Saturday, December 7, 2013

Days 35 and 36: The Road to Malaga and Malaga

Day 34: Ronda to Malaga (100 km)

Weather: Just splendid.  People here consider it arctic, but to a North American it would be a crisp fall day.  Frost on the ground in the morning, but warming to low 60's by midday. 

Roads: low to no traffic most of the day, moderate as I got into Malaga.  Roads smooth and small for most of day, two big climbs, but relatively gradual.

Bike: running well, but showing signs of having been ridden more or less constantly for well over 1000 miles.  Will need an overhaul once I get home, poor sweet thing. 

Feeling much better this morning, I hit the road as early as I could, knowing I had significant distance and elevation to make today.  The weather could not have been more cooperative; the crispness early just gave me an excuse to actually wear some of the cold weather gear I had been schlepping around the whole trip.  Besides, the brilliant sunshine warmed me right up, as well as the 1000 vertical Foot climb pretty much right off the bat. 

Since Ronda is already pretty high, climbing from there got me up to the treeline, and yielded fantastic views back toward the national park near Ronda and eastward to the rest of the day's riding.  I passed through a few of the picturesque "white villages" of the region: whitewashed, red tiled villages generally perched magestically on hilltops or mountainsides.  The farmland between was idyllic olive groves and vineyards, and with the trees along the way showing fall color and the golden low angle sunlight beaming down it all, it was sublime.  What little traffic there was was slowed by the curves or uneven pavement, essentially making the vast majority of the day a cruise on a de facto bike path.

The road leveled considerably on the approach to Malaga, and began to avoid mountains instead of humping straight over them as had been the case for most of the last two weeks of riding.  So, while the last 20 km into Malaga was not as pleasant as the rest, it at least was flat or slightly downhill, and went by pretty fast, for end of the day riding.  I located the hostel wish little difficulty (though I did have to fight through the large pedestrianized downtown that was full of people enjoying the Christmas lights that had been recently set up). Though Malaga doesn't have quite as much to offer as some other places, I figure it's worth a sightseeing day tomorrow, since it is a large city boasting a number of archeological and cultural sights. 

A quick note on the Spanish schedule.  Though everybody knows about the siesta (which is a real thing- and even though I am aware of it, I still find it annoying that I can't buy, say alcohol for my camp stove at 2:30 on a Tuesday afternoon.), a lesser-known phenomenon is the pleasant period starting around sundown and lasting until around 9 or 10 in the evening.  Everyone emerges from their houses and strolls around, generally pausing to get a coffee or a drink, or dinner, or just meet friends in the street.  Occasionally, there is music, but generally you just hear people laughing and chatting.   I think there is a term for it, but I can't remember it, but it wouldn.'t really translate because the US lacks the concept as well as the word for it.  Anyway, it's a really charming feature of traveling in Latin America. 

Day 35: Malaga

I had wondered if Malaga was worththe layover day, since my guide was kind of lukewarm about it.  However, the schedule allowed for it, it was nice to help fully recover from being ill, it was a gorgeous day, and I figured in such a large city, there had to be something worth seeing.  

And there was.  Malaga is a little unappealing riding into it, I'll admit.  The easy to find bike lanes are absent, and there's a large ring of down at the heel neighborhoods surrounding it.  But the interior, where the hostel was, is fully pedestrianized and a pretty ritzy shopping area (the GUTTERS are marble). It's getting close to Christmas, so this whole zone is decked out with poinsettias and impressive light displays, but apparently Santa is not a thing here, and is conspicuously absent.  

Malaga has also been actively working on improving its image, and has obviously invested heavily in redoing its waterfront, which is now a very pleasant peninsula with the port and marina on one side and a much more low-key beach area on the other side.  

They have also made the most of the fact that this is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, and even though he left when he was 10, they still have a very impressive museum in his honor, that houses a large exhibit of his lesser known work along with many of his contemporaries, in a beautifully restored mansion.  

But besides all that, it was worth the day's stay for the magnificently restored complex of Moorish castles that overlook the town.  Heretofore, the castles of that era required a certain amount of imagination to visualize their former glory, but these were so well preserved, down to the working fountains in the beautiful gardens within, that it was like walking onto a movie set.  Certainly an excellent side benefit is that walking the ramparts of the castles gives you a sweeping view of the surrounding city and countryside- especially useful and interesting to me because I can see where I came from and (sigh) the big climb I have tomorrow.  

There was also the requisite grand cathedral downtown, which was of interest to Americans, because its unfinished tower is so because the local bishop redirected the construction funds to help bankroll the American Revolution.  So now it's lopsided and we are free from onorous beverage taxes!  Thanks, Malaga!

A change today was also I finally hit a town not in the dead season.  Though the downside is of course not having all of the sights to myself and dealing with a crowded hostel as opposed to having a dorm room to myself.  On the up side, it's not a ghost town and everything is open, and the streets/are vibrant and exciting.  

The weather here at sea level was predictably warmer than Ronda, and as I saw the sights, I was comfortably in short sleeves most of the day. This was also conducive to eating some tapas and shipping cerveca on the beach.  Good to soak that up, because next stop is Grenada, up on the shoulder of the snowy Sierra Nevada.  

So certainly not sorry for the day spent here, and excited and well rested for big climbs ahead.  Thankfully, I'm not stretching for distance this leg (it being too far for 1 day, but shortish for 2, so I can actually moderate the distance in respect of the elevation gained!




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