It is always wonderful to go to Granada but if it means to reach one of the highest mountains in Spain, it is even more.
So, last Sunday 6th August, I left in my car early in the morning, at 4.30 am and reached Granada by 6.30. It was still dark but I could see many people going to the start of the XXI subida al veleta. It is a hard race since you have to do fifty kilometres from Granada at around 600 metre altitude to reach along a steep winding road the Veleta, 3391 m., in the Sierra Nevada range of mountains. My aim was to do it on bicycle and see if I could do it running and walking next year. A friend of mine, Manuel from Barcelona – not the Fawlty Towers waiter – was doing it running. He was staying at a hotel in Granada, so I met him at the start before the race. He was glad but worried because he had some discomfort in his knees. There were about 250 people decided to fulfil this adventure. I also met a friend of Manuel, Pedro, who was going to accompany him in a bus supplied by the organisation for friends and relatives who wanted to see the runners.
At 7:10, the race started. I let everybody go out to start riding on my byke. It was a nice morning, not hot yet and still a little dark. We had to do two laps in a main avenue in Granada to take the old Sierra Nevada road along Cenes de la Vega, Pinos Genil to reach Sierra Nevada ski resort, Pradollano, which could be seen below, to go on climbing the road as far as Veleta. The first 11 kms are slightly uphill, nearly flat but after that it is a continuous hill. There was a lot of vegetation, mainly pines, along the first thirty-five kilometres but the last kilometres the vegetation decreases with only plants, mainly aromatic plants. I met along the road people from many part of Spain, such as Manuel from Seville, who had started running two years ago and had taken part at Seville marathon. He told me that he had improved his time in races by doing 1´30´´ series. I also met a man from the Czech republic who sang with his wife at hotels in the area of Málaga. I also met a man from Alicante who had taken part at Madrid Alpine marathon or Pedro from Guipúzcoa, who is 67 years old and took part at Galarleiz mountain marathon in July. When the real hills started, I saw that some runners reached me and went faster than me on the bicycle. The atmosphere was really nice and we all encouraged each other.
After 37 kilometres and at 2500 m. altitude, we reached a place where there are some open air bars. I rested in one of them having a cheese sandwich, two cokes and a 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water. There, I met a man with his teenage son who had gone to see the race and other cyclists who had done the route as far as there. They encouraged me to go on. There were many people having a drink in the tables at the terrace. Then, I continued the climb although I had to push the bicycle more than ride it since I went nearly as fast as on the bicycle and it was less tiring. I saw some runners going up who had to walk. You could notice the pressure of the altitude in your head but not too much. We were lucky that it wasn´t cold or windy at that altitude. I had to ask for some water and dried fruits at some drinking stations because I had no water left. The people were very kind and offered me even some food such as dried fruits or energy drinks, e.g., Red Bull. After some pauses to take photos or to answer a phone call from Manuel, who had reached the summit in 6 hours 40 minutes or my wife who wanted to know how I was, I reached Veleta in 8 hours 35 minutes. I was very glad up there. I told a man from the organisation to take a photograph of mine at the finish. They offered me some fruit, water, energy drinks. Then, I went to the geodesic point where the Veleta is. There was a young Italian there who asked me to take a photo of him and I asked him to take one of mine. From there you can have a beautiful view of the area surrounded by high mountains. In clear days, you can even see the seaside and the Atlas range of mountains in Morocco.
After a few minutes relaxing, I got back to the place where the restaurants are. It was very fast. I had to be careful with the bends and the brakes. There, I was told that the runners were taken to Pradollano, Sierra Nevada ski resort. So, I went on riding down to the main square where Manuel and Pedro were waiting for me. We were all very happy to have done this. Manuel showed me the beautiful trophy that everyone that reaches the summit gets : a carving showing the route you have just done. We had a drink there and met other runners who had managed to reach Veleta. Manuel also got a bag for me with products given to the runners such as sandwiches, drinks, cereal bars and so on. After giving the trophies to the winners, they took the bus supplied by the organisation and I rode back to Granada. It was wonderful to go back in just one hour thirty-five minutes from Veleta to Granada – without considering the time spent at Pradollano – while climbing there had taken me eight hours and thirty-five minutes. On the way back, it was quite hot. Around 40º Celsius in Granada.
I´m looking forward to doing this race next year. Perhaps, some of you would like to come as well. I´m sure that Nigel would enjoy the geological aspects of it or Sweder the long and winding road and all of us the good time that we would have together in Granada and Sierra Nevada.
