Day 62: Baza (Drive/Cycle)

Tonight I'm on emergency rations!

Who new it was Andalucia Day today? Not only that, who has a public holiday on a Tuesday?

Until today, I knew not of both. As a consequence supermarkets were closed today, which meant I was unable to replenish my much depleted food stocks. Fortunately I did manage to find a Panaderia where I was able to by some bread and, a wee slice of Manzana Cake to eat with my afternoon coffee! There were not biscuits left in the pantry! When I say buy bread I meant to say "white bread" which has the nutritional value equivalent to that of sawdust! But, beggars can't be choosers; it went down well with my lunch time soup of lentils and vegetables and, will suffice for morning toast with marmalade!

It took a while to drive to Baza and then to find an open bread shop, so today's bike ride did not start until about 2pm. At which time I expected it to be fairly warm. It being a very sunny day. So it most likely would have been if it was not for the fact that I was starting off at an altitude of about 870m (which I hadn't realised was the case) and, there was a strong, cold, breeze!

The first section of the ride was on another Via Verde.

Ye olde station needing some TLC!

Oh yer and, why not? How about some light at the end of the tunnel!

The "middle section" was a short road climb up to the "Collado del Taroon" (Altitud 1350).

The final section, which due to previous experience adventuring in unchartered (by me) off road Spanish "gravel" roads, was the one that I was a little concerned about. My concerns were: the condition of the surface; tracks turning into hiking trails - or disappearing all together; way too steep gradients; the route turning in to more of a hiking rather than biking activity; sections that are just too technical for me and, finally, additional time that may be incurred by these potential challenges - especially when you've set off in to the unknown at 2pm! Thankfully, it turned out to be some of the best gravel cycling so far. Phew!

So in summary, I'd say that this route is ideally suited for being ridden onboard a gravel bike: it has a steady climb provided by the via verde; I nice smooth 3.5 km tarmacadam road climb, at an average gradient of about 6%; then a descent on a fairly well maintained gravel road to return you to Baza. All in about 2 hours 45 minutes at a steady pace. Excellent.

• Distance driven: 70 miles
• Distance cycled: 50 km
• Weather: Hardly a cloud in the sky with a brisk cold breeze meant afternoon temperatures, in the sun, of about 8°C.
• Location: Google Maps

Today's Route: