February 11, 2024

Day 45: Tabernas (Cycling)

On the road to Nijar:

The temperature at this mornings grand depart from base camp (elevation 450m) was about 13°C; at the high point of the day (elevation 800m ) it was about 10°C; the lowest point of the day was at an elevation of 300 metres in Nijar ...

... where the temperature was about 19°C, indeed it was not much less than that as I climbed back up towards Lucainena De Las Torres ...

... with the sun occasionally shining on my back; it was only as I travelled on a section of an accidentally found Via Verde (Lucainena de las Torres) (which I obviously I had to tag on to today's ride) that the temperatures really started to drop again. Ten kilometres along the Via Verde, as the rain started, I decided to turn round. By the time the rain had ceased I was about 8 kilometres from home, the temperature had dropped to about 8°C, and I was rather wet (no mudguards made it worse than it needed to be!).

Indeed, you could argue that I experienced typical Scottish weather today!

Here's a view of the road I rode along (to left) and the via verde (bottom left, below the building, there is the old railway path passing through a cutting, which forms part of the Via Verde.

Also, I came across this name from the past. Either the paint has weathered exceptionally well or, perhaps, this five time winner of the Tour de France, is out racing again!!

Even though the rain put an end to my extracurricular cycle along the Via Verde, I really enjoyed the day; I'd say that 80% of the cycling today was excellent, the other 20% was simply the bit that needed to be ridden to get to and from the 80%!

  • Distance driven: 0
  • Distance cycled: 108 kilometres (originally it was to be about 86 kilometres)
  • Weather: Nearly a typical Scottish summer's day (but, only 3 seasons in one day, instead of 4!)

Today's ride (including extracurricular bit!)