One of the greatest things about cycling is being constantly surprised at the generosity of other cyclists when it comes to offering food, accommodation, smiles and help in general. Doris Lessing once said that anyone who travelled on a bike couldn't be capable of evil, but what that quote doesn't capture is the capacity for good that most cyclists are willing to offer one another.A living, breathing example of that is José Manuel Benayas (at right), a mountain biker from the town of Yepes, halfway between Madrid and Toledo. Back at the end of January, I posted a message on a Spanish-language cycling forum, publicizing the ride. Within two hours, JM had not only written, offering any kind of help, but spent over an hour on the phone with me, talking me through different ways that one could cycle between Aranjuez and Toledo (a section that Elspeth and I tried to do over the December long weekend.) And if that wasn't enough, he actually skived off work and came along.
The good news: It's not pleasant, but it's not impossible. Basically, what you need to do is keep cycling on the north side of the old Aranjuez-Toledo train line until you reach the highway to Mocejón. What Els and I did in December was to ride north into Mocejón and then go west along a regional road until we got to Toledo, but the big disadvantage to that was that once you get to Toledo, you've got to swing your way through a big cloverleaf of offramps and onramps before arriving in the city proper - pretty hair-raising. There's talk of turning the old railway bridge over the Tagus into a greenway. Let's hope so: it's a shame that one of the loveliest, most atmospheric cities in Spain is SUCH a pain in the patootie to get into if you're not in a train or a car...
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