The Señorío de Molina is a high, cold, sparsely populated tableland on the boundary of Guadalajara and Aragon, and it feels like it, with big skies, wheat and sheep, wide valleys and villages of stone. Rillo, five or six kilometres from Molina de Aragón, sits at about a thousand metres on this plateau, where winters are among the harshest in Spain and snow can lie for weeks. Molina has a reputation as one of the coldest towns in the country, but a rider in June finds only a dry, bright warmth.
Molina itself is worth seeing. A large medieval castle overlooks the town, with a tall tower called the Torre de Aragón, and the old centre has narrow streets, arcaded squares and an old stone bridge over the Gallo. The lordship of Molina was practically independent for a long time in the Middle Ages, and the town has a proud sense of its own history. About thirty kilometres to the west the Alto Tajo natural park cuts deep gorges into the plateau and has some of the best river scenery in central Spain.
The riding is in the big, uncomplicated style of the Meseta. Long straights, rolling gradients and wide bends, with views for tens of kilometres, little traffic and a good surface, though the wind can be fierce. The roads that lead to Alto Tajo are narrower and more interesting, descending in a series of curves into forested canyons. This is a place for a day of easy cruising rather than aggressive riding.
Fuel is easy at Molina de Aragón, which has about three and a half thousand people and several stations. Corduente is smaller, with a few services, and Jaraba, in Aragon to the east, is known for its spas. Local food is hearty, with lamb, cured meats, and migas, and a coffee at Molina's main square is a good break. Painted rock shelters are recorded in the ravines around the plateau, a reminder that this high land has been inhabited for a very long time.