To Guadix

April 3, 2024

One of the many good things about a ride like yesterday’s is that it sets a bar. Some days are longer and more challenging than others and maybe more so than you’d like, but you can always comfort each other with the reminder that this is nothing compared to that ride to Abrucena. Really, it’s quite helpful, almost therapeutic if you’re in need of a pick-up or attitude adjustment.

So we didn’t particularly like the fact that we unexpectedly had a 10-15 mph headwind for the seven mile climb our ride began with, but we didn’t let it get us down. It was nothing compared to yesterday’s ride!

But that’s getting ahead of things a bit. We got an early start to the day, making it down to the restaurant for our lavish breakfast of toast and jam with coffee. It wasn’t much to start the day with, but we have no complaints. The room only cost us €36, after all. With a longer ride with a substantial amount of climbing ahead, we start biking as soon as it’s warmed up enough for comfort - which for us is around 50F. It takes until 10 to get us there this morning, so that’s when we set off. And when we do start we’re well layered because like yesterday, today’s ride begins with a steep, fast drop to the valley again.

It’s warmed enough so we’re ready to start. It feels good in the sun here, but with a fast drop ahead for the first mile we’re both layered up.

You can be assured that both members of the team have studied today’s route carefully, so we’re confident when we leave that the day ahead will keep us on pavement and reasonably surfaced roads the whole way. We don’t have any really steep stuff lined up, either up or down, and the mile long descent to the valley floor is fast but comfortable. As we drop I enjoy the dramatic views and the sight of the windmills spinning on the slope on the opposite side of the canyon, thinking how nice it’s going to be having the wind help us up our first, longest climb of the day.

It’s really not until we bottom out and we turn west into the valley to start in on the climb that I realize I’ve misread the winds. Its a header, and a fairly significant one.

That’s Fiñana ahead, just a few miles east of us. Looking again now, I see that the place has a pension with a bar we could have stayed at instead. Maybe that would have been a better plan for last night than biking up to Abrucena and dropping down again this morning. But then, we’d have missed that interesting experience in Abla to look back on years from now.

Unlike yesterday, today’s a ride with no real stories to tell. Its a long climb into the wind those first seven miles, but fortunately the slope isn’t bad, the road surface and shoulder are both good, there’s virtually no traffic because all the cars are on the modern highway we’re paralleling, and the views are a knockout. So we just grind it out and eventually make it to the top.

As we gain elevation and rise above the nearest hills we start getting awesome views of the Sierra Nevada range.

It’s not quite true that our work for the day is done once we top out that first climb, but there’s nothing really challenging ahead. For the next 17 miles we maintain our high elevation - we’re up around 4,000’ - as we bike west through a series of small villages. Were on a good road - probably what was once the main route through this high divide until the modern controlled access divided highway all but obsoleted it - climbing and falling through a series of fairly modest climbs and descents.

Well, there was this short but sweet surprise where the old highway has been overlaid by the new one and disappears for a mile or so. At least the replacement they built is paved.

It’s a pretty little road while it lasts: a short, fun roller coaster.

The one constant for these seventeen miles is the views. We’re following the line of the Sierra Nevada range, and we’re high enough up and close enough that we get enormous, thrilling views of them the whole way. And on the opposite side of us is the broad, open upland basin blanketed with wind and solar farms. It’s a gorgeous ride.

No drama though, other than to wonder if we’ll cover the remaining miles to Guadix to make it to the 2:30 reservation Rachael’s booked for us. Other than the outstanding scenery there’s nothing to comment on beyond the surprise of seeing the perfectly preserved hilltop castle at La Calahorra come into view. So let’s just look at the pictures.

We have a lot of photos and a lot of video footage of these mountains, which we couldn’t stop looking at. There’s have been even more if we weren’t concerned about being late for lunch.

The view to the right. We’re biking through the Hoya Basin, a broad, high divide, the traditional route between Granada and the Mediterranean.

Wow! We ended up saying this word a lot over the next hour or so.

The castle at La Calahorra, built in 1502 with an Italinate design. It’s in private hands so you can’t visit without prior arrangement, but if you did you could see cells in the basement where Moorish prisoners were confined.

A view from the other side. It sure makes an impressive backdrop to the small town.

What were we just saying? Oh, that’s right. Wow!

We maintain our high elevation until finally turning north and away from the mountains at Jerez de Marquesado, and for the next ten miles make a nearly beeline shot for Guadix down on the basin floor. Rachael gets ahead of me when I can’t resist stopping partway down to look back at the mountains, a broad white ribbon that spans the horizon.

Dropping toward Guadix. It’s only ten miles away, but city isn’t visible from here because it’s sunken below a ridge at the end.

The final drop into Guadix weaves through a complex eroded stretch that feels like a badlands terrain.

Video sound track: Another Day in Paradise, by Classic Dream Orchestra

I meet up with Rachael on the edge of town. It’s only 2:15 - plenty of time, I tell her because we’re only a half mile from the restaurant. Nevertheless we arrive almost ten minutes late because our restaurant is buried in the middle of the warren-like historical center. We finally reach it after working our way down one steep brick-paved street after another, stopping about every two blocks to check the map again.

Fortunately, it was worth the wait and the effort to get there.

It’s a little jarring to be in busy Guadix, a larger city than we’d been expecting, after the last three days in such empty country and small villages. There’s a lot to see here but you’ll have to turn the page for that, once that page exists.

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Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km)
Total: 592 miles (953 km)

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Gregory GarceauAll I have to say about this page is "WOW!"
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Gregory GarceauSays it all, really.
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8 months ago