Hi there, I love to read other fellow bikepackers reports so here’s my bit. I’m native spaniard and didn’t want to use AI for translation so hope this text is readable at some degree!
I live in La Mancha region, some sort of mostly flat lands in the inner/SW side of Spain. There’s a very hot climate during summer so I waited until it cooled down for a few days. There are plenty of dirt roads with varying condition. An okay road may turn into nightmarish after a few km, depending how much use from tractors and other heavy vehicles it gets. I wanted to stay out of paved roads as much as possible but in the end it was so much effort (and dust), not very enjoyable with a loaded gravel bike for my taste.
This first adventure was meant to be short, but I pushed the limits a bit too much regarding weight, around 14 kg including some food and water and a relatively light camping setup. Some sort of rehearsal for longer trips. The weight was distributed along a rack (clothes bag, sleeping bag and a small backpack), handlebar (camping stuff), frame (misc) and 2 small fork bags (personal hygiene and cooking stuff).
The weight was mostly fine on flatter areas, but when I reached the mountains (Sierra del Segura)… oh boy.
The pictures:
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Campo de Montiel (a region inside La Mancha), living the full Quixote experience: no trees, water or shadows, just my will to get out of there! The mountain range far away was my destination.
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Some of the gravel roads during the mountain tour were much much better
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camped there, near a creek, later noticed it was a wild board drinking place but I was too tired to pack again! Even funnier, a loud “bang!” (similar to a shotgun shot) was heard periodically, probably to scare the boards. I was so… amused that decided to go with the tent’s inner net only, anticipating a bad sleep night I could watch the stars. No wild board showed up, the bangs also stopped after some time. Some owls and other usual animal noises completed the full wild camping experience.
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bonus: random dog taking a stroll by himself at Vianos decided to spend some time with me
A few thoughts from my maiden trip:
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Weight is relative, I’m not in a bad physical shape (51 YO… do’h!), but 14 kg was a bit too much. It was also a windy day, which made it worse. The camping stuff is useful to me because I may not reserve an accommodation before I’m fully sure I’ll get there on time, and some rural areas have little to no places available. Also, it’s cool to camp at certain places. So I may try to go with the minimal possible stuff just in case. No cooking, no air pad, a lighter sleeping bag. I may try to go without the rack as well.
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Don’t trust Komoot for planning a route around these lands, it may direct you towards closed areas, or take a huge detour because they haven’t mapped all the roads properly.
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Things I missed most: a kickstand, internet during the long long night 🙂
by Mr-Daft