Around the Adriatic Sea
The challenge: cycling round the Adriatic Sea. Will I manage it before the weather in the Balkans gets too rough? I’m curious to find out myself….
Thursday, Nov 17: Almería - Adra (60.1 km - 480 D+)
A horror bike day! Five and a half hours ride over just 60 km, which is at 10.9 km/hour. An average runner goes faster. Headwinds of 50-60 km/h and terribly ugly surroundings, at least from Aguadulce. Until there, the lane ran between a cliff and the sea and the wind was still moderate.
Yesterday, my bike had a check-up and the bike shop had put on a new chain. Today, the bike regularly kicked half a pedal pedal, even while shifting gears and climbing. Not cool, with the long climb to the Alpujarras mountains ahead. Therefore, I decided to stop at the next bike shop. The cause of the stagger was the new chain on a rather worn cassette. Fortunately, the bike shop still had a suitable cassette in stock for my vehicle, as it is no longer a commonly used type. And now I also know that I have a 12-28. At the same time, he also replaced the derailleur wheel. All in all, I spent three quarters of an hour at the bike shop, and by the time I could get on again, the wind had taken stormy proportions. First it came alongside me for a while, but then I had to swing off to the west and it was right in front.
Forty kilometres of headwind and all the way through plastic country. Seen from the air, this is a white valley. And it is a very wide valley. From Balerma the plastic surrounds reach down to the sea. A while ago, I wrote that you can enjoy the scenery longer when there is a headwind, but there was nothing to enjoy here.
As I paused at a job café, I read in the newspaper that the police yesterday rounded up a large VAT fraud network of plastic conservatory traders in this region. So not only are they ruining the environment and the landscape, they are also in the pockets of the state and the taxpayer. Man at his worst....
Ten kilometres before arrival I had another problem with my Ortlieb bag. At the bottom, a plastic belt guide had snapped off and the broken particle clattered between my spokes. That was quickly removed, but as a result I noticed that the bag's tarpaulin was starting to tear off at that spot. ORTLIEB Outdoor Equipment material is apparently not as indestructible as the advertising claims after all.
And to definitely end the tough day of cycling 'in fatigue', Komoot also made me ride 4 km headwind too far. When the sweet-voiced Komoot female voice announced the long-awaited 'you are close to your destination', I was at the top of the village at the entrance to a factory. No campsite in sight. I looked on GoogleMaps and saw that I had to descend one kilometre seaward and then cycle back three kilometres through plastic land. Meanwhile, it was dark and I couldn't enjoy all that white. The sport now was dodging the potholes with my limited bike lights. But pedalling I didn't have to on these extra kilometres. Now the wind was my engine.
At Las Vegas campsite I was received very warmly by the mother of the house, who felt very sorry for me after that wind ride. For her, with the evening 18 degrees, it was already freezing cold. I was allowed to pitch the tent right behind a fixed caravan so I was out of the wind. This allowed me to sleep without earplugs as the tent barely flapped.
Friday, Nov 18: Adra - Rain-rest day
Yesterday 56 km of wind against, followed by a stormy night and for today wind ánd rain is predicted... The latter I was not looking forward to. Besides, I had to try to repair the tear in my Ortlieb bag before it ripped even further.
A little after eight, it did indeed start pouring. I headed to the campsite's covered terrace to update my social media. After noon, the rain stopped and I was able to go for a beach walk. However, there wasn't much to walk on: the coast here consists of inlets between small breakwaters that you have to crawl over each time. After 800m, even that was impossible without getting wet from splashing waves. Past the parking lot of a seed company, I could return via a small asphalt road through plastic land. On the sea side of that road were some large houses. It is striking how heavily secured they are: high walls or fencing, camera surveillance, dogs... Actually, this is usually the case with larger fincas outside the cities.
Between the greenhouses, there was even a patch of land with a horse and a stable. I wonder where people go horse riding here.... From a horse, you probably do look out over the vast landscape of plastic greenhouses. One will find that rustic here.
After the walk, I repaired the bicycle bag. I hope it holds up because I left my yarn for leather at home. That corner now has no protection either because that plastic edge broke off.
After my evening cookery I went back to the terrace with the laptop to work. When I returned to the tent, one of the camping cats scurried away from my Colruyt food bag in the tent porch. That bag was fortunately closed, but in front of the tent was a green plastic bag with now defrosted frozen vegetables and a packet of cheese - now a packet without cheese. She had unloaded the bag and eaten her tummy well, haha. I laid my saddle spoon on the Colruyt bag so she would lie a bit softer, but she did not come back to sleep any further.
Saturday, Nov 19: Adra - Calahonda (52.3 km - 680 D+)
The cycling day started beautifully: no wind and plenty of sunshine again. The first few kilometres through plastic land and beside the coast. At one point I passed a 'guardia rural'. A little further on, I saw a 'no dumping under penalty of fine' sign flanked by a large pile of plastic waste. The guardia rural still has a lot of work to do here. Either he wears blinders. The dried-up bed of a river was also full of plastic rubbish. What an ecoramp area here.
It was a very clear morning and suddenly I saw in the distance the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada. That first sight always causes me a 'waw' feeling. Strange, at sea level you still drive here in a T-shirt during the day, and a few kilometres inland it has already snowed heavily.
At Adra it was like market. With snow in the Alpujarras in mind, I went looking for a lightweight fleece. In a second-hand bin, I found one really good one for 3€. It had even been washed because it smelt of washing powder. You can't catch a cold for that.
After Adra, it started to go up and down sharply, with some 'calf-biting' slopes. The Spanish road system is impressive in this landscape. I do understand that some of the motorways here are paying.
I was progressing well. From three o'clock onwards, some headwind started to reappear. In Castell de Ferro, after about 40 kilometres, I had indicated a campsite, but I decided to cycle to the next one 14 kilometres away. Not without first checking whether I could go there. I could, but the receptionist said it was heavily windy and there was no shelter from the wind on the tent pitches. When I got back on my bike after my rest break, the wind had indeed taken on stormy allures again. One more long climb awaited me, and it was hellish. I had to bike push, not because it was so extremely steep, but because of wind gusts that took my breath away. In such gusts, I descend slowly, but I hardly needed to wear out my brake pads to do so. The wind stood in for brake work.
On entering Calahonda, four kilometres from the campsite, I saw a one-star hostal: Hostal Miguel. Thirty euros for a room with bathroom. For that I won't have my tent blown to bits. Another night in a bed with its own toilet. Lovely.
Tomorrow I will drive on to Órgiva. Little wind is forecast. This will be followed by some very windy days, including in the Alpujarras. When I make the final and steepest climb to O Sel Ling I don't know yet. Tomorrow I will take a rest day for sure.
Sunday, Nov 20: Calahonda - Órgiva (44.8 km - 660 D+)
I was happy to spend two days in the hostall at Calahonda stayed, partly to enjoy some of the Klara top 100, but the wind decided otherwise: Sunday would be the only windless day, followed by three stormy days. I had better make the first stage of the total 1800-metre D+ climb to O Sel Ling start today. And so it happened.
Past the exit of a tunnel Carchuna I passed kilometre 340 of the N-340. The N-340 is a long coastal road connecting Cadiz to Barcelona. I followed it several times just below Barcelona, and then I was at kilometre 1300+. A little further on, behind Motril, I said goodbye to the N-340 and swerved towards the Alpajurras mountains, a promontory of the Sierra Nevada.
I had expected a much harder climb. Actually, there was only one really steep section in it, the climb to the Presa de Rules. The rest was quite bikeable in my smallest gear.
The route through the hills was beautiful. The first part flanked by high cliffs; from the Presa de Rules (dam), the landscape opened up more. When I reached Órgiva arrived, I was lucky that a shepherd with a large herd of goats was just crossing the bridge near the village. How beautiful, those soft goat hooves on the tarmac and the tinkling of their bells.
I am now 17 kilometres and 1,200 altimeters away from my winter spot. I don't want to undertake such a large altitude gain in stormy conditions. So I will probably 'stick around' until Thursday at Camping Órgiva.
Nov 21-22: Camping Órgiva
What a night. It had been blowing pretty hard all day, but from about ten o'clock in the evening, the wind really started roaring, sometimes as if a fighter jet came flying over. My earplugs were no match for it.
Buienradar indicated that the north wind still would blow until 02h00 with wind force 8. Then it would gradually weaken to 4 by morning. That seemed right, it was wind that could blow you off balance. To get up the four steps to the sanitary facilities for my night pee, I held on to the fence of the swimming pool next door for safety. Which, by the way, was already hanging askew under the weight of ivy.
In the morning, it turned out that the wind had caused a bit of havoc: three broken-off branches, fortunately not landing on campers' belongings, and all the tavern's terrace furniture was lying on the driveway and sometimes well into the campsite. Fortunately, the wind blew into the campsite, otherwise everything would have been in the street or beyond. And also lucky for me, because now the reception building broke the wind and the tent didn't get hit as hard.
In short, I did not sleep peacefully.
Next night it was expected to be wind force 6, and on Wednesday night Aeolus finally laid to rest. Hopefully for a long time after such a windy week.
Wednesday, Nov 23: Walk in Órgiva valley
In the evening, the wind eased slightly in strength and I was able to take a walk through Órgiva valley for another two hours or so.
On the way back, I came across two cool and sweet dogs walking alone. They were wearing collars and looked well-fed, thankfully they were not dogs thrown out of the car.
Thursday, Nov 24: climb to El Centro - O Sel Ling (18.4 km - 1,130 m D+)
After three days of mandatory gale force rest in Camping Órgiva, it was finally windless in open skies this morning. I was able to set off upstairs to my winter stop: the O Sel Ling meditation centre. The 'place of bright light' in Tibetan.
It promised to be tough, +1,100 altimeters over just 18 km, that's non-stop climbing. Fortunately, I was allowed to leave all my camping and bike repair equipment at the campsite. That saves about ten kilograms after all.
The hairpin bends over the first 12 asphalted kilometres were very sustaining. I stopped only occasionally for a snapshot. Between Órgiva and Soportujar I saw a cave that must have once been inhabited, because the top was sooty black.
Opposite the 'Ermita del Padre Eterno' I had to turn left onto a gravel road. Only six more kilometres, but that's where the harder work began.
For the first 2 kilometres to a fork, I could still stay on my bike for the most part. After that it was over. It got so steep that for the last four kilometres I had to push my bike all the way. Some stretches I had to stop every 10 paces to rest my arms and shoulders. Those were taking it harder than my legs.
It took me more than an hour on that section. It was a bit like a calvary walk, walking - stopping - walking - stopping. Only there was no cross waiting for me upstairs, but a lovely bed. A man has to give something for being able to sleep in a bed during the winter months, haha.
Around 17:30, half an hour before darkness sets in here, I was on site. I was warmly welcomed by the Belgian volunteer Maude, who allocated me a room, and then by Jessie (Germany), Alejandro (Canary Islands) and the two darlings of dogs Mila and Repa. Milarepa Is a Tibetan saint. I will meet the cats tomorrow.
For my winter break, I clock in at 3,145 kilometres and 30,380 altimeters. The altimeters keep up nicely with the kilometres.
The challenge: cycling round the Adriatic Sea. Will I manage it before the weather in the Balkans gets too rough? I’m curious to find out myself….
From 2026, Eva will be raising funds for the International Campaign for Tibet Europe, the world’s largest Tibetan advocacy organisation.
