May 20, 2024
Granada
The Great Goat Grind to Granada
Today’s ride has loomed large in my mind since I settled on it as a feasible ride from the coast at Almunecar to Granada. It appealed to me because it would be a quiet route, it looked like we’d be able to do it (nothing over 10%) and it was a historic trail, La Carretara de la Cabra or The Goat’s Path. In times gone by, it was used by mule teams to bring fish from Almunecar to market in Granada. It took two days along a dangerous and difficult path through the Almajara mountain range to reach Granada. Before that, it was used since time immemorial to reach the fertile valley of the Verde River and from there, the Mediterranean. After the mule teams came the stagecoaches to transport people. What a frightful journey that would have been! In even more modern times, we were told they used this road to film a James Bond movie and by Ferarri to launch one of their models.
This all to say that today’s ride is the biggest climb on this tour and I was psyched. I asked David in the lead up to the tour if he had any qualms or wanted to endorse the route, which seemed only fair. He said he didn’t have any preference, but after he watched a YouTube video of a young woman and her boyfriend doing the ride, he was in.
We started with a visit to the same bar we had drinks at yesterday afternoon. The hard working couple here opens their place at 6:30 in the morning and so had chosen it to be our breakfast spot. We thought there would be others having breakfast but no, not today. At the bar were 3 or 4 old men who looked as though this was their second home. And then there was us. We ordered tosta (a large slice of toasted bread) and cafe con leche with peach juice, since they didn’t have an orange juicing machine. It served the purpose and besides, there really weren’t any other obvious options at this time of day. We’d normally search out some food for later, but it was too early for the supermercado to be open.
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And with that, we carried and pushed our bikes and our luggage separately up to the main road, and loaded up. In that moment we made a big mistake of leaving town without anything to eat along the way, save for a lone granola bar and a few peanuts. Don’t do that if you ever decide this ride is for you.
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The temperature today was ideal, about 10 degrees when we started, and there was sky. Above the valley the sky was a gorgeous blue and was dotted with puffy white clouds. The wind was from northwest which is generally the direction of Granada but our route wound and twisted across the landscape so we experienced wind from all directions throughout the day. Nothing too killer that we cursed it, though.
The highlights of the ride for me were the road itself (the surface was amazingly smooth except for in section of 1km), the landscape, the birds of prey, the sustained effort and the views all around us as we ascended the mountain. The villages of Otivar and Letengi gradually became smaller and smaller as we climbed the twisty road. Were there any goats, you might ask? Well, not exactly. Their little chocolate chip droppings littered the road in some sections and David heard the plaintive sound of a young goat looking for its mom on one of the hairpin turns. Otherwise, the only evidence were the rocks they kick down from above into the highway below. Speaking of such, if you read the journal from Puglia last year, you will understand that we are cognizant of rock fall and pay particular attention to it. No stopping when you see rocks in the shoulder!
Here are some of the photos of this momentous day.
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As the morning rolled on, we kept a good rhythm up the hill. I absolutely loved it. The grades ranged between 6% and 10%. We passed by two places that would offer food and drink in the high season, but not today. After we reached the summit, we entered a zone of rolling mountain terrain, with pine and cork oaks interspersed with grassy meadows. While I thought we would had finished climbing after the summit, it was not to be. These rollers were stinkers in themselves. Thank goodness for flower spotting.
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About this point, about 1:30, David started to feel a bonk coming on. For those who aren’t familiar with the bonk, you get weak and wobbly. Peanuts and water and a short roadside rest to the rescue! We took a break and waited for the peanuts to kick in. Then it was back in the road.
Eventually, we hit a high spot where we could see the entire valley unfold before us to the north. To the east was the mighty Sierra Nevada. Wow, what a feeling! We started the descent, while the scale of the road widened and gained traffic in the form of gravel trucks. Fortunately, I’d drawn up a route in a quiet side road that got us out of that pickle.
We were enjoying the downhill along this road when we came upon a beautiful campground. my bike did a sharp left when I saw there was a small bar/restaurant just inside the gate. The lovely staff welcomed us, pointed out where to park the bikes and served us a couple of cafe con leches’s. We also picked up cookies and potato chips from their mini Mercado to round out or lunch. Okay, no points for us today but we did feel satisfied enough for the final assault on Granada.
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Luckily, I had managed to pick out a route to get us into Granada that eventually became a cycle route. All around us we're a tangle of highways, so we felt rather smug.
Eventually, we found our accommodation along the Darro River in the Alcazaba neighbourhood. Towering overhead is the Alhambra. We rested (snoozed), got cleaned up and headed out for a nice Grilled fish dinner and a bottle of red wine from Jumilla which we will visit in the days ahead.
Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 411 km (255 miles)
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