It's autumn in Spain, we're on the road again

[Wanders from Glos]

They obviously don’t make chains like they used too..

They are a lot thinner than they used to be because there are so many more gears, each cog on the cassette has a narrower gap between it and the next one. They may have something to do with it.

 

[jumar]

We've gone rural tonight..

 

[jumartoo]

I've put another 40 km's on my chain today .

We followed a local rider's Wikiloc route today and it was interesting. Just why it descended to the bottom of a gorge and climbed back up again we couldn't work out. It didn't go down to visit anywhere in particular. We think we could have stayed up high and, if we ever ride it again, we'd explore that possibility.

It went through farmed land, mainly almonds, along the canal, down and up the gorge and then kilometres of mainly smooth, slightly downhill, track through a pine forest to pass some new, modern, pig buildings and then into a Badland area, where we stopped to photo some peppers (four of them are here with us). We then rode another long slightly downhill, newly graded, track. We ignored the sign saying there was no exit (we were on bikes anyway) and right at the end, where we could see the road, the track came to an abrupt end where the floods had caused some real damage. We managed to get the bikes through this bit and up a narrow path into someone's garden area . We hurried down their concrete road and escaped without being challenged.

Back at the van, bikes loaded up, and we drove 6 km to our present spot at a recreation area in a tiny hamlet of La Alquería, with more, cave houses. This is, so far, sleepy city. The most noise has been from the sheep.

 

[MullMan]

I swap the chains religiously every 1000km to even the wear on all the components...this way I can get good service out of the cassettes...each bike has 2 active chains..when it's time to change the cassette the whole lot, chains and all get scrapped.
What may have happened yesterday is a troublesome chain guide came off, jammed against the chainring and forced a link open..I was going on flat surface about 10kph turning right on gravel..putting another chain on this and checking everything...did finish ride yesterday with shortened chain..

One of the reasons I went for belt drive on my ebike,coupled with a 14speed Rholoff hub gear.Virtually maintenance free drive train. The belts do stellar mileages but actually finding out when to change one is proving difficult. When I had chain driven bikes I did as you do and knew where I was. I'm going to buy a spare and carry that when I come over in January.

 

[jumar]

One of the reasons I went for belt drive on my ebike,coupled with a 14speed Rholoff hub gear.Virtually maintenance free drive train. The belts do stellar mileages but actually finding out when to change one is proving difficult. When I had chain driven bikes I did as you do and knew where I was. I'm going to buy a spare and carry that when I come over in January.

When my new YT arrives when built, we will be back to 4 eBikes at home....4 others have been sold on in our neighbourhood and one went to a Polish guy in Alicante... I've never had a belt driven eBike..but shouldn't say never...,

 

[Wanders from Glos]

I've put another 40 km's on my chain today .

We followed a local rider's Wikiloc route today and it was interesting. Just why it descended to the bottom of a gorge and climbed back up again we couldn't work out. It didn't go down to visit anywhere in particular. We think we could have stayed up high and, if we ever ride it again, we'd explore that possibility.

It went through farmed land, mainly almonds, along the canal, down and up the gorge and then kilometres of mainly smooth, slightly downhill, track through a pine forest to pass some new, modern, pig buildings and then into a Badland area, where we stopped to photo some peppers (four of them are here with us). We then rode another long slightly downhill, newly graded, track. We ignored the sign saying there was no exit (we were on bikes anyway) and right at the end, where we could see the road, the track came to an abrupt end where the floods had caused some real damage. We managed to get the bikes through this bit and up a narrow path into someone's garden area . We hurried down their concrete road and escaped without being challenged.

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Back at the van, bikes loaded up, and we drove 6 km to our present spot at a recreation area in a tiny hamlet of La Alquería, with more, cave houses. This is, so far, sleepy city. The most noise has been from the sheep.
View attachment 984591

I have friends like your local rider. They like to do the challenge of a tough hill with no electric. I don’t get it tbh.

 

[jumartoo]

I have friends like your local rider. They like to do the challenge of a tough hill with no electric. I don’t get it tbh.

The local guy that posted it, posted it as an ebike. The descent was a bit scary because of the recent water damage. It just went down then back up. There's a perfectly good track that stays high that we climbed back up to. That would also be more in keeping with his grading of easy.

Maybe he followed a previous route of riders like your friends

 

[Wanders from Glos]

The local guy that posted it, posted it as an ebike. The descent was a bit scary because of the recent water damage. It just went down then back up. There's a perfectly good track that stays high that we climbed back up to. That would also be more in keeping with his grading of easy.

Maybe he followed a previous route of riders like your friends

Ha ha maybe.

 

[jumartoo]

We had a very short, circular, stroll this morning before we left La Alqueria to head to our present spot at La Peza, to the west of Guadix.

 

[jumartoo]

We turned off the motorway after passing Guadix. Our first stop was at the parking area (motorhomes allowed) of the Embalse de Francisco Abellán. There were two motorhomes already there. One where the occupants were sitting inside having lunch and the other ...

They were both in vans registered in the same country. One knows the rules.

We had a quick look around and continued.

We're now at the official, serviced, area of La Peza.

It's very nice and the town looks interesting. Unfortunately it's getting a bit cloudy, but we are very close now to Sierra Nevada so mountain weather has to be expected.

 

[jumar]

A Brief Reminder.
To all the current visitors to Spain...next weekend will be a long holiday...starting Friday 6th...and in some areas extending into Monday too, as Sunday 8th is a national recognised holiday too, but falling on that day may be taken on Monday...so my advice is stock up and enjoy the ride...

 

[jumartoo]

Just a short ride today, starting with a visit to the castle ruins, and then picking up an old (2008) route. I'd checked it carefully on Google and all seemed good. In fact, the tracks from a certain point were newly surfaced.

We detoured to a viewpoint overlooking the reservoir we drove past yesterday but we couldn't see the water. We did see lots of graffiti and a certain type of litter. What a shame.

Martin pointing to Sagra.

Snow on Nevada.

We were back at the van early so we decided to drive to our next chosen parking area. This is another new, serviced, area at the village of Marchal. There are a few motorhomes here. It's another very nice, free, spot.

I've just found out (last night) that the Camino Mozarabe comes through this area. I'm going to research it for a possible multi day ride.

 

[cyberyacht]

They are a lot thinner than they used to be because there are so many more gears, each cog on the cassette has a narrower gap between it and the next one. They may have something to do with it.

Never had this sort of problem with a 3 speed Sturmey-Archer.

 

[jumartoo]

We were going to ride a bit longer route today, but we were following a 2011 route which suddenly dumped us at ploughed fields and a chain. We crossed the chain and Martin walked a short way but it was going to be heavy going on the ploughed land so we, reluctantly, turned back to the Mirador and descended down to the village of Beas de Guadix and picked up our route again.

Anyway, before that we had a lovely ride, only spoilt by a bit of riding on the service road next to the motorway. We did, though pass all the ceramic shops that you can see from the motorway. We couldn't buy anything today though .

The start through a cave house area up to a Mirador.

The ceramic stalls.

A nice ride through the Badlands after Purullena.

And on the tops before the Mirador.

From the Mirador, Beas de Guadix.

Marchal

On the last bit back from Beas de Guadix.

 

[jumartoo]

We've just been to try to see the pink building, but access was gated. It looks unused at the moment, but there are plants in pots outside.

As is normal for us, we found ourselves in the less affluent part of town. Two women were having a bit of a row . We watched from a Mirador next to the oldest cave settlement.

Heading back to the van we passed a house with a Christmas decorations.

And our own Christmas tree. We'll it's next to the parking area.

 

[jumartoo]

Gallardo Palace or Casa Rosa

turgranada.es

 

[Peavy]

What a great landscape.

 

[jumar]

Another day has dawned...another quiet night passed by without incident...the van that arrived late last night has departed early...a good stop over en-route to southern regions or Portugal...
The Christmas lights are impressive for a small village...but could be matched by the Brit Hymer that arrived yesterday...perhaps a Funster...perhaps reading this...we will never know..
Arrived at next overnight location after shopping in Guardix and letting a lamppost take a chunk out of the back bumper...my fault..
Two Spanish vans arrived so we moved over to let them have adjacent places...so kind..
A conversation started which led to the usual question..Where are you from? Once again I couldn't convince them that I'm from China.. I'll keep trying until I get a second question, Which part?

 

[scousebird]

letting a lamppost take a chunk out of the back bumper...my fault..

Oops

 

[royandsharont]

All quiet today Judith, is all ok?

 

[jumartoo]

All quiet today Judith, is all ok?

Just watching an episode of Shetland. I'll post our today's ride soon.

Thanks for asking

 

[jumartoo]

We didn't do much yesterday apart from some food shopping and rearranging the van's back bumper.

We arrived here.

A nice parking area, but it's definitely well out of the town. Not a problem for us, but the wind yesterday afternoon kept us from exploring.

Today, though, started much better, with blue skies and a light breeze. We set off for a ride that started off by taking us through Abla, with its crocheted winter decorations.

And looking back whilst on our way to the village of Abrucena.

Abrucena also has a motorhome area, with service point, but we didn't see it as we negotiated our way through the narrow, winding streets. I think Barriesimpson may have visited on his trip a few weeks ago? I've read the reviews on P4N . Abrucena looks a nice place to visit also.

Abrucena

We then began a climb on a forest road, at first surfaced and then it turned to a wide, gravel road.

Me, practicing Martin's nonchalant pose. I'll get it right eventually . Got to sit up more and relax

As so.

Tomorrow night's proposed stop (to avoid any fiestas ) is on top of this hill. If you zoom in you can see the observatories of Calar Alto.

I zoomed in anyway.

It could be a cold night.

And, on the way back, we passed Abla church and cemetery.

We were pretty cold at the end because the wind had returned and we had quite a few downhill kilometres to ride.

A mug of chicken soup warmed us up before lunch

 

[royandsharont]

I love those decorations

 

[jumartoo]

I love those decorations

They look brilliant against the blue sky.

 

[Jays2]

We didn't do much yesterday apart from some food shopping and rearranging the van's back bumper.

We arrived here.

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A nice parking area, but it's definitely well out of the town. Not a problem for us, but the wind yesterday afternoon kept us from exploring.

Today, though, started much better, with blue skies and a light breeze. We set off for a ride that started off by taking us through Abla, with its crocheted winter decorations.

View attachment 986653View attachment 986657View attachment 986656View attachment 986655

And looking back whilst on our way to the village of Abrucena.
View attachment 986654

Abrucena also has a motorhome area, with service point, but we didn't see it as we negotiated our way through the narrow, winding streets. I think Barriesimpson may have visited on his trip a few weeks ago? I've read the reviews on P4N . Abrucena looks a nice place to visit also.

Abrucena
View attachment 986658

We then began a climb on a forest road, at first surfaced and then it turned to a wide, gravel road.

Me, practicing Martin's nonchalant pose. I'll get it right eventually . Got to sit up more and relax
View attachment 986660

As so.
View attachment 986663

Tomorrow night's proposed stop (to avoid any fiestas ) is on top of this hill. If you zoom in you can see the observatories of Calar Alto.
View attachment 986661

I zoomed in anyway.
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It could be a cold night.

And, on the way back, we passed Abla church and cemetery.
View attachment 986666

We were pretty cold at the end because the wind had returned and we had quite a few downhill kilometres to ride.

A mug of chicken soup warmed us up before lunch

On first look before scrolling down, did not see the observatories!

 

[jumartoo]

Observatories will be revealed in good time. But first ...

We had a leisurely morning and got away after 10.00. The DIA supermarket in Abla, that we passed on the way to the motorway, was open so I nipped in for some bread and round grain rice.

The drive here was spectacular as always and I got the first shot of the observatories with my phone.

We parked up and went for a walk round. There's one, very big, observatory and several smaller.

The big one

And the smaller ones.

There's a, closed today, information centre and some accommodation units.

We're up over 2,000 metres and we've found a sheltered spot for tonight.

Remember the red pimento (we thought) peppers we picked up a few days ago? Well they aren't. I was making a paella type meal and I thought I'd put two in for colour. I tried a tiny bit of one as I was preparing it and it almost blew my head off. I was drinking milk as I was cooking to try to ease the burning . Who'd have expected hot chillies???

 

[jumar]

Quiet night....off home this morning...a big change in the weather is expected sometime over the next day or so...
Lots of bike stuff to do on current ride and new YT arriving on Wednesday..
We have been summoned to attend our Banco Santander branch to answer questions about money laundering.....sounds dramatic...but we got a phone call and message from our branch official....she wants us to explain the two large deposits we made in October..
It's obviously flagged up something....they want to see statements and origins of this money...good to see Spanish banks are active in this way..of course fellow Funsters, rest assured that jumar and jumartoo are whiter than white (Pun intended,) and such activities would never cross our minds...a further to this it proves Spain is cleaning up (Another one ) in some areas...

 

[Peavy]

We have been summoned

Sorry to read that. I hope they don't bother you too much

 

[Just smiffy]

Quiet night....off home this morning...a big change in the weather is expected sometime over the next day or so...
Lots of bike stuff to do on current ride and new YT arriving on Wednesday..
We have been summoned to attend our Banco Santander branch to answer questions about money laundering.....sounds dramatic...but we got a phone call and message from our branch official....she wants us to explain the two large deposits we made in October..
It's obviously flagged up something....they want to see statements and origins of this money...good to see Spanish banks are active in this way..of course fellow Funsters, rest assured that jumar and jumartoo are whiter than white (Pun intended,) and such activities would never cross our minds...a further to this it proves Spain is cleaning up (Another one ) in some areas...

If you need to offload some cash I’ll be passing you soon….

 

[jumartoo]

Well we're home. Washing done. Yesterday was like a summers day, today, on the shady side, it's freezing in the cold wind. Luckily our terrace is on the sunny side and sheltered from the wind today and it's like a different world.

This thread was autumn and it's now officially winter so I might put it to bed and start another for our next trip, which will be very soon, once Martin's new bike arrives and he's done his alterations to it, and the forecast cold weather passes.

We'll take the opportunity of the cold spell to go and see our very nice bank official and even stock up on some teabags at the shop in Mazarron. We might buy a few bits of British stuff to give to Paco and Encarna, our longest known Spanish friends, for Christmas.

Angéla, one of other besties, is only getting a curry on Tuesday