Given the splendour and relative value of my five-star lodging, and the ache in my legs, it wasn't too difficult a decision: a day to explore Salamanca! Coffee, with a toasted croissant with butter and jam, at a place I'd noticed the evening before. 3.80 € well-spent, especially compared with the 13 € that the hotel wanted for breakfast.

First stop was at the Plaza Mayor. This was a contained square, with high building on each side. There were wooden shacks, selling books, in the centre of the square, with detracted from the overall impression. (As I had seen in León)

Nice golden stone gives all the old buildings a pleasing, warm feeling.

Spain is full of sculptures. Art of various kinds. Darth Vader, a priest or a peregrino?

So much for rest day. 200 steps with sore knees. Nice views of the city make it all worthwhile.

The Cathedrals

An then, through the new cathedral, to the old. More understated than the new.

A damp start out of Salamanca. Breakfast of coffee, toasted croissant and coffee again. Again. Lidl was not far from my route.

At the top of some hills, at a turnout for a wind farm, I stopped for lunch. Typically late, about four o'clock. When I started again, there was a screech – vaguely familiar – from my rear wheel. It sounded like it was time for new brake pads.

The repair was effected relatively efficiently. I'm learning.

Eurovelo 1 was very pleasant riding, on empty roads.

Just after Los Santos, there is a collection of granite sculptures, described as a theme park on Wikipedia. Theme park implies kitsch and tacky to me so it did seem a bit unfair. In the afternoon sun, I was scouting out places to bivvy; this area seemed possible. But it wasn't quite late enough yet – I was running out of energy but there was still daylight for a few hours.

A village, with an albergue! Time to call it a day. I enquired at the bar, the lady demanded my (pilgrim) passport, stamped it and let me off to the albergue. A single room with eight tightly packed beds, but I was the only guest. A shower, and back to the bar for dinner and a bottle of wine. A successful day.

A short day today. Not without its exertions. But breakfast first, at the bar. Coffee and tortilla and coffee again. A cyclist came in, heading north. He'd left Plasencia this morning. Two days to Plasencia for me. I'm putting the slow firmly back into slow cycling. After breakfast, a look at the village. Traditional, and not so much, peregrinos on display.

Fairly flat, followed by a testing uphill, 176 m, but I did manage to ride it all without a break. Something of an achievement for me. But I stopped for a breather at the top.

Down into Béjar, up through town, and some more level going. A trail seemed to be parallel to my road route; perhaps the road designation sticks to it religiously when there is a nice, hard packed and traffic-free nearby alternative.

I had booked a hotel room in Puerto de Béjar and was riding through the village to the hotel when I passed the albergue. A man outside shouted to me but I was past him so I shouted "Hotel" and carried on. Up steeply to the hotel, rather gloomy looking, with no-one in attendance. I turned around, returned to the albergue, did some laundry and settled in for the afternoon. I was the only peregrino, had my credencial stamped, and could choose any of the eight bunks.

Jésus, the hospitalero, made dinner: spaghetti with chorizo, salad with mackeral. Jésus doesn't drink, because of a kidney tumour, but didn't object to me doing so. I walked up the road to the service station and collected a bottle of Rioja.

Peregrinos are up at seven, and out of the albergue by eight, I learned. Not me, but I aimed for around nine. Coffee, bread and marmalade. Then photos with Jésus, the hospitalero, and exchange of contact details. Jésus will be back in his home, Sevilla, at the end of the month and can show me around. It takes several days, he told me. Not in my schedule. Let's see how things work out: Eurovelo 1 skirts Sevilla altogether and cuts the corner on its way to Portugal.

A quick climb (8 m) back up to the rail-trail I'd left the evening before: Via Verde, or the Green Way. This is not the route in my cycling guide but appears to be on Eurovelo 1. And recommended by a couple of locals who had popped round to talke to Jésus the previous evening.

Gentle coasting down, rarely a pedal stroke. An excellent start to the day. Almost immediately out of Castilla y León and into Extremadura.

Into a tunnel, blackness and a damp, softer surface that grabbed at my front wheel, had me wondering where I'd stashed my headlight. Front bag, I think. Then, on popped the tunnel lights...

After about 10 km, a sign indicated just 58 km more to Galisteo; that seemed a reasonable destination for the day. Since much of it appeared to be downhill. I had only planned as far as Plasencia but went ahead and booked a room in Gastileo instead. There weren't many available and it was Friday so there might be some last minute weekend custom.

The math didn't quite work out, but that point escaped me. I'd covered about 10 km of an 80 km stage but there was only 58 km to go?

There were a few other cyclists, mainly small groups on mountain bike. A couple going northward, uphill. Apart from that, I had the trail to myself. It was pretty, not yet hot, and about as good as it can get!

The trail was more overgrown in places but always seemed to widen out again

Somewhere, the Eurovelo had separated from the Via Verde. Without any indication that I noticed, while I had been enjoying the free ride at a gentle downgrade of between 1% and 2%. My mapping app was unclear about whether the Via Verde continued nicely to Plasencia so I decided to cut across to the EV1, not far away and running reasonably parallel. It was only two or three kilometres away.

It was flat now, pedalling along a deserted road in the middle of the plain, with the sun beating down. I wouldn't want to be a peregrino walking across this in the height of summer. I'm not sure I was that keen on cycling across it, having been spoiled by the earlier downhill. More than 500 m of it. And slow enough to get full value!

Then almost a U-turn and onto gravel. Harder but (almost) always nicer. Moving more slowly, but more pleasurably.

Down a gravel lane with metal railings on either side, posts set in concrete, no expense spared for an impressive Finca de Baldios estate. Well-fed and majestic cattle.

Past the main entrance to the estate...but not invited into.

Then out of the estate and back to the more real world. Barbed wire fencing and stone walls.

By now, I was getting weary. I was ready for the day to be over, beautiful though it had been. It didn't want to quit. (Unlike myself!) Through a village, down steeply on tarmac. My cycle computer indicated straight on, but a Eurovelo sign told me to go left, onto double track. The sign indicated 23 km to Galisteo, my cycle computer indicates 37 km. Is this a short-cut or more confused sign distances? Is it more current than my mapping? Take it and see?

The double track became a bit more challenging, then thistles squeezed in on both sides and, attempted to avoid impalement and aiming for the grassy centre, I took a tumble. A slow-motion tumble, minor scrapes. Camera jettisoned but still appears to work. Picking up a water bottle and re-inserting it in its holder, I noticed that I'd broken the holder. Into the back pannier, keep calm, and carry on.

I was moving parallel to a road, the route my cycle computer had wanted me to take. Just before I reached it, there was another distance sign. For 24 km. By taking the double track route, I was going back, if not in time then in distance.

The route now followed a 'canal' for quite some distance. The "Canal Principal de la margen derechar del Jerte." Less impressive than its name leads one to believe.

The road followed the channel closely except where the channel had to be elevated. There are a surprising number of these little aquaducts. The canal stretches for miles, is constructed from concrete, and has a dozen aquaducts that I saw. How many millions of euros went into the construction, I wonder, for a relatively small capacity. The flow seemed relatively quick, which may explain like it never quite felt like horizontal riding!

(Although I think I might have made easier weather of it if I'd adjusted the brake pads on my rear brake. Why is it always the rear? The settings seem to move, as I can feel as the brake lever gets less play. Perhaps some locktite on the adjustment screws?)

Eventually, Galisteo. At around 7pm for what I'd thought would be a short day. That's life in the saddle.