or Ian re the refugio, assuming they're ok with the arrangement.
Also no feedbck on gas or trail food, I'll not do anything unless I hear.

No gas or trail food for me thanks and I have already said yes to the Rifugio but looking back on the wording it wasn't clear

Sorry Andy, I didn't make it clear, the feedback I was referring to was related to the itinerary meaning we would get there on Thursday based on anticipated daily distance and that the deposit was non refundable. Since booking I've been deciphering/translating the t&c's and it seems that if you cancel within 5 days of the arrival, you are reponsible for 100% of the cost i.e €30 each so even more incentive to go for it.

just to confirm - I'm up for the refugio and deposit - I did post something up above but it may have been ambiguous! I've not been on here much recently but looking forward to this one.

1)The aim is to ride the full 700km in the direction (anticlockwise)that Ernesto has indicated.

- yep, sounds good

2)We will ride on all 7 days available albeit the first and last days will be shorter to allow time for bike building/faffing.

-Excellent

3)We will camp the majority of nights but eat at cafes or buy the makings at shops en route. I'm planning to take a minimal cooking kit and porridge/coffee for 5 days. If anyone wants a screw type gas cannister getting, let me know.

-yes please - a couple of small screw type cannisters that will fit in a ti mug would be great.


4) Based on 100-120km of riding on the "full" days, we will get to the guarded refuge on Javalambe on Thursday evening. I've looked at the booking system and they require a €12 pp deposit which I'm happy to pay providing everyone agrees to this and to reimbursing me even if they don't use it.

- happy to reimburse you even if we don't make it, of course.

Cheers,

Ian

Ian, the ones available here are 100g Primus Powergas which have a diameter of about 90mm is this ok?

Perfect - thanks Duncan!

I think today is the day the vuelta heads up to the observatory near the route? I'll record the finish to have a look!

re: kit I'm thinking that a bivi alone will be sufficient given the refugios on the way?

Yes Stage5, I was 50m before the finish line, the atmosphere was brilliant. The chasing pack nearly made it. We rode the last 30km and can confirm it's quite hilly! To avoid the holdups getting back we went off road on the gravel bikes which confirmed that using a chunky tyres 29er in 2 weeks time is the best idea. We're in Vilafranca del Cid atm and today's route runs through the last 2 days of the MV trip, again some big hills. I'll post some photos when we get home tomorrow.
Re bivvy, that's what I'm taking but keep an eye on the forecast as it can be chilly at over 1,000m in Sept.

This is what riding up Javalambre feels like and he hasn't even got any bags on the bike! The proper summit is in the background to his right, it's about 70m higher than the telescope but I'm not quibbling when the whole plateau is at 2,000m.

Just starting to get stuff together for this. A few questions:

How much water capacity are we thinking?
Assuming no resupply between villages

What daytime temps?

Likely overnight temps?
Assume it could be cold overnight

Possibly just get away with a bivi?
Assume it’s fairly dry that time of year and if it’s bad we’ll fund some kind of shelter

Hi Chew,
Water: given it's the end of a very dry summer, at least 2 litres to be safe, Ernesto reckons most of the village fonts will be ok as they are connected to the mains.
Temp: Remember we are high up for large sections, above 1500m and all of the camp spots are similar altitude so wind could be a factor. I'd say mid 20's day and 10 at night.
Bivvy:There's only 1 night We'd where I've not found much in the way of shelter for 20km either side of the planned mileage we'll probably have to buy food early-ish in the day as well. I mentioned in an earlier post about getting gas for cooking but only Ian stuck his hand up. I'm definitely taking a meths stove, coffee and porridge as it might be several km till we find food in the morning.

Cheers

I’m ok for gas, as I’ll just survive on cold stuff.

A bit warmer than I expected on a night, but will probably come prepared for it to drop to zero.

Have two large 750m bottles, but will I can accommodate more

10° at night will be a lot cooler than we've been experiencing for the last couple of months.
Some more thoughts, as we're 1,500 miles south of the UK, it gets dark quite quickly at about 8.30. If we're contemplating eating in the evening in cafes, we will need to be prepared that food will not be available until after 8pm so some riding in the dark may be necessary to get to refugios or bivvy spots so bring decent lights.
Sorry if this is repetition but a little fold away rucksack will be useful for carrying food and drink from village to bivvy spot, Decathlon sell a really neat one for about £3.
Don't forget your EHIC card, might be the last time you get to use it!

Also don’t forget earplugs


Sorry couldn’t resist.

And a stick for writing obscenities on the trail.

OCD message sent to participants

I've not received anything!

scratch that, as if by magic, it just arrived!

Just got the message.

Will digest everything later and will respond with all the details before the end of the weekend