It was always going to be a long day but when I took the wrong turn at El Burgo Ranero it became even longer. Thankfully, it was mainly flat. The Meseta is largely flat and dry and uninteresting which is why cycling it at least gets it out of the way sooner. Officially this leg marks reaching the mid point of the whole journey. Having only a couple of days more cycling to go the remaining 350km will be by foot. The weather has been beautiful for cycling and early starts have meant getting the majority of the traveling done before the heat arrives in the afternoon. It would be nice for that trend to continue for the rest of the walking section. I arrive at the hotel this afternoon a little late or lunch but the young lady in charge, Gemma (pronounced Hemma) was able to rustle me up some home made vegetable soup, the biggest ham and cheese sandwich you could imagine, a plate of sliced tomatoes with real flavour, and a couple of beers for good measure. That certainly hit the spot. Sought out a couple of seedy bars in the place (I think they are only 2 bars in the place) and had a couple of beers before dinner. Ready for that now. Although one of the bars gave me olives and chips with my beer. Heroes everywhere!