To Alhama de Almeria

April 1, 2024

We’re both still in bed and she’s just coming around when I hit Rachael with my latest brainstorm: I dreamed up a new plan for us to consider. Can I have some coffee first she appeals, but I proceed anyway. I lead into it by reminding her of that photo of what I mistakenly thought were two cruise ships. Jacquie corrected me and they’re really ferries, I go on. I’d forgotten that Almeria is a ferry port to Africa.

So here’s the idea: instead of biking north to Granada this morning we’ll catch the ferry tonight to Melilla in Morocco. From there we’ll bike the Moroccan coast west to Ceuta, take the ferry back to Granada, and bike north to Seville from there. We’ve both wanted to See Morocco some day, as well as to have a second look at Gibraltar.

She’s unimpressed, but maybe she can’t see the light yet without that first caffeine jolt. What about the bookings, she complains? I’m pretty sure they’re all still cancellable, I counter. And then she falls silent - either she’s stunned, or she’s trying to find a tactful way to tell me she thinks it’s a terrible idea, as of course it is. Enough torture, it’s time to put her out of her misery.

April Fools!

It’s a big success, an awesome way to start the month. She bursts out laughing and congratulates me on the win. It’s the best April Fools joke I’ve pulled off in years. I’m very proud of myself.

After eight nights here, it’s finally time to move on. If you don’t count long stays in places like Tucson that we’ve gotten to with the car, this is definitely the longest stay in one spot on a tour we’ve ever taken. We’ll never get to England though if we don’t get a move on though, and it’s time.

It’s just past ten when we’re biking up the Rambla, the long greenbelt that spits the heart of the city. It’s a little out of the way and adds a mile to the day’s ride, but after seeing Rachael’s walking video from two days past I wanted to see for myself. It’s just as attractive as she made it look, and peaceful early on a weekday morning.

On the Ramblas, a beautiful and diverse public space. The Almerians are fortunate to have such a resource in the heart of their city.

This is a temporary exhibit of enlargements of famous oils from the Prado in Madrid. We’re lucky to see it, as yesterday was the last day of the six week staging. They’ll probably come down later today.

There are some famous works in here, like this El Greco. I recognize most of them, probably dim recollections from our visit to Madrid almost thirty years ago on our ride from Nice to Lisbon.

It’s a beautiful, warm sunny morning, our reward for holing up in Almeria for the last wild and stormy week. We could have gotten an earlier start, but it’s a short stage today anyway and I want to stop at a bike store before leaving town and it doesn’t open until ten - if it’s open today at all, since it’s a holiday. I need to stop in to get a tube of chain lubricant, a task on my short list before leaving Portland that I foolishly never made time for. My gears started grinding on my way back from that last ride out to that wetland, maybe from biking several miles of sandy unpaved roads.

The store windows look dark when we bike up to Bikestore Almeria. It looks closed, but when I test the door it’s open so I lean the bike against the wall and go inside. As I do, Rachael points out the racks of clothing on one wall, and says I might check them out. It’s past time to retire my once-black Bike Gallery jersey that I’ve been riding for the last five years at least. It’s ripping out in several places, and the zipper is failing.

They have lubricant of course but they also have a jersey I like, and in my size. Before leaving the store I lay the old one out on the floor for a last photo to remember it by and then hand it over to be tossed.

How long have I had this, anyway? At least five years, maybe longer. It’s irreplaceable now because the Bike Gallery finally sold its stores to Trek three years ago.

On with the new! Its nice riding out of Almeria with a souvenir of a city we really like on my back.

Almeria is really a bike friendly city with a good network of excellent bike paths. We ride them for the next three miles as we angle up through the east side of the city, leaving them only when we come to the bridge across the Andarax.

Crossing the Andarax, we finally leave the city.

The view north up the Andarax, our direction for the rest of today’s ride.

Look at all that water! The Andarax was virtually dry when I crossed it a few days ago. Like Tucson, Almeria is a desert city and its rivers are dry unless there’s been recent rain up in the mountains.

We’re following the river up toward the mountains, so naturally it’s generally an uphill ride the whole way. It’s a very gradual grade at firstthough, and twelve miles into it we’re only at an elevation of 500’. It’s not until we cross back over to the west side of the river at Gádor that the real climbing begins. For the next six miles it’s a steady uphill to our destination for the day, Alhama de Almeria. Twenty miles makes for a pretty short first day, but there are few places for accommodation in this empty country. If we didn’t stop here we’d be biking all the way to tomorrow’s stop at tiny Abrucena; and fifty miles with nearly six thousand feet of climbing was more day than either one of us wanted to bite off.

As we cross the bridge into Gádor, I stop for photos while Rachael goes ahead to tackle the climb. As long as I’m stopped anyway I finally break out the chain lubricant I just picked up. I’ve been cursing myself for the last several miles as the grinding gears worsened, wondering why I didn’t have them checked out when we were in the best bike store we’ll see for days. So it’s a relief to hear the sweet silence when I start biking again.

We’re following the other Camino now. Surprisingly, Almeria is the root of two routes - the one east that we saw earlier, and this one. This is one of the three originating branches of the Mozárabe Route (the others are Jaen and Malaga) that converge at Baena and eventually merge with the Silver Route (up from Seville) in Merida.

You see these bull silhouettes all over Andalucia, but I especially like the setting for this one.

Recrossing the Andarax, we enter Gador. The easy part of the day’s ride ends here as we start climbing away from the river.

Santa Maria Church, in Gádor. I think that’s the town cemetery up on the hill.

The ride has been fine so far, but after crossing the river and starting to climb it becomes outstanding. The road is nearly empty, with maybe about as many bikes as cars; and the scenery is really dramatic. This is the Spain we came to see, really. If I’d been thinking better about it in planning this trip, this is the route we should have taken anyway. The next several days as we climb up over a high shoulder of the Sierra Nevadas and then drop into Granada should be challenging but gorgeous.

It’s been relatively recently whitewashed, but I don’t think anyone lives here any more because its chimney is capped.

That’s our road up ahead. If I’d timed it right we could be seeing Rachael crossing it.

Fantastic country, and a great time to see it while there’s still green on these slopes.

I couldn’t get the camera fired up in time to capture these racers speeding downhill, but Rachael got them on a short video clip.

I finally catch up with Rachael where she’s waiting for me in the shade of a surprisingly sited gas station, and then we bike most of the last few miles together until we separate near the end when I stop for another shot. After that we find somewhat different paths into town, with me choosing poorly and finding myself on a 14% slope I have to dismount for.

Snow! I think that’s the eastern nose of the Sierra Nevada range, the highest mountains in Iberia.

The view east across the Andarax valley.

It’s no surprise that I soon lagged behind Rachael again, with such spectacular views everywhere you look.

We’ve climbed 1,400’ above Gádor and are well above the Andarax River now, which we see far below. Unfortunately we have to drop down to it again tomorrow morning before starting to climb out the other side - the cost of coming to the only lodging in the region.

Video sound track: El Patio, by Abel Sanchez

We’ve lost touch with each other entering town because our Garmins aren’t tracking each other for some reason, but with our phones we manage to find each other and meet up in front of the only bar restaurante open this holiday afternoon. It’s a simple place, but they’re serving a good menu of the day that surprisingly even includes salmon.

You have to worry about menus that don’t list the prices but fortunately this one didn’t break the bank.

It’s 2:40 when we leave the bar. Our room allegedly won’t be available for another twenty minutes, but I take care of that with a new lifetime first when I forget to pack away the cable lock as we bike off, and almost immediately get stopped when it raps between the chainring and the chain. It takes the better part of the 20 minutes trying to get it out again, as I can’t see how it made it through into that space in the first place. I finally need to remove the chain guide before I can free it, and fortunately I get it back on and the gears all still work afterwards. We’re really lucky that we didn’t break a chain or something.

A new lifetime first! The one and only, hopefully.

Our host is in to greet us when we reach our small hotel, a simple place with simple rooms but a fridge and coffee brewer in the shared nook that we share with no one because we’re the only guests today. Rachael heads out to the store immediately for dinner and breakfast materials, and then we each go out for exploratory walks. But this is enough for one post so we’ll stop here.

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Today's ride: 21 miles (34 km)
Total: 522 miles (840 km)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	4

Tricia GrahamI just loved the April Fools joke. It really took me in to. My first thought - Scott has really flipped his lid, wherever will they end up!
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Tricia GrahamThey’ll end up divorced, if I’m not careful.
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8 months ago

Rich FrasierYou had me fooled, too. Nice one! Just real enough to be believable!
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Rich FrasierThat’s really funny. I never expected to take in anyone other than a pre-caffeinated Rocky.
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8 months ago