Montefrio

October 1, 2004

Another beautiful day, but I think this was the day when the heat started to seriously get to us. It was hot, hilly and shadeless all day; and thinking back now there are only a few specific things that come back. One was our midday break at Iznajar, sitting in the shade of some trees planted along an overlook above the reservoir. I remember what a dazzling scene it was, the shimmering blue reservoir contrasting against the cream-soiled olive groves surrounding it. And I remember watching the calico cat slinking beneath our feet before she dashed through the fence and disappeared from sight - she was the spitting image of Sabaki, our cat who had just passed away the year before at the age of nineteen.

Halfway through the day’s ride we leave the Subbetica and approach the vast Iznajar reservoir, formed by the damming of the Genil.

The hills contrasting against the reservoir here were so beautiful. They made me wish we were going south across that bridge instead. I’d love to see this viewpoint again.

And I remember Algarinejo, another brilliant white town tucked into a valley surrounded by olive groves. It first came into sight after a hard pull climbing the ridge away from Iznajar; and after dropping steeply down into the city we stopped to quench our thirst at the public well in the center of town before starting on an even hotter and longer climb out the other side. I’ve always suspected that this well is the source of the illness that befell me several days later - I believe it was from giardia. I’ve never trusted drinking from a public well since.

And I remember on the long climb out slowly closing in on a man and his son climbing ahead of us, the man riding his heavily laden donkey and the boy walking behind, leading his by its reins. Presumably they were returning from a market run to the city, but of course that’s just speculation. Such a long walk on such a hot day.

Looking down on Algarinejo, in another gorgeous setting. I find riding through this country mesmerizing, watching the patterns of the hills, groves and shadows slowly change as you bike along.

Old and new freight haulers on the long, hot climb from Algarinejo.

We chose this route because of a photo of Montefrio I’d seen somewhere. It looked so amazing in the photo that I just had to see for myself. And it really is amazing, with its church precariously clinging to the top of the ridge that backs the town - the church blends so perfectly with the ridge that it looks like an outgrowth of it.

In reading up again on this church now, I see that it was built to replace the 14th century Moorish Alcazar that stood here until it was ordered destroyed after the Christian reconquest. Also, it’s interesting to see that a 2015 National Geographic article (sorry - I could only find it in Spanish) listed Montefrio as one of the ten best viewpoints in the world. It’s a very Eurocentric article - apparently nothing outside of Europe rates in the top ten - but still, that’s quite a citation. Maybe we should go back ourselves for a second look.

Montefrio: one of the top ten viewpoints in the (European) world.

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Ride stats today: 50 miles, 5,100’; for the tour: 453 miles, 34,300’

Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 453 miles (729 km)

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