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¡Básese en España! |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Kirk Turner
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Friday, 04 May 2007 |
¡Básese en España!
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So what do you get when you mix 150lbs of gear, a foreign country, and six weeks? You’re about to find out…
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My name is Kirk Turner for those of you I have yet to meet! I’m from Harrison, Maine, a born and bread northeasta’. But let’s get to the interesting stuff…after returning from a six-week mountaineering trip to Chile (but that’s another story) it was only a short two-week break before it was time to move on to the next adventure of my alternative Senior year: six weeks in Granada, Spain; living, training, and attending an intensive Spanish Language School. Let’s set the stage.
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Local: Granada is located in the southeast of Spain; a city of approximately 300,000 people, it is situated at the base of the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range and it is only an hour from the beaches of the Mediterranean. Perfect! As my Dad said “There are snowcapped peaks and oranges growing how far away?”  | | click to enlarge |
The city is old; in fact VERY old, in comparison to our own short history as a country… but among other things it served as the capital of the Moorish empire from the 9th century until the late 15th century, when it was recaptured by the Catholic monarchs. It then served as the capital of Spain while Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II reigned. Our country actually owes this small and obscure town a really big “Thank You” card and a hug; because a guy named Columbus did some exploring for Queen Isabella I around 149… and I think we all know what happened on that little excursion!
The players? Me. *(mostly) Given that I was going to spend six weeks, I decided to bring both a mountain bike and a road bike and lay down some serious base miles on the bricks—or I should say cobblestones—and trails in and around the area; annnnd maybe work on my tan a little.
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And action: The riding is simply amazing; point blank, and not to mention beautiful. I ended up rolling through just about all the surrounding towns within an 80+kilometer radius. Though the center of town can be more than a little hectic to navigate the first few rides; the experienced bike handler will soon find himself joyfully zipping in, out, through, and around the semi-organized chaos of scooters, taxis, wayward tourists, busses, dogs, grandmothers, and delivery trucks with a big smile smeared across his face, as if it were a giant game of Frogger! It’s crazy: but fun, and the difference from the states is that no one cares, or honks, or makes obscene gestures. Cycling is an esteemed part of the culture and most cars wholly respect you. It is also not unusual to see 10-15+ different cyclists on a ride, regardless of what time of day. It is pretty awesome and inspiring.
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We will start with the road riding first. Within less than double-digit kilometers the mayhem disappears almost entirely and the next decision that must be made is do you want to climb, or do you want to climb? Because those are pretty much your options…after a few rides it becomes quite apparent why Spain has produced some of cycling’s finest climbers. My standard 39 tooth double and 25 was a little stout occasionally, like on a 20% grade, but most of the time it was just fine. The longest climb I found was two hours and 43 minutes straight, 8,000+ ft of climbing, it reaches not only above tree line, but also above snow line, and it’s nothing but beautiful the entire way.  | | click to enlarge |
Though it should be noted this ride involved finding a rather sketchy cat road that climbed above one of the nearby ski lifts, a weather observatory, and a climbing hut; and there was a little time spent slicing through snow drifts…. Not for the faint of heart! Though there are also many other milder climbs like one of my other favorite rides through the Tocon Pass to La Pez, which is only a 2,000 ft climb each way. Not only will your climbing skills improve, but your descending skills will grow like a black bear feeding on nothing but donuts. I went from hitting the breaks like a tap dancer, to being able to descend the afore mentioned 14 mile descent only breaking once, and that was going around a 180degree turn.
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Now the mountain biking: picture southern Cali. Dry and really, really, really, hard packed single track and double track. There are few trees in most places and it is also a dirt biker’s paradise. But only some of the moto trails are ride worthy; just a little too rough or steep.  | | click to enlarge |
Some of the single tracks that wind through the surrounding hills probably have existed for multiple centuries; it’s no wonder they are packed so solid… It is also pretty cool when your rides weave in, out and around ancient ruins. You can also brush up on your switchback descending skills. For tires I ran a semi-slick in the rear and a low profile in the front and it worked just fine. There are options for whatever kind of ride suits your fancy, or your training ride for the day: climbs, rolling, flat-ish, rolling then climbs, and a few more climbs, it’s all there.
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Extended general info: I love the culture, the Spanish language in general, and the food is simply wonderful. For anyone who has never spent much time abroad, I highly recommend it, if the chance should arise. The school I attended was wonderful and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn Spanish. There are no age or prior experience requirements and the classes are done in four-hour blocks, with no more than eight students; and you can attend as many weeks as you want. Both teachers I had were wonderful people and just a ball to be around! There are many rooming options, from a residence (dorm-esque), to apartments, to living with a host family. About the only two things I did not like about the city were though they clean the streets everyday, by 8pm they are less than clean; and LOTS of people still smoke. But on the whole, those are about the only two complaints I have after six weeks, that’s saying something.
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The other thing I failed to mention earlier is the nightlife. Granada has three universities and enough bars and discoteca’s(clubs) to keep you entertained for a very long time. However, if you want to rub elbows with the locals you better be prepared for a late night: people head out at 12:30 am, the clubs start to fill by 2am and reach their peak about 5am. Not the greatest thing for training…but an experience none the less! One thing to know about traveling to Spain; or most Eastern European countries for that matter, is bring your bike on the plane! Shipping it UPS is probably a BAD idea. Chances are it will get stuck in customs, cost A LOT, and take two or more weeks to arrive. Every country has its idiosyncrasies; some are just more entertaining than others, a few of my favorites are as follows:
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· EVERYTHING is small, the cars, the streets, the apartments, the elevators, the stores, the milk cartons, etc… however the only thing that appears to be oversized are their tablespoons, seriously, we’re talking snow shovels!
· The mullet apparently somehow has NOT gone out of style…
· To be truly Spanish I think you must have a dog that enjoys sh*%# all over the street, daily.
· Euros really don’t like to ride with helmets: so they don’t.
· Many of the public access channels change to soft core at about 12:30am.
· The Fanny Pack, ALSO has not gone the way of the dinosaur yet…
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· Since many Europeans have not been to the US there are many preconceived notions about Americans, including but not limited to the following: We all have multiple American flags abounding in our homes, we have Mexicans working in our basements, we eat EVERYTHING fried, we’re all over-weight, we all love George W, and finally that Americans know nothing about the rest of the world.
· Football (soccer) is the most popular religion.
· The Dutch make really good crepes.
· Matching white jumpsuits and scooters/mopeheads make me laugh.
· Scooters in general make me laugh for that matter 
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Now joking aside, not only was the riding wonderful, this trip became more then just a trip. It became a journey filled with countless learning experiences along the way, most good, others well…..lol still learning experiences, if nothing else. One of the best parts of my trip though was the people I met: from a MTB Semi-pro from Colorado, to the former German National Champion Junior dog trainer, and everything in between. I now have friends in; Holland, Kenya, Ireland, Great Britain, Belgium and Sweden just to name a few. You never know who you’re going to encounter next, and the world has some pretty wonderful and interesting individuals to offer if you just look…..
Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed! See ya at the races…
Kirk |
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