I start off late on my 700 m climb up the rest of the Sierra de Baza. The sun isn’t shining for once and I can see rain in the distance. Progress on the uphill is slow, at first just because I’m still warming up then because the asphalt turns to bumpy gravel quality and then, near the top, a strong headwind adds to the challenge.
The pass is also the border between the Almeria and Granada regions and the road quality immediately improves as I pass over. It’s still not really cold, even at 2000 m elevation, but for the long downhill I do opt to pull over a jacket. The 40 km downhill to Baza goes by in a flash and after I stock up on groceries, I continue on through the valley until I reach the Rio Baza.
Besides this small stream I take my lunch break. As I do the sun breaks through and it gets really hot really quickly.
I spend the afternoon riding over another series of low hills, passing through endless olive, peach and pistachio farms and villages build into the hills before finally heading into the next mountain range, the Sierra de Segura.
