Stage 3. Majada Baja/Soria Refuge
77.5 kilometers. 310 positive meters.
The third day of the cycling trip is delicious, almost all favorable terrain and very seductive landscapes until Ciria. The descent passes through the detour of the Cruz de las Heladas hill, in the beautiful pastoral meadows of El Hoyuelo. The name refers to a group of women from Beratón who were surprised by a snow blizzard and froze to death, only the cavalry survived. The lane crests the last hills of Moncayo and goes down towards Beratón. In the ravines on the left, the Isuela River is born, one of the main tributaries of the Jalón River, therefore we are still on the Mediterranean slope of the Iberian System. In Beratón we take the photo from the stone cruise and continue planning at full pedal along an impeccable track that surrounds the Sierra del Tablado and ends in Borobia, with a small hostel open all year round, it is the main refreshment point of the stage. The route runs through the karst plateaus of the Manubles River and in the Corrales de las Cabezas it descends to the limestone canyon of the Celorrio barracks, a spectacular gorge of rocky slopes that leads to the Ciria road. The landscapes along the route never cease to surprise.
In the Middle Ages, the town of Ciria was a strategic step on the old borders between Arabs and Christians, it has a rock fortress and a medieval urban layout. The castle is perched on steep, isolated cliffs outside the town, watching over the course of the Manubles River. You have to walk a few minutes to reach the wall of the old fortress. In the urban area, the large volume of the Gothic church in the staggered distribution of the town draws attention. The route of the old Santander-Mediterranean railway passes in Ciria, our destination to return to the city of Soria because this section has been recovered by the Natural Trails network and offers a fantastic cycling alternative for gravel bikepacking. The link from the town to the old railway is simple through the Manubles plain and a lane that goes up to the road surface. In the ditch there is a sign dedicated to the town of Ciria and then a small curved tunnel with automatic artificial lighting.
The first section of the natural path is a gentle climb to El Pozuelo and the Tordesalas station, the entrance to the Soriano moor and the Duero basin. The rest of the trip is a flat landscape with no notable changes of pace in the immense colorful plains of the Campos de Gómara, dedicated mainly to cereal cultivation. The railway passes near the towns but never touches the urban centres, you have to detour to get water or any type of provision. We stopped at the hermitage of the Silos, near Portillo de Soria, which is next to the road, has shade and a pleasant place to take the last supplies we have left and regain strength. In the next section there are more abandoned stations, some of good size that demonstrate the commercial importance that the railway had during its time of service. The rest area of the old Martialay station announces the end of the journey. The natural path ends at the Valcorba Industrial Estate, about four kilometers before Soria. The route runs through the streets of the industrial warehouses and comes out to the roundabout of the N-234 highway that enters Soria via the Duero River. At the end of the descent there is a detour to the left that enters directly into the Soto Playa gardens, crosses the Duero over the crab pedestrian bridge and ends at the parking lot. End of the cycling adventure. The value of a trip is not measured by the distance traveled or the number of photos, but rather by the desire to start the next one.