Day 3... The highest of heights...


Day 3 made it perfectly clear to me that up till now I had just been messing around in the foothills.
Given the location of my hotel... to cycle anywhere fun... I first have to slog up... and up... and up... just to get to tracks which are deserted.

So today was going to be slightly different. I decided to load my bike in the car and drive up.. to Sierra Nevada itself. A small mountain town which mainly comes to life in the ski season but which also advertises bike trails for the summer months.

It looked as though I could drive there, park and then throw myself around the trails up there for a bit.

Fortunately the bike just made it into the car without any removal of anything and I began the short drive... up of course.

The road from Monachil to Sierra Nevada literally wjnds around the mountain tops. This would normally be ok ... despite the lack of barriers on the drop side. However Im in a car that is significantly wider... driving on the wrong side of the car... which makes judging the distance between my car wheels and the edge of the drop difficult to say the least.
Add in a very narrow road and my hands are gripping the steering wheel like no tomorrow and I am wishing that I was on my bike... despite the gradient!
The view from this road would have been fantastic if I had dared to look at it but instead my eyes were fixed to the road.

Given how slowly I was going... it was no surprise how long it took to cover the miles.
Given the road signs warning me of animals it should have been no surprise to find cows wandering down the middle of the road... but it was!

I got to the highest possible car park eventually... had the pleasant discovery that it was free and unloaded my bike.
Despite being nearly at the top of the mountains... all the tracks were pretty steep... many of them looked suitable only for hikers... and some of them appeared to just tumble off the cliff side.

However there was a tarmac road... up which most cars weren't allowed and as I stood and watched I saw many cyclists tapping up it... both roadies and mtb'ers.

This then was what I proceeded to do and  because of the windy nature of the road... the gradient was reasonable.

I stopped at the monument a bit further up and as a tradition dictates... searched for a stone to leave in memoriam. That done... off I went... up and up and up...
Again....

The view was gradually revealled with the higher mountains as a backdrop.. the remnants of the winter's snow still clinging to some of the slopes hidden from the blistering heat...
Actually though... it felt much cooler than yesterday... not cold by any stretch of the imagination.. but cooler nonetheless.

This meant that dehydration didn't hit as quickly as the previous days and it was a comfortable climb up.

The start of the mountain bike trails was basically a 'throw yourself off the mountain' kinda approach and visions of broken legs meant that I chickened out somewhat. The blue routes looked very much like black routes and probably not to be attempted whilst on a hardtail with a seat pack... so I contented myself with the gravel doubletrack trails before sitting at the top of a rise to take in the scenery.

Then a plummet downwards... brakes starting to squeal... dumping me back at the car park with a final skiddy flourish.

Not content yet with my days calorie output.. I left the bike in my car and hiked up to the top of a rocky escarpment... searching for a bit of peace and tranquillity. It was not to be.

I could have ignored the incessant bleating of the goats as they bounded up and down the mountainside... but the incessant chatter... howling... and hollering of a bunch of noisy teenagers kinda ruined the ambience. Unfortunately because of its easy to get to nature... this place was somewhat more crowded than the other places I had been so far...

So I trotted back to the car... pleased with being in the highest of heights today but determined that tomorrow I would go back to messing around in the somewhat more deserted foothills.

Now hopefully as it isn't Sunday... or Monday.... there might be a restaurant open for dinner this evening...
Fingers crossed

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