Granada to Montefrío - Escaping the Rain--In Spain - CycleBlaze

November 12, 2021

Granada to Montefrío

We’d tried the hotel buffet breakfast yesterday  (11€ each) and didn’t go back today. The food was okay but the coffee wasn’t very good. We expect better for that price!  So this morning we joined all the other tourists in the area looking for somewhere open where we could sit inside. Every such place was busy (there were fewer than the numbers could have supported, given that this is a random Friday morning in mid-November) but we found a table. The coffee was so good we each had two!

Then it was back to the hotel to pack up and find our way out of Granada.  At first, it wasn’t too bad but then our route (created by me on RWGPS) went on an unpaved road along a trickle of a river. I think I chose this because the alternatives were busy-looking highways or very circuitous. In any case, when we came to a paved road, we tried to find a smoother way. It didn’t work; we kept finding ourselves on on-ramps to high-speed highways. We went back to the rough track since our bikes were already covered in dust. Slower, but safer. 

We initially left Granada on a paved bike path. My route took us off it, across the river, and onto an 80 km/h highway parallel to the river. Then we crossed back over the river on this odd structure and followed an unpaved road along the river for several km.
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Scott AndersonWe biked this in the other direction and had as much trouble finding our way through as you did. We were stranded on the side of that controlled access highway trying to figure out what to do when we were rescued by a biker out on his day ride who changed his plan for the day and gave us an escort for the ten miles into Granada: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/andalucia2004/granada/. We would never have figured this out on our own.
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2 years ago
Jacquie GaudetTo Scott AndersonI remember reading about it. This route was okay, just bumpy and dusty. It was all rideable.
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2 years ago
One of the better sections of the unpaved road. The latter km were lined with planted rows of poplar type trees. Why that particular type of tree is planted, we had no idea. They are low-value trees in BC.
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Rich FrasierI was told that those trees are good at sucking the water out of the ground. Here in France you often see them planted in neat rows in low-lying areas along rivers.
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3 years ago
Jacquie GaudetTo Rich FrasierI'd heard that about willows. But there's no need to suck up water here, rather the opposite. Maybe they pulp them for paper?
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2 years ago
And then we emerged onto this road with both fresh asphalt and a separated bike path, the Ciclovia Santa Fe-Atarfe.
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Lots of agriculture here. Asparagus (I think), olives (of course), and some kind of tree fruit.
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We stopped in Íllora for lunch to ensure we were well fuelled for the climbing ahead.  The little bar offered tapas only; they brought you something with each round of drinks. We didn't want a second drink (one beer with lunch is decadent enough) and they brought us a second plate of tapas without charge (we think).  Total bill 7€. 

Looking back down as we climb through Íllora. That's our road in below and the days' climbing has only started.
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Gregory GarceauQuite a picture. I'm trying to figure out what the fortress atop those craggy rocks is all about. (And, before I forget, good job on scoring that free second tapas plate.)
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2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Gregory GarceauFound it! It’s Castillo de Íllora: https://www.castillodeillora.es/
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2 years ago
Beautiful scenery to distract you from the effort, though.
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First view of Montefrío.
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The view seen by leaning off our balcony.
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Monteftur operates a shop specializing in local products, a few tourist apartments in this building, and a few more rooms in the building around the corner (where we stayed).
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Montefrío centre
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Anne MathersI wonder what the story behind those banners might be? Violencia NO.
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2 years ago
Jacquie GaudetTo Anne MathersI think it's a campaign against gender violence. There have been signs and banners in most towns that seem to indicate that's what it's about.
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2 years ago
From the walk up to the castle.
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But it was closed when we got there!
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Sadly, both the big round church and the castle were closed by the time we got to town. We didn't plan to try again when they reopened at 10:30 or so tomorrow as we wanted to get an early start.

By the time the local restaurant opened for dinner and we got our food, we wolfed it down and only managed a photo of dessert. We chose it from the "helado" list. It seemed to be flan with whipped cream added, then frozen, and a good tot o& whisky poured over before serving. Yum!
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Anne MathersWell deserved after all that climbing.
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2 years ago
Jacquie GaudetTo Anne MathersBeing able to indulge in such things is one of the joys of cycle touring.
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2 years ago
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Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 555 km (345 miles)

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Scott AndersonMontefrio! I don’t know of anyone else who’s cycled to that remarkable place. Can’t wait until you get decent WiFi and can upload some pics.
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3 years ago
Jacquie GaudetTo Scott AndersonI got the idea from one of your journals. There's not a lot out there about cycling in Andalucía, perhaps because it's simply too hot when most people take vacations. The shorter days are a challenge, though.
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2 years ago