A Flower By the Sea
The pandemic continues and our routines continue
In Spain I keep seeing the BKL Prolimp bikes and I like them. They’re tricycles rather than bikes but I think they could be useful. Instead of transporting a broadcast camera and tripod in a car or smart you could transport them on the back of this bike. Instead of a bin bag though I would have the tripod bag and find a way to fix the camera as well.
I don’t like the price. These bikes are 3300 euros according to at least one site. I like these as a curiousity. It’s nice to have transport like this for cleaning, rather than a pickup truck or small car. You’re outdoors, riding a bike over small distances.
I saw a helmet being used as a parking brake so I don’t know whether these bikes come with a parking brake or whether they have to be improvised.
I know this post is random. I am lacking inspiration.
Although not discussed as such the pandemic is an interior journey in the same manner as thru hikes as they are called in the US and pilgrimages in Europe. We start with one identity and one life and we have to adapt it to suit the things that can be realised during a pandemic.
We are in solitude with our thoughts so we need to work on our inner character, ready to resume post pandemic life, once that opportunity comes back. Whenever that may be.
This walk takes you from the Port of Javea up to the lighthouse near San Antonio before continuing along the top towards Los Molinos. These are old grain mills. They used wind power to grind grain for several centuries before being taken out of action as modernisation arrived.
The walk takes you along the port before you start to climb. As you walk along the port you will see a number of cats, either being lazy, or playing. You will then start to climb. The first few metres require some bigger steps but after that you will find that it gets easier. There is a good view over the port at several moments. You also get a good view of the sea.
On this walk I could hear the bees and other insects buzzing. You can also see that many young trees are coming up. Many of them were destroyed by a fire a few years ago. In a few more years this will be a walk in the shade, once more.
A year or two ago, we did this walk. We came across the old kiln. Due to rain and nature recovering though, the kiln is hidden once again. I don’t remember if I have the GPS coordinates for the kiln. Nature will help keep it hidden and safe.
I tracked this walk with the CASIO GBD-200 and the Apple watch with the Steps app. The casio gave a good track although it did not track altitude and heart rate. The Steps app, with an outdoor walk, was crap. It didn’t track heart rate for some reason which makes it crap. The Apple Fitness app says that I didn’t burn my daily calorie goal today, as a result.
This walk is quite easy, for those used to walking over rough terrain but it does come with seasonal difficulty variability. As soon as the weather gets warmer walking with enough water is important. You are exposed for at least an hour or three, dependent on how fast you walk. In 35°c heat you will cook. In 19°c you will feel comfortable. Consider this, before trying the walk.
When people think of cycling in Spain they think of the seaside and they think of the coast. They think of long flat roads and short climbs. I made the mistake of thinking that so when I arrived in Spain I went cycling but every direction I tried involved climbing steep gradients. The first ride I did took me to the top of the Cumbre Del Sol and I felt that it was hard but I didn’t mind as I expected it to feel like a climb.
It’s when I tried to ride in other directions that I came up to the steep gradients and started to understand the challenge of riding in such a landscape. In Switzerland you can have 12km climbs but they’re at shallow gradients most of the way with the occasional steep gradient. Roads with steep gradients are usually closed in Switzerland. In Spain they don’t have such an issue with ice and snow so they can build steep hills. The hills are so steep that I considered using normal shoes so that I could dismount easily if I ran out of steam. I continued with clipped pedals.
I was using the Komoot app for one route and it asked me to go up consecutive steep gradients. I dismounted and walked up a short bit before getting to another flat bit of road. As I walked up that steep gradient I saw a scooter descending my way and as he applied the brakes to slow down a bit he hit a wet patch of road and the scooter slid for a distance downhill. I believe I made the right decision to dismount at this point.
I eventually reached my destination after studying the map on the app and ignoring directions.
Aside from the painful uphills there are some very nice downhills. This one is going down to the sea through Fanadix, not an Asterix character. This was an excellent and pleasant descent. I only went down this road twice and as I saw that there were some wet patches I didn’t go at full speed. It’s the type of descent you see idealised in road and cycling programs. I love when you have roads that are wide enough for traffic to go uphill and downhill because it feels safer than two-way roads that are only a car width wide.
When I cycle I try to take secondary roads as much as possible for two reasons. The first of these is that there is less traffic so you can enjoy the landscape and see places that people following main roads cannot see and the second reason is that when you’re going up a steep gradient it’s nice to be able to take up the entire road. This is something that I tried in Switzerland and adopt on most of my rides. It’s safer. Before this spot I was going up a steep gradient and sticking to the right of the road when I saw a car coming down the other way. The driver could have continued down safely but she was courteous and stopped, letting me progress up the hill.
This landscape reminds me of Mont Sur Rolle. Spanish terraced vineyards looking towards the sea. In Switzerland vines are given cables to grow on but in Spain at this time of year vines are cut so you see the vineyards unblemished by metal cables.
It’s nice to cycle in Spain but I noticed that I could easily do three to five hundred metres of climbing on every bike ride up steep gradients. You need strong legs for the gradients. In Switzerland it’s rare for me to stand up as I pedal but in Spain it’s almost a requirement. It is a good place to perfect your climbing technique. I will explore more routes next time I go.