Monday 29th January 2018

Having spent the last few days doing very little and enjoying a restful break from travelling we decided we should really break out the cycles again and explore Elche a little.

We had cycled into the nearest village, San Felipe Neri, for some supplies and a quick recce around the church and its square but that had been the furthest we had ventured.

Elche or Elx as it is in Valèncian, is the third major city in the Valèncian community by population and happens to boast the biggest palm tree grove in Europe; the Palmeral de Elche.

We set up Google maps for bicycles and headed off towards Elche. Google predicted 18.2 kms and approximately and hour 😉

Although we were close to some major roads, Google maps very kindly plots the journey on more suitable roads for cycling. The majority of the roads were wide and relatively quiet and easy to ride along.

As we cycled we noticed that much of the land was being used for cultivating palms. Some areas were very neat and well looked after, whilst some other parts had been left unattended and become very overgrown.

Our cycle ride was progressing well, although it became apparent that the 1 hour prediction to our destination was way out!

As we approached the city of Elche, the traffic began to build and we were now on very busy main roads. (We had set off around 2 o’clock, so that would account for the rise in traffic).

We were struggling to follow Google Maps in the maze of streets and one way systems, but as luck would have it, Ray managed to navigate to the River Vinalopó and from here we were able to follow the path of the river towards the palm grove.

The bed of the river was rather unusual, in as much as the man-made banks were very steep and the bed very wide, despite the river being very narrow.

Artists had made their mark on the bed either side of the fast flowing river and it was a colourful and an interesting addition. We also saw dog walkers and people making the most of the opportunity to walk along the base of the river.

Over a small bridge and up a steep path brought us to  street level and the entrance to the palm grove.

The palm grove is a UNSECO world heritage site and is a system of date palm orchards in the urban Elche, covering an area of over 3.5 km².

It was like an oasis in a busy city as you can imagine.

Paths took you between the arrays of palms and there were ample seating areas to sit and enjoy the grove.

We found a palm which was over 200 years old, called the Sentinel. It was over 25 metres tall, not including the crown!

Despite enjoying our time in the palm grove, we were conscious of the time. Our one hour ride had actually turned into an hour and 40 minutes! We hadn’t realised we had climbed from 4 metres to 108 metres above sea level.

Knowing that darkness would descend on us rather rapidly, we decided to head back to camp.

We decided to follow the river bed rather than heading back into the city and it proved worthwhile.

We crossed one major road and passed through a small industrial area but were soon back on the more quiet rural roads and making better progress towards home. Possibly the downhill aspect helped too 😉

We arrived back safely and in the daylight, and within the hour.  36 kms later, two over-sixties had made the trip, albeit a little saddle sore 😉