#2: [02-Aug-08]

#1: [24-Mar-02]

27-Feb-2017 -- This is the fifth out of six reports reaching confluence points during a bicycle trip from Lisbon to Ciudad Real. The story starts at 39°N 9°W and continues from 39°N 6°W.

After spending the night in the town Villanueva de la Serena, I started my third cycling day. The area is excellent for cycling: remote country roads almost without traffic. I crossed a huge water reservoir (The Embalse de la Serena) where the road crosses the lake by two bridges and in the middle it goes around an interesting island with a symmetrical, volcano shaped mountain.

In the town Siruela (5 km from the confluence point) I had a stop for lunch with food from the grocery. Then my attack for the confluence began. I approached it on beautiful tracks overgrown with daisies. The nearer I came to the confluence point the steeper was the decline down. Interestingly this is quite unusual. I estimate that only one out of 30 confluence points has an approach of going down, while it is ten times more likely that the approach means to go upwards (and the rest is more or less flat). But if the confluence points are more or less randomly distributed, how come this gap? The reason is that our infrastructure (roads and towns) are mostly built in the valleys.

I abandoned my bicycle at a remaining distance of 500 m, because it became more of a burden than helpful. At 140 m, I reached the valley bottom, where Río Siruela flows. At this time of the year, it has quite a lot of water. Crossing was done by taking of the shoes and taking care of not slipping while cautiously crossing the river barefooted.

The confluence is located 60 m from the eastern shore of the river on a meadow with short grass, sizzles scattered tussocks. Actually it is a beautiful, very remote river valley! I would give a full score for the scenery.

I continued cycling further east. Again I tried to make a direct approach to the village Tamurejo 4 km to the east. It ended in a disaster: the track petered out and I had to first push and later carry my bicycle. But again: I didn’t take any road twice!

I spent the night in the village Abenójar which is 80 km east of this confluence point.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to a road: 4 km
• Distance to a track: 500 m
• Distance of bicycle parking: 500 m
• Time to reach the CP from Siruela: 40 minutes
• Time at the CP: 2:10 PM
• Measured height: 412 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
• Position accuracy: 3 m
• Topography: relatively flat, but steep valley faces nearby
• Vegetation: short grass, sizzles, tussocks. Oak trees nearby
• Weather: partly cloudy, 18° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The Daisy Valley Confluence

The story finishes at 39°N 4°W.