Ormas

Tomorrow begins the ride. When I went to pick up my bike today, I was joined by a three-person Russian family who will be on the same route as me. Their cordiality is lukewarm at best although I predict they may need me one day because they speak no Spanish and their English is a little rough. I shall refer to them as “the Russians.”

I am starting from Ormas, Spain, population 31. Or I guess 35 today if you count the Russians and me. If you click on “Things to Do in Ormas” in TripAdvisor, you get “We could not find attractions near Ormas.” Similarly, if you go to the Ormas online forum, the page says “Be the first to ask a question about Ormas.” I thought about asking a question just to get things started but quickly realized that no one would answer it. This is downtown Ormas. My hotel is on the left.

My ride will follow the Ebro River for a week or so, through the valleys of Rioja. The Ebro is maybe the longest river in Spain (If you believe about half of the websites that have an opinion on the topic) and goes through some beautiful country, much of which, according to the bike rental company, has no towns, stores, restaurants or traffic. “You may want to carry your lunch with you and eat it under a tree” is how they put it. I’m guessing the roads may be a lot like this one that I explored this afternoon.

One impromptu plan today, other than getting a closer look at the cows surrounding my hotel, was to ride to the source of the Ebro River, which we passed on the way up here. This unassuming spot is where water from the surrounding mountains that goes underground for many kilometers pops up again and forms the beginning of the Ebro. There’s nothing to spoil the natural beauty of this spot except maybe the statue of Mary holding Jesus which is here because, Spain.

Just before dinner I followed the road up the hill a ways and found an old church that seems to still be in use and a few well-kept houses, demonstrating that sometimes 31 people is enough (below).