Friday, Nov 4: Elche - Torre de la Horadada (58.4 km - 420D+)
On Friday, I first planned to go to Murcia cycling through. I wrote on Thursday night eight Warm Showers addresses to, but had not received any positive response by Friday morning. So I decided to turn back to the coast anyway, where campsites are still open for winter visitors. I'll save the Spanish interior for the return trip next year. Then it will also be light a bit longer and wild camping might be an option in the absence of campsites.
The first part of the ride towards the coast was delightful: along quiet roads or cinder tracks through fields and vegetable gardens (huertas), past a via verde next to the salt lake in the north of Torrevieja, and all this mostly gently downhill and cheered by a turbulent tailwind. I was very lucky, cyclists in the other direction had to seriously toil. I had had my share of toil yesterday.
From Torrevieja the fun was over: back on a cycle path next to the busy coastal road, with lots of steep gradients, traffic lights and roundabouts with gruff bores for cyclists. So much humping and bumping that the suspension system of one of my rear Ortlieb bags came loose and rubbed against my spokes. The first damage of this trip. Next to that busy road, I repaired this ad hoc with a tensioning strap, tomorrow I will look for a suitable nut in my equipment bag for a more durable repair.
Around 6pm, I arrived at Camping La Monte. When the tent was up, I was able to enjoy a beautiful evening sky for a while.
Sunday, Nov 6: Torre de la Horadada - Mazarrón (66.8 km - 580mD+)
A pretty tough ride today: 45 km of false flat followed by a 350-metre pass. All this seasoned with a brisk headwind: toil fell to me today. Knowing that there was another pass coming towards the end, I freewheeled against the wind at a small gear.
It became a domestic route: I had Cartagena, although allegedly an interesting city, ignored because I didn't feel like having to cross such a big city again.
Not a bad choice: there was virtually no traffic on this rural route through agricultural land. A relief after the busy coastal road the day before yesterday. The advantage of a headwind is that you can then enjoy the route for longer 
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First I cycled past ugly plastic greenhouses, then followed a long car-free stretch next to a concrete irrigation canal. The irrigation system here is admirable. On my GPS, I noticed that I regularly passed elevated water reservoirs. The river beds are dry, yet water sprays into the reservoirs and the canal.
I photographed some crops that agricultural expert Andy De Gryse might be able to point out.
There were no benches or walls anywhere along the way. Fortunately, I could have my lunch in a little square in front of an 18th-century hermitage of St John the Baptist. Apparently a Halloween party had taken place there: the rubbish pit was full of firework tubes. So I thought. On closer inspection, they turned out to be tubes for scattering sparkling aluminium papers around. The square was full of them. Hard to clean up and thus as polluting as fireworks. "Made in China"...
Shortly before I had to start the climb, my water supply had shrunk sharply. I needed to be able to replenish some. It was Sunday and the few cafes along the way were closed. In the houses I passed, no one was at home. Finally, I found a water hose in a garden. I wasn't sure if it was drinkable tap water, but poured a litre into my water bag just to be sure.
And of course: 3 km further on I passed a little restaurant. Soit, a soft drink and some rest were also welcome before the pass.
The drive to the Cuesta Pass was tough: 50 minutes at 6km/h in lowest gear. But the reward on rounding the pass was breathtaking: the deep-orange setting sun behind successive rows of hillsides. So beautiful.
The descent was long and fast. I arrived at the campsite at dusk. Good timing for cycling, but setting up the tent and cooking had to be done in the dark with the headlamp.
Tuesday, Nov 8: Mazarrón - Águilas (55.1 km - 700D+)
A ride with bloody beautiful stretches today. So the number of photos is accordingly.
Before and after Mazarrón are vast sandy beaches. The city also has a cool camper spot on an excellent headland in the sea. Right next to the beach and near the tourist promenade with its restaurants. A good location.
After the small port of Mazarrón I joined Eurovelo-8, a gravel road along the Sierra de las Morreras, a rather tough and bumpy but mighty fine trail. The photos speak for themselves. The gravel road remained cyclable, fortunately there were not many loose boulders. I did feel compassion for my trusty yellow Kringwinkel bike, which sometimes groaned amiably when the path got a bit coarser. A narrow path a mere metre above the loose sandy beach was a bit narrow for cyclists, but I managed to squeeze past. On the way, I saw a large lizard, including tail about 20 cm, crossing the road.
On this path, I also met a German cyclist who knocks off 100 km/day. Next Friday she has to be in Malaga, 300 km in 4 days. Great madam, chapeau! She did ride without camping gear and on a trekking bike with a very small gear, which makes a difference.
At the end of this route, along a length of about 1,500 metres were many wild-camping campervans, free and happy right next to the beach and many in the nude into the sea.
Then it became tarmac again and I dove back into the 'Mar de plástico' - plastic sea of conservatories (greenhouses).
Back on the main track, a climb to 440 metres altitude awaited me. A solid Ardennes hill from sea level.
The descent took me into the Parque Regional Cabo Cope y Puntas de Calnegre. Copper and iron were once mined in the reddish hills I first crossed.
After that, I had until Águilas a wide cycle path. Meanwhile, it was already dusk. When I reached Águilas beach, I was treated to a picturesque evening sky to conclude a tough ride.
Thursday, Nov 10: Águilas - Mojácar (46.3 km - 490D+)
A heavy thunderstorm with lots of lightning and thunder and heavy rain passed through last night. It must have done nature good! Camping Bellavista Águilas Murcia España fortunately has a nice communal seating area where I could sit out the storm. And my little tent weathered the storm well, everything was dry inside.
After final goodbye conversations with some campsite guests and a photo for the campsite's Facebook page, I set off along a quiet coastal road with fantastic views of the rugged coastline and lovely coves among the rocks. A few kilometres past the campsite, I was in Andalusia, Spain's southernmost province.
A recent urbanisation in the tourist village San Juan de Terreros is a little fresher and cheerier than some residential areas further north.
Friday, Nov 11: Mojácar
The rain started pouring down from the sky in locks around 10pm last night. A little later, thunder and lightning joined it, and that nature party continued, with a few interruptions, until about 6 o'clock this morning. At campsite Cueva Negra you don't hear street noise - which is quite exceptional for the coast - but now it was again causing the necessary roar.
The tarp I had installed yesterday because rain was predicted did not hold and lay against the ground. The violent gusts of wind tore a peg out of the ground, which had become much softer after the abundant rain. Fortunately, the pegs of my tent did hold.
This morning it was dry again and I reinstalled the tarp and put double pegs everywhere and added heavy stones on top. The weather forecast is now more favourable again, but you never know....
In the afternoon, I walked a long way along a rocky path some 20 metres above the pounding sea. Today, that one was no longer a dull pool like the previous weeks.
Nazarene rock
There is also a legend attached to this path. When the Mena iron mine was still operational in this region, once a group of miners were sitting on the path having lunch, when suddenly a rock broke off above them and thundered down. They made their way out, and when they looked back to see what had happened, they saw that the rock had come to a halt on a platform right behind them. Otherwise, they would have been crushed. The rock was in the shape of a Nazarene, a praying Christ figure. The miners considered this a miracle and since then the rock has been known as the 'Nazarene rock'.
Tomorrow a ride with +800 altitude metres awaits me to the next campsite. I hope it will be a quieter night than yesterday.
Saturday, Nov 12: Mojácar - Los Escullos ( 59.2 km - 920 D+)
It promised to be a tough ride with lots of climbing. I left well in time to hopefully avoid cycling in the dark. The roads here are not lit and so I have to make do with my (weak) bike light and a headlamp.
Fortunately, this was not necessary, I enjoyed a most pleasant tailwind and progressed wonderfully. The first two steep hills up to the viewpoint 'La Granatilla' I could do in one pull each time, with only a rest stop between them.
Then followed a long and steep descent to the bay where, in a dream location admittedly, there is an illegally built hotel: in the protected nature reserve Cabo de Gata and also far too close to the sea. The mayor gave permission - something would have stuck to his fingers. A Spanish couple I was at the pass with said that alcaldes (mayors) drive a Seat when they take office and a fat Mercedes at the end of their term. Greenpeace filed a lawsuit 10 years ago to tear down the monstrosity again. That lawsuit is still pending and all this time the monstrosity has been left to rot.
After this bay, it was a short climb to the bay of Carboneras, a fairly large town that takes its name from the former coal industry in these parts. It was too early to eat anything there yet, but at a bakery I could go for a coffee with something sweet.
At the centre, I paid a brief visit to the Castillo de San Andrés, built in the 16th century to defend the coast. According to the website of 'Turismo Andalucia' this building was at the origin of Carboneras. It currently sells amphorae made by local potters, which are then subjected to an accelerated ageing process in the sea to make them look like original amphorae that have been lying on the seabed for centuries. The small ones cost a few tens of euros, for a large 60 cm one has to pay around €500.
After Carboneras I climbed to the viewpoint 'Playa de los Muertos' (death beach). This otherwise paradisiacal beach is not so named because suicide candidates jump down the cliffs here, but because sea currents cause shipwrecked people to wash up on this beach. Moreover, some of the coastal cliffs are volcanic in origin and black in colour, adding to the eeriness of the scene.
Tuesday, Nov 15: Los Escullos-Almería (40.5 km - 280 D+)
Not much to say about today's ride. It promised to be an easy ride with only +200 altimeters, mainly during the first 5km. Due to the strong headwind, it ended up being a tough 'stump route' at an average speed of barely 11km/hour.
After Pozo de los Frailes, the last village in the Cabo de Gato nature reserve, I once again found myself on a monotonous, busier road between the plastic surrounds. With every truck skimming past, the wind turbulence forced me to brace myself well to keep steering and not end up a metre lower in a boulder ditch.
As the day progressed, the wind increased even more in ferocity. In a barren and treeless nature reserve whose name I can't remember, it got full play. Then I had to go 5 km next to the airport, also an immense plain.
In the rather deserted coastal village Costacabana was fortunately one tavern open. A bit of rest out of the wind was welcome. From there it was another 10 km to Almería via a beautiful cycle path right next to the sea. Lovely cycling it would have been, without that damned wind. The kite surfers, on the other hand, seemed quite happy with the wind and the choppy sea. So you see....
From Agua Amarga followed a long, undulating local road through the arid hinterland until the village of Fernan Pérez, where there was another communal washroom. That stretch cycled fine thanks to the strong tailwind. After the descent after Fernan Peréz I thought the worst was behind me and that I could boast that I had done the whole route without having to push the bike, but that did not include the very last climb to the viewpoint 'Mirador de la Amatista'. That included an uncomfortably steep section over 300 metres where I even had to stop on foot every 50 metres or my calves would cramp up. Fortunately, it was only over 300 metres. From the viewpoint, you can see the two 'Los Dos Frailes' (the two monks) extinct volcanoes in the distance. And then it was mostly downhill or flat to campsite Los Escullos.
In the evening, I saw on the Facebook profile of Marleen Taekels that she had also arrived at this campsite today and so I sent her a message that I was there too. What a coincidence, again, after the first highly fortuitous meeting with my former colleague Magda Heeffer, who was on a four-day city trip in late October in Valencia.
16 September: Opening the door at Diamondway Buddhist Centre in Tallinn The centre's meditation sessions are open
