Month: April 2017

After this morning learning that our train was a bus and that bikes are not allowed on buses, we had to ride 120km from Antequera to Granada. We’d hoped to fast forward a bit today due to being exhausted from all the climbing over the past few days. We were not mentally up for the ride, so we were a bit grumpy, but we trudged on and made it to Granada. Given our tiredness, we decided to have two rest days here instead of just the one we’ve been planning. We also decided to try to average out to 80km/day instead of 100km for the near future. This might put us behind schedule a bit and put some pressure on our visa limits, but we should be fine and can take a train if needed.

We learned that they are in process of building a high speed rail between Antequera and Granada, hence the railway closure. Seems odd they don’t have a solution for bikes though, given the excellent bike friendliness of the MD trains in Spain so far.

We ride through lots of olive farms with occasional glimpses of the snow-capped peaks near Granada.

Near Granada, we rode through fields of trees that are farmed for something? Not sure what, but some swaths were recently cleared.

What we’ve seen of Granada’s tapas scene is a bit different from Seville. Most places give a free tapas with each drink, but out of the three places we tried, only one was any good. The town where we had lunch outside of Granada allowed you to pick which free tapas you’d like, and it was much better and way cheaper than in the city. We preferred the à la carte tapas in Seville and will try to find that again here. Any suggestions for a good place?

We have tickets to Alhambra tomorrow, and we’ve got to do some laundry again…

Well we got up late and decided to take the train to Granada instead of riding. We looked up the schedule and found a bike friendly train (all of the MD trains allow bikes – média distância), rode to the station, and bought a ticket. Only after all this, the ticket agent told me in Spanish that it’s a bus, not a train, so we can’t take our bikes. I couldn’t understand why the official Renfe train schedule app shows a train, as well as Google, and my other scheduling app, but that’s what he said. He had an explanation but I couldn’t understand. Maybe it’s out of service today.

Anyway, April Fool’s to us, we are riding 125km to Granada!

In retrospect, I think it was today’s ride we should have been worried about, not yesterday’s. The nonstop steep rolling hills and 30+°C temperatures had us walking up hills at times and taking lots of breaks. I had to walk my bike up the 15+% grades before Steve did, he wanted to make sure I said that if I posted this picture!

But we saw some amazing scenery including Caminito del Rey and lots of beautiful countryside and farmland.

Our campground butts up against The Torcal De Antequera, giving a beautiful backdrop to our campsite. The rest of the campground is not that great, cold showers, grumpy people staring at us, and no toilet seats on the potties. But dinner at the restaurant on site was welcomed and tasty.

Tried a Netherlands take on a Mexican beer. It was pretty strange.

Also tasted a raw olive from the trees near our tent. Kind of taste like sour grapes, won’t make that mistake again. Hope I don’t get sick.

Tomorrow we may ride to Antequera and spend some time there and take the train to Granada so we have more time in both cities to do some sightseeing, skipping another 120km riding through farmland. As we decided at the beginning of our tour, it’s not about cycling every mile (I mean, kilometre); it’s about experiencing the world by bicycle.

Although we’ve been having some amazing experiences, I feel like I haven’t been living in the moment as much as on our last tour. I think part of that is due to having to figure out accommodations on the fly every few days, whereas last time we had them all figured out ahead of time. Constantly going from planning to doing modes has been a bit exhausting mentally. Not sure of the solution, but I’ve been slacking lately and have no idea where we’ll be sleeping after our two nights in Granada…

(sorry if some of my posts are not showing up right away; our internet in the country has been spotty, so I’ve been writing blog posts to be queued up)

On the ferry from Morroco to Spain the other day, there was a young guy standing in line behind us. He was a Caucasian kid, but his skin was darker than most Latinos, probably from time spent in the sun. He was wearing robes that were maybe made of linen, and his bag was some kind of hand knit back pack. His clothes and hands were dirty. He spoke perfect English with an American accent, and sticking out of his backpack were two half-torn baguettes, looking a little stale. Occasional wafts of pungent but not repulsive body odor lingered in the air wherever he walked. He wasn’t poor; he’d had enough money to pay for the 67€ each way ferry ride.

As he stood there rolling a joint of some kind, he said to the lady in line in front of him, “hey would you like some bread?” His eyes were curious and friendly, and he made and held direct eye contact with me and others, even after you looked away. The lady ignored him, and I looked away.

On the crowded boat, we had chosen a seat, and he approached us asking if he could sit next to us. Someone was already there, we truthfully told him no, and he moved somewhere else.

I realized that his presence was making a lot of people, myself included, uncomfortable, and I was quick to label him a weirdo. But after some reflection, I asked myself, who am I to be so judgmental about this happy-go-lucky and polite guy, freely offering his own food to others, and enjoying his ferry ride to another continent? I’ll bet he has a really interesting story to tell about how he got here.

Isn’t this what many others must think of us, as we ride around in sweaty, stinky Spandex cycling clothes and walk into local cafes to order coffees in bad Spanish? And yet, most of the people in these places are welcoming to us, even if they may look a bit curious or surprised.

I feel like I missed an opportunity, and next time I met someone like this, I will welcome him and ask his story.