Pictures and Stories About Bicycle Adventures

Above Left: Oh Dark Thirty - A hot cycling day is up us.

Above Right: Something NEW to me! IT KEEPS USED SILVER WEAR OFF THE TABLE (or off the linen).
It is called a 'Cutlery Rest'.

Above Left: Angry Clown for Breakfast!

Above Right: Protein! All foods are organic and local.

Above Left: Huevos revueltos y queso.

Above Right: Rollo de pan.

Above Left: Happy Camper.

Above Right: That hillside road is where we will be in a few minutes. I love my climbs to be early on a cool morning.

Above Left: A picture of where we just were (Almedinilla, Spain, and the Hospedaria La Era).

Above Right: We're turning left toward Brácana.

Above: Olive CoOp of Brácana and Processing Center.

Above Left: Oli-Brácana (Olive-Olives of Brácana - Processing Center).

Above Right: Riding into the Sun on the road to Brácana.

Above Left: Happy Stoker.

Above Right: Another Private Roadside Chapel/Monument.

Above: Homes of Brácana.

Above: Wide area view looking south across an Olive Orchard toward the Sierra Nevadas of Southern Spain.

Above: On the road to Venta Valero.

Above: On the road to Venta Valero.

Above: Homes of Venta Valero.

Above Left: Leaving Venta Valero.

Above Right: On the road to Montefrío.

Above: Church and Agriculture Looking Buildings on a Hilltop.

Above Left: Our first peek of snow capped mountains, the Sierra Nevadas of Andalucia, Spain.

Above Right: Terry in a Tall Grass Field with Wild Poppies.

Above Left: On the road to Montefrío.

Above Right: Entering the Provincia of Granada on the road to Montefrío.

Above Left: The snake is warming in the morning sun I believe this snake is called a Smooth Snake (a non-poisonous constrictor). Terry does not share my alertness to snakes. If there is a snake around, I am often the first person or the only person to see the snake. Terry does not know it but so far I have dodged one other live snake and have seen three road killed snakes just in the past few days.

As a Tandem Pilot (the person who steers a Tandem Bike) I sort of have to watch the immediate near area of where I'm driving/steering. The Tandem Stoker, does not see the immediate front road area on the tandem (because the Pilots Big Fat Butt is in the way and blocks the view) so a Tandem Stoker tends to develop more side viewing habits.

Above Right: Northbound on the Junta de Andalucia's, A-335 (for Montefrío).

Above Left: I do not know what it is; the door is too big to be an oven, it is too far away to be a bus stop, and it is a weird location for a monument.

Above Right: Poppies, Poppies, Poppies...

Above Left: Another Outpost and Watch Tower.

Above Right: A suburb of the town of Montefrío.

Above Left: Terry and the Bee on the road to Montefrío.

Above Right: On the road to Montefrío.

Montefrío for Lunch

Above Left: On the road to Montefrío.

Above Right: Montefrío.

Above Left: We stopped at the first restaurant in Montefrío for lunch.

Above Right: Lunch.

Above: Cycling through the streets of Montefrío (Cold Mountain).

Above: An overview of Montefrío as we are departing and climbing eastward.

Above Left: Leaving Montefrío, on the road for Tocón.

Above Right: On the road for Tocón.

Above: Lower valley overview, on the road for Tocón.

Above: Cortijo Don Diego - Farm House of Don Diego (Do NOT believe the sign). We took a little water break in his mountain home's entryway.

Above: On the road for Tocón - We are riding, climbing, and within a couple kilometers of the crest.

Above Left: Not bicycle friendly.

Above Right: Terry and the Bee, we're taking a break.

Above Left: A little community whose watch tower was converted to a church (actually this is rather common).

Above Right: La casa en la cresta - It is a great location.
We are on the spine of the mountain and looking at the Granada City valley. We can feel the heat of the valley pouring upward and outward from the basin to where we are now. As we head for Granada, the outside temperature will only get warmer.

Above Left: See the Snow Capped Sierra Nevadas - I did not know that there were snow capped mountains in Spain. We learn a lot, every time that we travel.

Above Right: Looking down the olive groves of the near valley.

Above Left: Spanish Bayonets.

Above Right: We're seeing into the Granada Valley for the first time - The temperature is going up as we are descending.

Above Left: The snow capped mountains are staring to look like clouds above the Plains of Spain.

Above Right: We get to ride through a few kilometers of a Parque's Tree Shade.

Above: We're riding down the foothills. The Good News is that we are riding downhill, the Bad News is that it is starting to get hot.

Above: This is the last of the foothills as we are about to enter the town of Tocón in the Granada Valley.

Tocón

Above: This is the outskirts of Tocón and we will take a left/east turn toward Illora (not a destination).

Above: We will only ride on the road to Illora for 5 of its 10 kilometers distance, then we will take a shortcut to Obeilar in order to safely cross the east-west railroad tracks to the south.

Above: We are now on a shortcut (not on the maps) to Obeilar. We get to smell Spanish Broom for 3-4 kilometers. It smells heavenly.

Above: As we near Obeilar, we come across an ancient Roman Aqueduct System. We are upon it before I realize that it is there (we were looking for it as tourists). I would have liked to have spend more time there but we now needed to meet our assigned arrival time and pick up for our shuttle into Granada (as set up by our Self Guided Tour arrangements).

Above Left: A newer road is built under an ancient Roman Aqueduct near Obeilar, Spain.

Above Right: As we passed through the town of Obeilar, we found our road for Escóznar. We're turning right here and it one of the few ways to cross the railroad tracks (to head south for Granada by way of Fuente Vaqueros).

Escóznar

Above Left: We're heading south for Escóznar. It is now hot outside.

Shamies Above Right: Entering Escóznar.

Above: Riding through Escóznar.

Above Left: 2 kilometers outside of Fuente Vaqueros we happen upon a bicycle trail next to the road. The road has no shoulders, we took the bike path.

Above Right: We pass by new tree growth and wild poppies, the purpose is unclear (county park or business profit?).

Fuente Vaqueros (Fountain of the Cowboys, our Bicycle Shuttle Destination)

Above Left: We are entering the town of Fuente Vaqueros on a beutiful and cool tree lined avenue.

Above Right: This is a Tobacco Leaf Drying Shamie - Fuente Vaqueros and the agricultural area is known for being a center for the Tobacco/Tabac Farm Industry.

Above: The Tobacco Leaf Drying Shamie is not in use now. The hanging lines are for suspending bundles of Tobacco Leaves.

Above: Exterior examples of leaf drying , they are ventilated and cool by virtue of not being in the sun.

Above Left: Terry and I are having a snack and a refreshment, we are waiting for our Shuttle pickup to go to Granada. It is easily 35C/95F outside and hotter in the sun.

Above Right: The Bee is resting while we wait for our shuttle ride.

Granada

Above: We are staying at the Alhambra Palace Hotel. It is directly across from the actual Alhambra Palace. Both facilities are located at the top of a hill that overlooks Granada, thus the temperature is much cooler than in the city.

We spent our evening time breaking down the Bee to pack it into two shipping suitcases. Our shipping suitcases were brought here earlier by a Cycling Through the Centuries Team Member (Martin, Thank You by the way).

Above: A view straight through the Alhambra Palace Hotel.

Above: The south facing view over the city of Granada from the main floor of the Alhambra Palace Hotel.
These pictures were taken the following morning (sun rising in the ENE).