March 13, 2024
To Calpe
Can there be many better feelings than getting your health back? I’m sure, but this certainly ranks up near the top.
Our apartment has the unusually early checkout time of 9:30, so we get an early start of it and are done with the scrambled eggs and coffee by eight and starting to work our way toward departure. As much as we’ve liked our stay in Dénia, we’re both ready to move on from this apartment. It does have a lot going for it, now that we’ve mastered the front door to the building - it’s spacious, it has a bedroom with a closeable door and a killer view, it’s got good WiFi and a washing machine, it’s in a good central location. What’s not to like in this picture?
Sugar ants, that’s what. We don’t like seeing a cascade of sugar ants running down the wall to whatever attraction we’ve left out, as we found the first morning we woke up here. We tightened up our act, started keeping anything at all attractive - even such potentially tempting garbage as cheese rinds - in the refrigerator, but there’s no stopping ants. They’re so tenatious and indomitable that you have to admire them, but we don’t really care for living with them and are ready to move on.
It’s just as well we’re forced into an early start because we’ve got a challenging ride ahead. It’s not particularly long, but it begins with the most significant climb either one of us has tackled in months - a steady 5-8% for three miles as we lift ourselves over the shoulder of Montgo Massif before dropping down into the next coastal town to the south, Xàbia.
We’re both feeling apprehensive about this climb. Rachael’s unsure about her balance still, and we both wonder whether our unconditioned legs are up to the climb. We’d better be fine with it though, and with the days to come - we don’t want to try your patience further by finding it’s all too much for us and coming up with a new new new plan so soon.
So the good news is that the climb is just fine. We keep a steady pace, don’t let ourselves get annoyed or discouraged by all the faster and unladen bikers overtaking us and disappearing around the next bend, and don’t stop for photos or a breather because there’s never a safe place for one - on the entire way up there’s no pullout where you can stop and admire the view back toward Dénia until we’re at the summit, and there’s unfortunately no decent view at the top because we’re in the trees.
But we get it done, we’re both pleased with ourselves and feel fine, and it’s all worth it because the descent down the south side of the peninsula to Xàbia is phenomenal.
Video sound track: Here Comes the Sun, by the Beatles
We finally bottom out, and after rattling down the rough, brickish route I’ve picked for us through Xàbia we find ourselves on a flat road with spots to stop and look around at our phenomenal surroundings.
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The climb we’ve just conquered is the main show for the day, but not the only one. Ahead are another thousand feet of climbing in a series of rollers, with most of the ride on the narrow two lane coastal road with a little too much traffic for its somewhat too narrow shoulder to be fully enjoyable. The traffic is very well behaved and patient though, slowing down and waiting for us whenever visibility is limited, not taking chances by zipping around us before the next curve because they know there’s a good chance that they’ll come up against an oncoming car crowding into our lane for exactly the same reason.
Because in spite of the road conditions, we’re on a biking superhighway. We’re passed by bikes constantly, coming at or overtaking us in ones and two and tens. And they’re all faster than us because they’re all unladen by as much baggage and as many years as we’re carrying.
Video sound track: Giant Steps, by John Coltrane
Finally we’re past the last of these rollers and our destination comes into view - Penyal d’Ifac, the stupefyingly large limestone formation that defines Calpe. It’s stunning seeing it from its eastern face, and we pull off to a viewpoint to take it all in. It will be even more visually astonishing when we cross to the other side and see its sheer western face rising straight up a thousand feet into the sky.
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And then in another mile we arrive at the eastern half of Calpe, the half on this side of the Big Rock. We slowly bike down its colorfully tiled waterfront promenade, weaving around walkers and other bikers while taking in the views on one side and the restaurants on the other. It’s just turning one when we double back to the first open restaurant we passed, park our bikes, and step inside for lunch. They’re just opening up for lunch and we’re their first customers of the day, so we’re given the best seat in the house.
And here, let’s interrupt the narrative to tell you how we’ve come to stay in Calpe for two nights. We’d never heard of the place before - it’s small enough that you have to zoom in some just to see it’s name on the map - until Rich Frasier let us know that he and Robin went down here for part of the winter recently. Once it was brought to my attention, the appeal was obvious. Thanks, Rich!
After lunch, we call up our host because we still haven’t received the access code for our apartment for some reason. It’s a relief when we get through and are given the code and other information, after which we bike another two and a half miles along the waterfront to our neighborhood over on the western edge of town. The code works, there’s a ramp to the front door and our room is on the ground floor, so access is a snap.
It’s a small, wedge-shaped apartment; a little cramped, but gives us all we need for our two night stay. One bike fits in along the back wall of the bathroom, and the other gets wedged by the wall along the foot of the bed.
We hang out in the room for a couple of hours and then go outside again in the late afternoon. We start by heading directly to the nearest gelateria that Rachael’s located for us to pick up cones with pistachio. Then we walk down to the waterfront and grab a bench in the sun to enjoy our scoops and marvel at the view. What a place!
After that we set a time to meet up again back here and then split up. Rachael’s not so fond of walking on the sand, so she hikes a ways along a the path atop the cliffs while I walk west on the beach until I come into the shade beneath the cliffs and turn back. The day couldn’t be any finer than it is - warm, sunny, completely still. Ideal in every way.
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Today's ride: 24 miles (39 km)
Total: 161 miles (259 km)
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