Lst day of riding in Spain
Today we left Alhama and directly began one of the two climbs for the morn :eek:ing. Both are part of previous Vuelta routes. The first was a category 2 climb; it wasn't too bad, about 6k and not too steep. But doing it first thing sucked. The descent was about 9k, going by a lake that was just beautiful. However, I would have been the last one down, if others hadn't stopped. The group stopped for coffee here, but, we went on to immediately start the next, category 2 climb. This one was about 5.5k and much steeper. We just ticked up, very slowly. There were markers on the road for the last k and 500 meters, from the race. That was kind of exciting. The van was waiting at the top, too. We went on down, which was a gentler descent, going through one town, before we got to the lunch stop. t was pretty cool out; I had my bolero on the whole time and put my vest on at the lunch stop. I had a big lunch to celebrate finishing the climbs and then we got in a paceline that was way too fast for me, but I did manage to get in to the next stop point just behind the fast riders. We got on a bike path for just a bit and then, to my surprise, we got on the shoulder of a freeway and rode about 12k to Santa Fe. It was quite an experience, one that I would not care to repeat, although not one scary thing happened. Santa Fe is a neat waled city tat protected Granada. They are famous for these pastries called something that sounds like piano (I can't remember the name). We headed for the bakery where they were first made and promptly ordered 2. They are a ball of cream and sugar, kind of carmelized. It was delicious. The display of cakes and pastries was unreal. From here, I took the van into Granada, since I did not feel like braving the city traffic. About half of us did.
Granada is nice. Lots of good shopping. We've already celebrated our completion of the tour with tapas and beer. In about a half hour we are meeting some of the group for dinner. Tomorrow we have a walking tour of the Alhambra and then the guides will take us to the bus station, where we are heading to Malaga, to rest and recuperate near the beach. We come home on Tuesday.
The leaders told us (they are the owners of the company) that we are the first group that wasn't a group of roadie club members that rode the whole thing, every climb, with no one taking the van, despite the fact we are at very different levels. And, oh yeah, that older man I talked about... he is 84! A year younger than my dad! Unbelievable. This is definitely the best tour I have been on, I think because it attracted an international group of participants.
