November 9, 2013
Alhama de Granada
It is quite cool when we left Antequera this morning and we need to wear our jackets at the start of the ride. Skies are clear and there is almost no wind but looking back up at Torcal we see it dramatically wrapped in a dense cloud blanket. It feels like we have been pushing our luck a bit with the season, and we are both ready to be wrapping things up.
Today's ride began oddly, with what has been a rare event lately - flat roads! The first 12 miles eastward from Antequera are almost without contour as they follow the now streamlike Guadalhorce. Right next to the road though La Pena del Los Enamorados juts up abruptly. We pass right beneath it, appreciating the opportunity to see it close up. We feel strong as we roll along, pleased that we have come through yesterday's ordeal and the accumulated hills of the last week still feeling energetic. On reaching Archidona and the first climbs of the day though, we see that it was all a mirage - we are both feeling a bit leg weary. This is our 29th straight day on our bikes and we are certainly due for a day off.
Archidona lies between two large knolls that rise above the plain. Our route climbs over an arm of the southern knoll, drops quickly back to the river, and then begins a steady long ascent before dropping down to the village of Villanueva del Trabuco where we stopped for an early lunch. We had a fairly small breakfast this morning so we made up for it by putting away a pair of delicious revueltas scrambled with mushrooms, peppers and eggplants. We enjoyed sitting at our table on the plaza, warming ourselves in the sun and watching life pass by. Villanueva seems to be a British retirement outpost, and most of our fellow loafers were middle aged or elderly Brits. We were mostly amused by the dogs though - about half a dozen of them lay around beneath the tables, dozing or begging for scraps; but every so often a car would rattle through the square hauling a small trailer, and the dogs would instantly leap into action, madly barking and chasing the wagon down the road. Very odd.
The second half of the ride was beautiful. From the village we gradually climbed for perhaps six miles, topping out at about 3500'. Once on top, we rode along at that level for miles on almost flat roads, passing through a dense upland oak forest backdropped by colorful limestone ridges. From there we dropped through a karstic belt to the large flat basin surrounding Zaffaraya. This basin is a lush agricultural expanse - very green, filled with a great diversity of vegetable plantings - cabbages, cauliflowers, and especially vine tomatoes. It is the end of the season, and we enjoyed seeing workers break down trellises for the winter and sheep foraging on the remains of the cauliflower crop.
Then, up again and down again to the next rich plain, and then to Alhama de Granada. We really loafed around today, arriving at our hotel not long before sunset. And it was cold again. We bundled up and walked out for a brief look at the town and then watched the sunset overlooking the dramatic gorge of rhe Alhama River that backs up against the town.
Elevation log: 4000' today, 75,100' total.
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Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 1,276 miles (2,054 km)
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