November 5, 2013
Gaucin
Balcony of the Serrania
Today's ride was beautiful and dramatic but the toughest of the tour so far. We followed an improvised itinerary that I plotted out this morning, scrapping the original idea of backtracking yesterday's route to Jimena and then continuing in to Gaucin. Instead, we rode eastward along the coast from Gibraltar to Sabinillas and then cycled north to Gaucin along A377, passing nearby to Casares.
The ride east was innocent enough. We enjoyed good conditions with favorable winds, and liked getting to see another side of Gibraltar. Passing the massive lines at the customs gate, we were reminded again how happy we were to have visited Gibraltar by bike in spite of its gruesome terrain. My only quarrel with the morning was around Torreguadiaro, where we twice were thwarted when the planned route was rebuffed by secured gated communities. Arriving at La Duquesa at midday, we broke for a picnic at the beach.
Heading inland from Sabinellas we immediately encountered steep grades and a terrific headwind that must have gusted above 25 mph at times - a miserable combination. In one memorable stretch we passed through a wind farm, amazed at the rate the blades rotated in the heavy winds. Listening to the eerie whistle of the wind through the blades and watching their shadows race across the pavement was striking to us.
Fortunately the winds died down significantly as we climbed - I think we gained shelter from it by the ridge - so our only challenge was the climb itself. It was gradual until Casares, and before long Gaucin was in view draped over the saddle of a second ridge dead ahead of us. Between though was the one feature of the map I was uncertain of this morning - the small river between Casares and Gaucin. I had wondered how much of a drop was involved, and we were alarmed a bit to see it develop into an immense, narrow chasm. Looking at Gaucin across this abyss was intimidating - we couldn't even see any likely route for the ascent, and anticipated some agony in store for us. In the end though it looked worse than it felt. We dropped about 1000', losing most of the elevation we had gained so far, crossed the bridge across the narrow river, and began immediately climbing 1700' up the other side on a steep but manageable eight percent grade that rose steadily for over four miles before backing off somewhat as we neared the saddle.
We arrived in Gaucin at a bit before 5 - not that long before sundown. It is a very quiet place this late in the season, with few things open and only a few folks out and about. We were unsettled to find our hotel vacant when we arrived, and started imagining a night stranded in the mountains with no lodging. Eventually though we flagged down a lady who called the hotel for us and let us know that the owner was on his way over. It was a great relief to see him walk up the street to us with a big, welcoming smile. We were his only guests, so after showing us around he left us the keys and told us to just let ourselves out in the morning. We've got the place to ourselves, and a great view. With luck, the clouds at the coast will clear overnight and we will be able to see Gibraltar in the morning.
Elevation log: 5200' today, 65,300' total.
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Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,123 miles (1,807 km)
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