After cycling across Scotland with Graeme in September 2015, and then a spot of touring around Cork and Kerry in July 2017, I think it was me who came up with the idea of tackling the longest road climb in Europe for this years cycling mini-break. Its nearly an annual event at this stage! Anyway, Graeme seemed keen so we gave it a bit of logistical thought, and hatched the plan.
The plan would involve flights to Malaga, and then a hire car to Granada where we rented the bikes. We opted for aluminium frame Coluer bikes from Bicicletas la Estacion in Granada, which proved adequate. My one was certainly in better repair than my own bikes, so I couldn't complain! After bundling them into the hire car, we headed out of the city to our air bnb accomodation in Quentar, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Little did we know that it was the fiesta weekend in Quentar, which looked like it was likely to be pretty noisy. Our first night passed without incident however, and we were up early next morning, eager to get cracking on the hills!
With the forecast looking good, we saddled up and headed off, first heading back down the valley before heading to Pinos Genil, where the road began to rise. It was already hot and sunny, and my knees were complaining a bit, so I stopped to make my saddle more level. Graeme was already far ahead - this was going to be like Bealach na Ba again, only longer!
Slowly the kms passed. Although it was hot, the climbing was ok and the road surface was very good. There were quite a few cars heading up the road too, but it was wide enough for them to leave plenty room. After a while I reached where Graeme was waiting and we took a break. Well, ok I took another break - I'd had a few already! And then back to the climbing! Onwards and upwards!
By late morning we'd reached the ski resort at Pradollano, where we found a cafe serving coffee, hot chocolate and chocolate brownies with ice-cream. Pricey, but worth it, as it was delicious! And then it was back on the bikes and on up the hill! Before much longer we reached the last cafe at the Hoya de la Mora. This is the end of the road for motor vehicles, but on a bike you can scoot under the barrier, and carry on up, although the road does begin to get a bit rougher after the barrier. It was getting cooler too, as we got higher, and the altitude seemed to be making it harder to breath, or at least I was having to stop more often to ease the pounding of my heart in my ears! No such problems for Graeme as he carried on up the mountain, apparently unaffected.
The views were wonderful though, and proved a useful distraction, as did the small party of Alpine Accentors that cheered me on for a few hundred metres up the road. By now I was pretty wrecked, and had to keep stopping for sneaky breathers when no-one was looking! I got chatting to a cyclist from Waterford who was making his way back down, warning me that the road got very rough near the top, and to take it handy. I pressed on, hoping all the while that the road would hurry up and deteriorate so I could stop! Eventually, just I could see some potholes and debris ahead, Graeme hove in to view, descending down to me. The road was pretty much impassable round the next corner, and although he'd walked a few of the worst sections, he didn't see much point in keeping going, as the weather looked like it was closing in, and getting a puncture would be bad news. This was good enough for me - I struggled up as far as the next corner, and then turned back, Graeme already far below me on the twisty road back down to the cafe.
The descent was great! Cold on the hands though, and with thinner bar tape than we were both used to, the vibrations were a bit savage! It was great to get back down to the cafe for a slap-up feed of huevos y papas fritas in the sunshine, before rocketing back down the mountain for a whopping 30-odd kms of descent - what a blast!
By the time we got back to base, we'd clocked up 100km and 2,900m of ascent - it was definitely time for a couple of chilled cervezas to celebrate!
