Badlands 2022

 

Day 1 Badlands.

I didn't think I was going to be nervous but it was finally sinking in, this is going to be a long way.
I tried to start as easy as possible but the relentless climbing for the first 50km soon found me pushing my heart rate way above where it needed to be just to get a 15kg bike up the hills.
Getting to Gorafe was a welcome sight with a nice plate of spaghetti Bolognese but seeing Taylor Phinney come in after me was a bit worrying 😀. I pushed on into late afternoon where another cafe and and some food was an unexpected treat. The day finally got to me at around midnight so I found a nice football pitch for my first nights bivvy.
#badlands2022

Badlands day 2.

I woke up around 4.30 and started packing my bike. It had been comforting hearing the occasional crunch of tires passing during the night. I made my way back down onto the track and bumped into Johan, a Norwegian friend. He asked me how my sex life was going and we rode of into the Gorafe desert together having a chat.

It was hard going with steep climbs and a very unexpected river crossing. It was great to pass other cyclists camped for the night who had obviously pushed on further than me. Next stop was going to be a village called Gor where a resupply was going to be needed,

luckily at around 7 when I arrived a cafe was already open for coffee and toast. The supermarket was due to open at 8.30 so snacks were purchased and I moved on.

Next was the isolated climb to the calar alto observatories. I know this area well so it was no shock how hard it was. Energy and supplies had gone by the top so it was a very uncomfortable and hot drop down to Gergal. I found an open cafe and sat for a while with the other broken bodies. Another supermarket stop and I decided make camp early but the mosquitos had other ideas so I packed up and moved on towards Tabernas and stopped in the rambla for the remainder of the night.

Badlands day 3

Waking up I did not feel well and limped into Tabernas. It took me 45 mins to eat a tostada. I rode out to start the climb to Níjar which was slow going. I made it to the top and started being sick, all was not well. To cut a horrible story short I eventually threw up 2 undigested gels from the day before, big mistake! I managed to get to venta del pobre where I had to get a room for the day or I was scratching. I got a room and spent the rest of the day and night there recovering .

Badlands day 4

Feeling back to normal after a night in the hotel I left at 4 in the morning to get a good start. After a few hours night riding I found a cafe in cabo de gata open and stopped for the usual cafe and tostada, had a chat with a couple of young french lads who hadn't slept and pushed on. After the excellent beach section I arrived in Almería and needed to fuel for the relentless climbing to follow.

I was feeling great and thought I might be able to push on to the finish line. After the huge climb from Almería I ate in Enix and carried on the never ending climb over Sierra Gador. It was starting to get very hot and the decent was even starting to get tough going. I reached Instincion and found a cafe that was closing but managed to get a coke and water. I pushed on up to he valley and really needed to stop in Laujar for food and a quick nap, the finish line was starting to look a long way away. I carried on but found myself walking on the the climb to Murtas at 12 in the morning and really started wondering what to do. I managed to get to cadiar and just had to stop, I'd ridden 244km and climbed 5000 MTs that day so was very happy

Day 5

An easy 50km to the finish line? Far from it, I know the roads like the back of my hand but it was tough going and still constant climbing. I stopped in Trevelez for a coffee and had a chat with a couple of Brazilian guys who'd tried to make to the finish that night but just ran out of food. I climbed out of Trevelez for the final stretch which was a lovely gravel road to the finish. I just slowed down and took it all in and started thinking about next year .

#vamos #badlands2023 #badlands2022