September 18, 2004
Antequera
So immediately we are reminded of Lessons Learned #2: keep a journal. You would think that we’d have a better recollection of our first ride in Andalucia, following a route I’d thought about for months: a run north to Antequera beneath the dominating face of El Torcal. Almost nothing definitive comes back though; and amazingly enough I don’t have any photographs from the day’s ride until we reached Antequera. Not even a picture of El Torcal. I surely must have taken a few, but maybe they didn’t turn out well and I filtered them out after viewing the disappointing results.
I do remember that the roads were much quieter than I was afraid of they might be; and that the ride was a physical challenge - too hot, and too many hills the day after we arrived. This was one of the last tours where we started biking immediately instead of taking an extra day in our arrival town to adjust a bit before hitting the road.
And I do recall looking up at Torcal and the road that snakes up its face, sadly concluding that we didn’t have it in us to bike up there for a closer look. And, as I’m writing this, the missing photographs come to mind - they were disappointing because in the bright afternoon sunlight they were too overexposed and poorly composed to capture anything memorable.
My clearest memories are from our evening in Antequera, walking out to a mirador for a view across the city and out to La Pena de los Enamorados while waiting for the ever-so-late Spanish dinner hour. I’d never heard of a mirador before, and I remember being puzzled by the word; and I was charmed by the whitewashed buildings and ancient structures of the city. I remember being sorry that we hadn’t gotten here earlier in the day, before most of the town darkened with the setting sun. Mostly though I remember being drawn to that amazing rock standing out so prominently just a few miles to the east.
So, not much to bring back from our first visit to Antequera - just enough of a memory to encourage us to come this way again if we ever had the chance. Much more memorable was our second visit to Antequera nine years later - one of the most memorable rides of our lives., one of those days we’ve talked about countless times ever since. And, we brought back photos of El Torcal this time; but we still didn’t manage the climb up to the top because of the winds. Reading it again now, I think I need to review of our planned itinerary for this autumn’s tour - shouldn’t we be coming this way yet again?
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Ride stats today: 35 miles, 5,000’
Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 35 miles (56 km)
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5 years ago