Wow, today was up and down, literally over many hills and up some mountains, with 111 km and 2100 m elevation a long day. Also figuratively, because I had to change my route and felt disappointed at the 60 km detour I was having to take. But more on that later.
I started of from just beyond Granada, following the river upstream into the eastern Sierra Nevada. On this Sunday morning, far more cyclists than motorist took the road alongside me. As I turned off the main road, things got quieter. I had an extended lunch break and siesta at an old abandoned rest stop. The old overgrown basketball court seemed a bit apocalyptic.
In the first town, Purullena, the Western feeling started. It was hot, the air seemed to stand still and nothing moved in the small town. In the background rose the bizarre towers of the local badlands. Here I saw the first houses that were only a facade of bricks and the rest dug into the hard red earth. Many more of those came later. Then followed an empty prairie on the worst combination of washboard and sandy gravel that forced me to abandon my plan to cross the mountains on the shortest way. Instead, I had to turn south-eastward towards the sea and Almeria.
But then the fastest and longest downhill gravel section ever followed. Almost an hour racing with a strong tailwind and barely the need to pedal Was tremendous fun. Finally, the road up into the next mountain range, the Sierra de Baza was completely void of cars. A great end of the day.
