Olive trees dominate the landscape of Andalusia in southern Spain, stretching out as far as the eye can see on either side of our path.
And when Antonio Bermudez tells us how many there are, all jaws drop: 66 million gnarled and twisted trees, some of which are 600 years old, grow in the region.
โThey were here before Columbus set sail for America,โ he says.
The area we are traversing in the province of Jaen, one of the eight that make up Andalusia, is known as the sea of olives, and is one of the largest olive growing regions in the world.
Bermudezโs job is to navigate his guests through this sea, by bike along the Via Verde del Aceite, or Olive Oil Route, a 128-kilometre hiking and cycling trail that leads from the provincial capital, also called Jaen, to the town of Puente Genil, about 70 kilometres south of Cordoba.