To Zahara de la Sierra, via Grazalema

November 6, 2023

I've heard that Grazalema is the prettiest of the Andalusian white hill towns. We'll see for ourselves on today's ride there, and then to another of the Pueblos Blancos - Zahara de la Sierra. Grazalema is not exactly on the way but the detour through the Sierra de Grazalema Nature Reserve sounds nice.

Waiting again for the day to warm up out of the 40s, we start carrying the bikes and bags down the narrow stairs at 10:3o. What with one thing and another, by the time everything is loaded and ready it's 11:00. The ride west out of Ronda squares with what we saw on the way in from the east. There's no sign of cycle friendliness, or even awareness. Cars follow us closely and we pull over a couple of times to let them pass.

The A-374 takes us down a twisty five mile drop into the valley. This three-digit road feels more like a highway than the others we've been on. Shoulders are narrow and speed limits go from 60 to 90 kph, higher than any others we've been on. Fortunately there's not much traffic in the west bound lane and the trip downhill doesn't take long.

At the bottom Barry pulls over at a wide spot to adjust his noisy front derailleur, with partial success. He deems it good enough and we continue on. Hopefully we'll make up some time down the road. After we pass a turnoff to Olvera the traffic slows down and the ascent towards Grazalema is very enjoyable. A moderate six mile climb goes by fairly quickly through the forested terrain.

Enjoying the blue skies and warm sun this morning.

After the turnoff for Grazalema we ride by sheep ranches and enter the Sierra de Grazalema Nature Reserve. The reserve is an enchanting landscape of winding roads, forested hills, cliffs and mountain views, very much worth the detour. The road is shadier and cool here, in the mid-50s.

It's close to 2:30 when we arrive in Grazalema. With just 13 miles to go and a nice long descent ahead, there's time to sit down for lunch at Casa Martin on the Plaza d'Espana. The fare is local - wine, cheeses, homemade sausage, pork cheeks braised in wine, all delicious. After lunch we walk for a little while to see some of the town.

The man behind the counter does it all - beckoning us in, offering recommendations, preparing the food, and generally making sure we are delighted.

The Church of Our Lady of the Aurora, an 18th century church built on the site of a Moorish palace. Unfortunately it is in poor condition inside and not open to the public.

Grazalema really is a pretty village, worth more time than we have today. I'm glad we made the trip.

It's going on 4:00 and the shadows are lengthening by the time we start down the long hill from Grazalema towards Zahara. At the bottom the map shows we're riding next to a long reservoir, but it looks quite dry for the first three miles, a sign of the two-year drought in Spain.

Another fun switchbacky descent with very little traffic on the road

Barely a stream of water in the Guadalete river now

Some of this beautiful country reminds me of the American Southwest, only greener

Ah, there's a peek at the reservoir in the distance. I imagine it filled more of this field once upon a time.

The reservoir in view now as we start to ascend the long hill up to Zahara

The castle standing on the rock above the town

On the way up I message our host and she says they will meet us at the house we have rented for tonight. When we get to the end of the route at the top we look around for the street but don't see it. Usually Google maps gets us to the finish line, but this time it's telling us the place is in Algodonales, 10 km away. Did I screw this up? I message the host again and we wait 5 long minutes, contemplating the possibility of a cold ride down the hill in the dark.

To our great relief, our hosts, Pedro and Sofia, walk up and greet us warmly in Spanish. I have enough Spanish to order a meal and ask a few questions but am not so good at understanding the answers. We all make our best efforts to overcome the language gap as they proudly show us all around the three bedroom house - upstairs, downstairs and the view from the patio. All I really care about at this point is the bed, the washing machine and finding food, but they are so sweet.

While Pedro laboriously enters our passport information in a ledger, Sofia continues the tour, with detailed demonstrations of how use the shower, the stove and the washer. I summon all the Spanish affirmations I can remember - gracia, vale, bueno, perfecto, vale, gracia, bravo, muy bueno, gracia. Pedro brings out a space heater in case it gets cold. Gracia! They show us pictures of the field where they'll be harvesting olives tomorrow. Bonito! Pedro offers one last demonstration of how to use the lockbox tomorrow to deposit the key. Vale! Then finally, mercifully, they leave.

It really is a very nice house, but we'll need that space heater. It's cold in here.

Vestiges of the sunset when we venture out for dinner

The house is at the top of the town below the castle

For dinner we find a Moroccan place that's open and mostly empty at 7:30. The food isn't great, the music overloud and the waiter is surly, but we're fed.

We'll have to hike up and investigate that castle tomorrow

Back in the house we fire up the space heater and start the laundry. Ten minutes later the whole house goes dark. Apparently the heater and washer are too much for the power circuit. Barry finds the breaker box and switches everything back on. I guess we'll have heat when the laundry is done.

Laying on the rock hard bed later on, we talk about how nice it will be to sleep in our own bed at home next week. The cycling is glorious, and Spain has been great fun to explore, but we are growing weary of travel logistics, strange food and colder weather. Maybe two months in Europe is a stretch for us. At least it will be warmer when we get to a lower elevation in Sevilla.

Heart

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Today: 33 miles, 2,738 feet of ascent

For the tour: 825 miles, 55,206 feet of ascent

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 826 miles (1,329 km)

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Scott AndersonGlad you made it in safely. Was a little concerned for you when I saw how late you’d be leaving Grazalema.
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6 months ago

Scott AndersonMost of the mileage discrepancy comes from your rides to Carcassonne, Beziers, and the day ride from Rovinj. Looks like you forgot to record the miles on those days.
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6 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesWe just arrived home today, and are wishing we were still in Spain. It turns out that 2, or even 2 1/2, months is too short for us, and a full 3 months, or somehow a little bit more (drat the Schengen agreement) would suit us better. Wanna trade places? If we can figure out teleportation it could be worth a shot.
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6 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Scott AndersonWe did push our luck on the time, not unusual. Have you been to Grazalema?
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6 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Scott AndersonWow, thanks for ferreting that out. Somehow in the process of fixing it I've managed to lose half of this entry. That's a new one. Oh well, I'll fill it all in eventually. Moving on....
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6 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Steve Miller/GrampiesI've recovered my enthusiasm since I wrote that rant Steve, which has mysteriously disappeared. It helps that we're back to 60+ degree weather. Just a week to go and lots of good stuff still to see.
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6 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Janice BranhamYes, for two nights back in 2013. We got there through a long, difficult, roundabout ride through Sentenil and Olvega, ending up with one of our best tales of Type 2 Fun: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/andalucia2004/grazalema/.
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6 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Scott AndersonYowsa, your ride looked like a hot, tough day. Your photos of Grazalema are so bright in the sunlight. It's a challenge to capture the scene in the long shadows of a November afternoon, but we were utterly charmed by both of these hill towns.
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6 months ago