October 11, 2018
Tilting at windmills
Let’s just keep going with this Don Quixote theme, shall we? The provincial government, and some of the restaurant owners capitalize on the connection, although they don’t overdo it the way they might in the U.S. The plains and sweeping vistas speak for themselves.
Funny I should mention plains, for two reasons. First, the rain in Spain does not stay mainly on the plain. Apparently Málaga got hammered by a torrential downpour yesterday. Rain was in our forecast today, but thankfully it didn’t happen. Second, today’s ride included 800 meters of elevation gain. Somehow that never made it on to my radar screen.
Fernando led us over some rough dirt roads to the Via Verde, which was also a rough dirt road, just not quite as bad. We said our goodbyes and he left us in the dust on his mountain bike.
We eventually tired of the Via Verde, and ditched it for N-322. But the trail was often visible to our left, and it left me wondering if we had given up on it too early.
Soon the tailwind we enjoyed got turned around and stayed that way. So now we were climbing and fighting a headwind. I suggested to Sunyoung that she draft behind me, and incredibly, she stuck with me for a couple of hours. We just pressed on and on. Finally, we reached the peak, but we were welcomed with rolling hills rather than the downhill cruise we felt we deserved. I stopped at one spot to gain my bearings. I noticed a short dirt road led directly to the Via Verde. I asked Sunyoung about it. She was willing to give it another shot.
The surface was considerably better, and it was even paved in a few spots. We rode through at least 5 tunnels, and crossed a long bridge. It was absolutely worth it. When we hit the end of the line, we were a bit disappointed it was over.
But our climbing for the day was not yet finished. The town of Alcaraz was perched on a steep hill. We reluctantly flipped our bar ends up into the largest cog and trudged our way towards the hostal I had chosen as our destination. Along the way, we noticed that the supermarket was just reopening after siesta. Tomorrow is a national fiesta day for good ol’ Cristóbal Colón, so we knew we had to stock up on food.
We reached the hotel and was told that they were completo — full. We rolled down the street to the next hotel, where, thankfully, they had a vacancy. I think we’re paying quite a bit more money for it, but first, what choice do we have, and second, it’s still about the same as what we might pay for a crappy motel room in the U.S.
So that’s where we are currently. We are tired but also comfortable. Tomorrow will be a slightly longer ride, but with much less climbing.
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Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 535 km (332 miles)
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