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December 11 Sunday Bicycle touring Spain from Pico Veleta in the Sierra Nevada A glorious day! We rode our unloaded touring bicycles to the top of Pico Veleta in the Sierra Nevada, the highest road in all of Europe. We climbed 6000 feet from our free camp spot to the top at 8400 feet where the road ended. It was a continuous climb. We averaging six mph. After the town of Sierra Nevada I pulled my bike to a stop to take a picture, Sharon was cold, so she decided to keep pedalling. Where could one go wrong? There's only one route to the top, right? Immediately after, the road branched. I took the high one, assuming it was the correct way since I wanted to cycle to the top of this mountain. Soon I was lost on a mountain road to who knows where. I looked up and saw a road above me. It had some traffic, so that must be the one I want! How far ahead of me is Sharon? I packed my bike up a rock-strewn path in an effort to rejoin what I hoped was the correct route. At one point, for a rest as much as anything, I laid my bike against a rock and took a picture of the immense mountains surrounding me. The road did join up -- once I carried my bike on my shoulder over boulders that is. I continued cycling upwards, believing Sharon to be ahead. After 12 kilometres I gained the ferocious windy and cold summit. No Sharon. Where the heck can she be? Thinking she must be close behind -- maybe I passed her on my 'shortcut' -- I waited a frigid half-hour. When she still didn't show up, I started down. I stopped at a little bar. A skier from Denmark who was waiting for snow bought me a coffee. I continued swooping down on my lightweight touring bicycle and found Sharon at the intersection where I had taken the wrong turn. To say that she was not happy after waiting two hours is a gross understatement. We coasted into Sierra Nevada and pulled our bicycles to a stop in front of a bar. We were starved. I went in to the bar and ordered a pizza. Or at least that's what I thought I was ordering. I had seen a picture of a pizza posted outside the bar restaurant, so I went in and ordered it. The bartender poured a beer and made a ham sandwich as I sat on a stool and watched him. I thought he was making it for some other customer, but then he set it in front of me. I told him I wanted the pizza that is shown outside. I ate the sandwich and drank the beer while he made the pizza. After inhaling our pizza we bought groceries and then coasted down to our campsite where we had left our bicycle touring tent set up and all of our cycling gear. We got down from Pico Veleta in time to watch another fantastic sunset. It was noticeably warmer at our base camp. |
