February 4, 2024

Day 38: El Campello (Cycle)

For those eagerly waiting for a Leisure battery update, here is the latest news: Three days on life support has resulted in the battery being able to operate unaided. Effectively it is in remission, the battery's led status is black (meaning charge me!). The good news it is not white (meaning I'm on my death bed, replace me!), and is holding a charge. Therefore, the hope is for continued fine weather so that the battery can be nursed back to complete health via the solar panels and supplemented with charge via the alternator when driving. Full recovery will be known to have occurred if and when the led status turns to green. So, in summary, it is better but not fully recovered ... more news to follow in the coming days.

As for today's cycling, many a photo and a few words will hopefully convince you that it was a very good day on the bike!

A good decision thwt I made was to take the "back road" to Xixona. It is a great road to cycle. Firstly, the speed limit is 30 mph! However, although the first section is well paved, the middle section is not and the final section is mixed. The ride has some steep gradients, which often occur on sections of road that in effect have a gravel like surface. So, if you should choose to cycle this road, which I would highly recommend you do, because it is a great ride up and through the mountains, I recommend you have sufficiently low gears that you are able to ride seated on the bike up gradients of 20% because otherwise the rear wheel is liable to slip - you've been warned!

House of the day (needs a little tlc):

Tree of the day:

Towards the end of the "back road" this sign caught my eye [It reads - Kilometre 14; Average Gradient 9.9%: Maximum Gradient 14%]:

Then, on leaving the "back road" I by chance saw this kilometre sign ...

... so, obviously, I had to go up, rather than down as my planned route had me next to go!

... and this is what I saw on the other side of the pass:

... a subsequent u-turn soon had me back on track. And that track had me going downwards towards Xixona. In this photograph, if you look at the mountain in the distance you should see a four kilometre linear feature slanting from left to right up its side - where I would shortly be a cycling!

.... And in this next photo, which was taken on that 5% gradient of road (seen from the location of the previous photograph), you should be able to see in the distance a road passing down the side of a mountain saddle (the bit between the big mountain on the right and the small one on the left), well that there mountain road was the road on which I took the previous photograph!

...and shortly thereafter I arrived, once again, at the Port La Carrasqueta, but from the opposite direction this time.

From this high point it was all downhill until the uphill commenced again to the Coves/Cuevas De Canelobre

... And then it was mostly downhill to the van.