October 13, 2018
Feeling so alive, feeling so dead
I can’t ride 105
By midnight, I realized that the only thing we had to worry about at this point was those pesky early-rising farmers. Even so, sleep did not come. One thing I learned from backpacking was that resting the body is as important as resting the mind, so I stayed still and accepted my self-assigned role as night watchman.
My Spidey-sense started tingling around 5:30am. I thought I heard a tractor. What to do about it? If it was approaching, there was nothing we could do except put on our puppy-dog faces and beg forgiveness. We also couldn’t pack up so early. Our lights probably wouldn’t last for two hours. I suppose we could rig a battery pack to each one, but no, we needed the rest.
At 6:00 we could take it no more. We packed everything using only a red light for illumination. This took half an hour. Then it was out into the darkness.
We couldn’t make a habit of this, but I wouldn’t mind wild camping somewhere where it’s completely legal. Get a good night’s sleep, get up at sunrise, have a cup of coffee, and move on. It requires some advance planning either way: water, scouting a spot, and dealing with whatever critters might be roaming about.
The first thought to go through my head was, “I feel so alive! But not the good kind of alive.” I don’t know what I meant by that.
The road was nice, we snuck a peek of the sun rising behind us, and we eventually made it to town to stock up on supplies. By the time we hit the highway again, the traffic had picked up. Even though we were making good time, we decided to skip sightseeing in Úbeda to make for a simpler day.
It was not a simpler day. It was hot, and the hills were relentless. There was one insane descent from Baeza, but otherwise, it was a roller coaster of punishment. My legs were wobbly by kilometer 70. I got slower and slower until eventually I had to walk my bike in some spots. There was one moment I won’t forget. Sunyoung noticed that I was struggling, and she forced me to take a break in the shade. Without her encouragement I might have collapsed. We were so close, and I just wanted to get this day over with.
We called Israel, our Warmshowers host, to let him know our ETA. The rest stop completely changed my attitude: I didn’t want to press on any more, but thankfully Sunyoung took charge at this point. We found a supermarket, bought a liter of orange juice and a bottle of yogurt drink, and greedily gulped it down.
The city of Jaén is on a hill! We had to climb to its peak. After much wayfinding confusion, we found ourselves in the middle of the most chaotic scene possible: there was a big fiesta going on! The street Google chose for us was, of course, the parade route. I spied another street that we could try, so we pushed our way through the crowd to reach it. Turns out this was a one-way street that didn’t go our way. Nothing was going our way. I suggested we walk it. It was dark by this time. We finally made it to the road we needed. First we missed the turnoff, then we discovered that it was a dirt road, then we discovered that the road our host was on didn’t appear to exist in real life. Sunyoung called him, and within a few minutes several barking, mangy-looking dogs appeared. Were they friend or foe? Tune in for the next installment. Really. I am soooo tired right now.
Today's ride: 105 km (65 miles)
Total: 735 km (456 miles)
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6 years ago