To Granada

April 4, 2024

After three challenging rides in a row the team is ready for a snoozer, but unfortunately the road has other plans for us. Today we bike to Granada on a route that probably wouldn’t have felt so tough if we had fresher legs under our belts but was all the challenge we were up for today. The work all comes in the first half of the ride, with our Garmins warning us that we’ve got three climbs ahead. The first one comes right as we’re leaving town and looks like just a speed bump on the map - just a half mile, but unexpectedly it comes with the steepest slope of the day. Then we’ve got an easy couple miles until we come to Purillena, riding the wide shoulder of a busy road as we pass through the badland belt with evidence of cave dwellings all the way along.

At Purillana we leave this highway which shortly merges into the controlled access A92 and take the empty mountain road that will carry us all the way to Granada and over Los Blancares Pass - at 1,300 meters, it’s likely the highest point we’ll see in Spain on this tour. The Garmin breaks it into two climbs - the first at just over four miles long, the second over six; but the downhill segment between them dropping to the Morollon River at La Penza is short enough that it feels like we’re on one continuous ten mile climb.

After the summit finally comes though our work for the day is done and it’s downhill essentially all the way to Granada - an 18 mile, 2,000’ drop with only a few short speed bumps to slow us down.

It’s too bad we came to this ride with too much weight on our bikes and too many years on our legs and too much climbing in the previous three days already, because it’s really a gorgeous route and very popular with cyclists - especially once we’ve crossed the summit. I’m sure that the climb up to the summit of this pass is one of the premier day rides for serious cyclists in Granada. And if you were staying in Granada, an overnight to Guadix with a light load would be an excellent excursion.

We stop for a look at the cathedral as we’re leaving town.

Dropping toward Purullena from our first, short climb of the day.

Beginning the climb, we get our last good look at the mountains. And looking at the map, I think this is THE mountain itself - Sierra Nevada, the highest peak in Spain.

Toward the top of this first four mile climb we come to a series of dramatic road cuts, deep slashes through the red rock.

Beginning the descent to La Paza and the Mogollon River.

Still dropping. A short stretch of road, but worth several looks.

Dropping to the river, we get a peek above the rim to the western end of the Sierra Nevada range.

This short stretch along the river is amazing. It looks like we’ve been transported to southern Utah.

At the high point of the tour. That’s Rocky on the left, where she’s been waiting for too long for me to arrive.

Video sound track: Waiting For the Miracle, by Leonard Cohen

On the long drop. We don’t have much to show from the next seventeen miles unfortunately, because we seldom stopped and Rachael’s GoPro battery died.

We probably passed dozens of bikes going the other way today, only one of which was a loaded traveler - on his way from Malaga to Valencia.

A branch of the sprawling Quentar reservoir, which I assume provides Granada’s water supply.

A dramatic switchback worth breaking our momentum for.

As usual, we’re concerned about arriving in town in time for lunch, but we did well and roll in around 2:15 and stop at Yesterday Pizza, a spot we’d scoped out that was directly on route and only a quarter mile from our hotel. It’s a simple but nice place that fit our needs perfectly as we sit at an outdoor table with our bikes leaned against the wall next to us.

Afterwards we biked to the Senator Hotel, an elegant place where we’d booked an amazingly small but economical room at a good rate. It’s not our usual sort of lodging, but it worked well for us. We picked it because it’s more on our route than if we biked into the hillier core of the city near the Alhambra, which is where we stayed the previous two times we’ve been here.

We aren’t here to see the Alhambra this time though, or really even to see Granada at all. We’re viewing it as a utility stop at the obvious place to break up the journey, and have placed ourselves in the flats along the river, a part of the city we’ve never seen before.

As soon as we’re checked in, Rachael leaves immediately for a badly needed trip to a laundromat only two blocks away. She detours from there to a gelateria to reward herself, and returns after about two hours and liberates me for my own short walk through the neighborhood - I’ve been trapped in the room until she returns because all my socks are in the laundry.

No calories have appeared yet, but the team abides.

Our hotel in Granada, the Senator Spa, is just on the other side of the big wheel. Should make a good landmark for finding my way back later.

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Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 627 miles (1,009 km)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	4

Rich FrasierAnother big day. You're being too modest. I think you're killing these rides!
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Rich FrasierI think you’ve got your subject and predicate reversed there, Rich.
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8 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesBut the really important question is "Did all the socks come back from the laundromat?"
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesYup. I sorted the dried clothes and paired them up and was concerned when I found an unmatched one. I pointed it out to Rachael but she wasn’t surprised because it was already missing. You’d have to ask her why she washed it.
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8 months ago