Some places are best understood by a rider who has had to stop and wait. At Yeres, in the upland between the Sil and the Teleno range, a farm tractor or a herd of cattle will often hold you up on the road, and it is a good moment to look at the hillside and notice that the slope is not natural. The estéiles here, the heaps of Roman mining waste, are folded into the landscape and overgrown with oak, broom and heather.
The Romans came for gold, and the scale of their operation is hard to grasp until you see it from above. From the high roads you can see long scars in the hills, where whole slopes were washed away, and the debris collected in the valleys below. The workings extended across much of this part of north-west Spain, and parts of the region are included in the protected landscape around Las Médulas, though many sites are unmarked and unvisited.
Riding here means taking things slowly. The roads follow the contours of the valley, with sudden tight bends, and the surface is a mix of recent asphalt and older, bumpier stretches. In autumn and winter, mist can fill the valleys, and the stone walls and shaded corners stay wet. Spring is lovely, with wildflowers and fresh green on the chestnuts.
Puente de Domingo Flórez, a village of fewer than two thousand people, is the nearest place for a coffee and a snack. For fuel and a bigger shop, you will need to go further, to Ponferrada or Cacabelos, a good half hour away on these roads. Benuza is the other small village nearby, and it too is quiet. Bring food and water if you plan to explore, and finish the day at a table in the Bierzo with a glass of Mencía, which tastes of the slopes it grows on.