Bob's Spanish Adventures
1st April
It's been a fab winter weatherwise but a bit disastrous in other ways. Not content with being robbed in Spain Katy recently fell off a ladder in Birmingham and broke her back - for the second time in 10years. Reading the Blog it sounds as though several Merids have also had health probs this winter so lets hope everyone is soon restored to rude health!
Since Katys fall I've been alternating between looking after her in Birmingham and going to Nerja (where I am now) to fetch all our stuff back to the UK. It's already summer in Andalucia and in Nerja its mostly been 20 - 25C for a few weeks now. I took the attached photo on a ride today so you can imagine how overjoyed I am to be returning permanently to the UK on Wednesday! That said I'm starting to find it a bit too hot for strenuous activity. More suitable for relaxed strolls up shady gorges than toiling up the huge hills on a bike under the remorseless Andalucian sun! I'll miss the Spanish drivers though. They can be dangerous - especially when they overtake and then immediately turn across you as they're prone to do if you're not in full racing kit! However they're almost always friendly and well intentioned - which is a real contrast to Birmingham where they mostly drive at you!So another eventful Spanish winter has come and gone. Hope to see you on a ride back in Kent once Katy is OK to be on her own. Regards to all. Bob
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1/2/16: Just back from a favourite local cycle tour. All on tarmac. It starts from the interesting town of Almunejar a few miles and quite a nice ride east along the coast from Nerja. The first day is a roughly 50Km ride from Almunejar up the so called "Goat Track" road. This is a wonderful 1600 metre climb followed by a 500 metre descent to the rural town of Jayena on the inland side of the mountains. Its about same amount of climbing as the classic route up Mt Ventoux. But I think the Goat Track is more varied and more dramatic than Ventoux. The gradient is steady and never fierce. Katy and I stay at a Hostal in Jayena where you're on the relatively (relatively!) flat inland plateau at about 1000metres.
I googled the Strava thingy and theres info about the ride to Jayena on:
http://www.strava.com/activities/101702548
In the past we've carried on inland from Jayena to the nice town of Loja and beyond. Or we've returned to the coast via the towns of Zafarraya or Periana. (Or we've taken the mountain bike option and carried the bikes over the Puerto Competa to the coastal side of the mountains and then descended on track and road to the coast. But thats another another sort of cycling altogether!). Local racers do the entire road circuit from Almunejar to Jayena and back to the coast via Zafarraya in a day - but seldom with panniers in January I suspect. It was cold in Jayena with patches of snow so after a night there we retraced our route back down to the coast stopping for coffee en route at 2 nice mountain bars near the "pass" and then further down in the towns of Otivar and Jete. It is such a fabulous ride that coming back down the same way was no disappointment! A few photos are attached. I hope they give a feel for the route for anyone who wants to do it. Im sure they won't be disappointed! I think it bears comparison with many alpine rides and is better than much of the Pyrenees for example. Best wishes Bob
I googled the Strava thingy and theres info about the ride to Jayena on:
http://www.strava.com/activities/101702548
In the past we've carried on inland from Jayena to the nice town of Loja and beyond. Or we've returned to the coast via the towns of Zafarraya or Periana. (Or we've taken the mountain bike option and carried the bikes over the Puerto Competa to the coastal side of the mountains and then descended on track and road to the coast. But thats another another sort of cycling altogether!). Local racers do the entire road circuit from Almunejar to Jayena and back to the coast via Zafarraya in a day - but seldom with panniers in January I suspect. It was cold in Jayena with patches of snow so after a night there we retraced our route back down to the coast stopping for coffee en route at 2 nice mountain bars near the "pass" and then further down in the towns of Otivar and Jete. It is such a fabulous ride that coming back down the same way was no disappointment! A few photos are attached. I hope they give a feel for the route for anyone who wants to do it. Im sure they won't be disappointed! I think it bears comparison with many alpine rides and is better than much of the Pyrenees for example. Best wishes Bob
If
any Meridian members are in the Nerja area I'd be happy to point out
walking or cycling routes. Walking, cycling and mountain biking are all
very popular here now and there's plenty of info available. For example:Walking guidebooks such as:"The Mountains of Nerja" by Jim Ryan, Cicerone Press -
http://www.cicerone.co.uk/author/detail.cfm/author/1295/name/jim-ryan"Walk! The Axarquia" by Charles Davis, Discovery Walking Guides - www.dwgwalking.co.ukWalking websites such as:www.axarpicos.esAnd lots of Spanish walking websites such as:http://www.caminosolo.net/2013/05/la-integral-sierra-tejeda-almijara.htmlI haven't found many good road cycling books maybe because the steep mountainous terrain means there are relatively few Tarmac roads at least on the coastal side of the mountains and over them. The only mountain bike books I've come across for the local area are in Spanish. I haven't found them all that useful for mountain biking partly because some of the routes are very technical and some are now concrete!In my experience the best cycling around here mixes access by Tarmac with riding on the myriad of good dirt and concrete tracks. I've not found many guidebooks on this sort of cycling. It can be difficult to work out this sort of route without knowing the area because many tracks shown on (often unreliable) maps are private or become uncyclable or are dead ends. The excellent:"Cycle Touring in Spain" by Harry Dowdell, Cicerone Pressis one of the few books I've come across in English that does include such a mixed route in this area. Obviously over the course of many years coming here I've devised a lot of mixed routes of my own including both day rides and multiday tours. There's a good bike hire place in the town. Weather fab on the whole though today is grey. Mostly Tshirt & shorts though.
You might be amused - met a lone Russian cyclist a few days ago. I dont think I've ever seen so much luggage for one person. He was wearing a huge rucsac. Had big panniers on the bike and was towing a trailer piled high with bags. He also had the highest cadence I've ever seen - looked like 200rpm. He probably needed it to haul that lot! It obviously wasnt slowing him down though. He'd come from Russia to Istanbul and was now cycling around the med next stop Africa. A friend suggested that given the inflation in Russia his panniers were probably full of Roubles...! Hope all's well. The Xmas festivities look fun. They don't make so much of Xmas here though it's gradually becoming more commercialised. It'll soon start in Sept as in the UK!
Regards to all. Bob
http://www.cicerone.co.uk/author/detail.cfm/author/1295/name/jim-ryan"Walk! The Axarquia" by Charles Davis, Discovery Walking Guides - www.dwgwalking.co.ukWalking websites such as:www.axarpicos.esAnd lots of Spanish walking websites such as:http://www.caminosolo.net/2013/05/la-integral-sierra-tejeda-almijara.htmlI haven't found many good road cycling books maybe because the steep mountainous terrain means there are relatively few Tarmac roads at least on the coastal side of the mountains and over them. The only mountain bike books I've come across for the local area are in Spanish. I haven't found them all that useful for mountain biking partly because some of the routes are very technical and some are now concrete!In my experience the best cycling around here mixes access by Tarmac with riding on the myriad of good dirt and concrete tracks. I've not found many guidebooks on this sort of cycling. It can be difficult to work out this sort of route without knowing the area because many tracks shown on (often unreliable) maps are private or become uncyclable or are dead ends. The excellent:"Cycle Touring in Spain" by Harry Dowdell, Cicerone Pressis one of the few books I've come across in English that does include such a mixed route in this area. Obviously over the course of many years coming here I've devised a lot of mixed routes of my own including both day rides and multiday tours. There's a good bike hire place in the town. Weather fab on the whole though today is grey. Mostly Tshirt & shorts though.
You might be amused - met a lone Russian cyclist a few days ago. I dont think I've ever seen so much luggage for one person. He was wearing a huge rucsac. Had big panniers on the bike and was towing a trailer piled high with bags. He also had the highest cadence I've ever seen - looked like 200rpm. He probably needed it to haul that lot! It obviously wasnt slowing him down though. He'd come from Russia to Istanbul and was now cycling around the med next stop Africa. A friend suggested that given the inflation in Russia his panniers were probably full of Roubles...! Hope all's well. The Xmas festivities look fun. They don't make so much of Xmas here though it's gradually becoming more commercialised. It'll soon start in Sept as in the UK!
Regards to all. Bob
A few days ago I did a favourite mountain walk. It's a 3000ft climb from sea level on a lovely little path followed by a 1000ft descent to lunch at an equally lovely little bar in the hills! Usually I meet no-one on the entire route. This time however I bumped into a jolly group of 8 young Spanish walkers going the same way but with enormous rucsacs. Where I turned down to the bar they carried on up to camp on top of a remote 6000ft mountain. A photo of the hills they were heading over and beyond is attached. I've carried camping plus climbing gear up mountains myself & I know it's not that unusual a thing to do. What struck me though was how everyday it seemed to this lot.
It set me thinking about a cycling friend (not a CTC or Meridian) who stayed with us. He was extremely proud because he'd conquered "The Killer Loop" in Wales. Apparently it's a hard day ride given an over dramatic & very macho name by a UK cycle mag! I couldn't help contrast it with a local mountain biker I know here. A few years ago he and a friend cycled a long high route involving rough riding on wild dirt roads and a lot of carrying the bike and camping kit up endless steep paths that are hard enough to walk without the kit! All of which was followed by a high remote camp. I know the area and it must have been a truly epic ride. I asked if he'd written it up for a magazine but he said he didn't realise it was anything special! Huge trips in the mountains often overnight are a tradition here - though it's only relatively recently they've been done for pleasure! The grandparents of the young walkers I met may have been among those who did the "Fish route". This involved massive overnight treks on difficult paths with mules carrying fish over the high mountain passes from the coast to the market in Granada. As if the walking wasn't hard enough (& it would have been!) there were also bandit gangs living in the hills ready to rob you or worse. When you see photos of the people from the time it looks like something from the Wild West. They're painfully thin and are making the trip in clothes we wouldn't send to a charity shop let alone wear for on a dangerous overnight journey through rough high mountains. Yet the Fish route was still in use right up to the 1950s. I guess if your grandparents were doing that sort of thing in the hills just to scratch a meagre living then your own "big" walks or cycle rides made for fun and with modern equipment don't seem so heroic! For some reason it all made me think of a favourite quote from Saul Bellow: "Surely some Navaho Apache must have fallen into the grand canyon survived picked himself up possibly said nothing to his tribe. Why speak of it? Things that happen happen."
It set me thinking about a cycling friend (not a CTC or Meridian) who stayed with us. He was extremely proud because he'd conquered "The Killer Loop" in Wales. Apparently it's a hard day ride given an over dramatic & very macho name by a UK cycle mag! I couldn't help contrast it with a local mountain biker I know here. A few years ago he and a friend cycled a long high route involving rough riding on wild dirt roads and a lot of carrying the bike and camping kit up endless steep paths that are hard enough to walk without the kit! All of which was followed by a high remote camp. I know the area and it must have been a truly epic ride. I asked if he'd written it up for a magazine but he said he didn't realise it was anything special! Huge trips in the mountains often overnight are a tradition here - though it's only relatively recently they've been done for pleasure! The grandparents of the young walkers I met may have been among those who did the "Fish route". This involved massive overnight treks on difficult paths with mules carrying fish over the high mountain passes from the coast to the market in Granada. As if the walking wasn't hard enough (& it would have been!) there were also bandit gangs living in the hills ready to rob you or worse. When you see photos of the people from the time it looks like something from the Wild West. They're painfully thin and are making the trip in clothes we wouldn't send to a charity shop let alone wear for on a dangerous overnight journey through rough high mountains. Yet the Fish route was still in use right up to the 1950s. I guess if your grandparents were doing that sort of thing in the hills just to scratch a meagre living then your own "big" walks or cycle rides made for fun and with modern equipment don't seem so heroic! For some reason it all made me think of a favourite quote from Saul Bellow: "Surely some Navaho Apache must have fallen into the grand canyon survived picked himself up possibly said nothing to his tribe. Why speak of it? Things that happen happen."
So far its been one of our best winters here and I'm told its been pretty nice back home too? Xmas day we went for a walk in the mountains then lunch on the beach. Most bars & restaurants and a few shops were open. Boxing Day was a normal day. Yesterday, ie New Years Day everything was shut. Just Three Kings to get through on 5 Jan and then it should be largely back to normal till Feb when they parade a giant decorated sardine through the town before burying it...! Hope you're all well. Here's the photos. Best wishes for 2015.
I met 72 year old John-(no parrot)-Silver yesterday. He was cycling east along the coast on his own heading gradually back to his home in Dumfries from where he'd set out in August. He was belting along despite 40kg of luggage and was wild camping all the way. Clearly made of tough stuff but not that unusual. One thing that fascinates me about Andalucia is the steady trickle of eccentrics that pass through. Most cycle but there are also walkers, skaters, wheelbarrow pushers etc. Many are celebrating retirement by making immense journeys taking months or even years. What was unusual was John used to live in Essex and sometimes raced in Kent as well as doing rides with the West Kent CTC. He remembered some of the people and some Meridian members may remember him? Sadly I didn't. I didnt envy him such a long trip alone but I wish Id had time to hear more of his stories. Hed obviously had a very eventful life's cycling - from gunpoint evictions when wild camping in Franco's Spain to the pains and pleasures of cycling through Africa. Ive always thought the few who write books about their adventures - the Cranes, Dervla Murphy, the late Anne Mustoe and co are just the tip of the iceberg. The real hardcore are out there doing the wildest things with no time to write about them! Anyway after we parted I did a favourite mountain bike route that was so much fun I thought I must return to my roots, sell my road bike and instead get a nice new whizzy MTB. Then no more of this cleaning nonsense that seems to be so much a part of road cycling! Best wishes Bob