20 years ago today – Day 42

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Sunday, April 14 – Marbella to Nerja, 1982 km

I am up early and refreshed, ready to cover some serious ground. Mike is ready too, surprisingly. We are getting used to each other's bio-rhythms, I suppose.

We are continuing east along the coast, planning to make it to Nerja or even Almunecar by late afternoon. We are following the freeway (A-7) but it is actually a pleasant ride along the shoulder. It is sunny with broken cloud with a light cross breeze.
But it doesn't last. At 20 km we reach El Faro, the coast turns abruptly north and we are met with a fierce headwind. Twenty minutes later, we enter the city of Fuengirola and for the next half hour we fight the traffic with the headwind. The cloud cover thickens and we struggle on north-east on N-340.

For 15 km the road twists by the coast without many condos, but at Punta Negra we begin our approach to Torremolinos. From here it is almost constant development until we pass Malaga. Torremolinos has always had such a romantic sound to my ears, just knowing it is on the famous Costa del Sol, but there is nothing romantic about today. The constant wind is tiring. The cloud cover and headwind are further depreciated by the sea of condo towers on both sides of the road and thick smell of car and truck exhaust. Even the prices are higher when we stop for snacks at a convenience store. This coast is so ruined by development that it is hard to believe it was once beautiful. I suppose almost nothing is sacred enough to withstand the corrosive power of human greed.

Making it through Malaga is the most difficult part of the day. With the wind, it takes over an hour the cross the city from side to side and the ordeal is making me bitchy. I try to keep my petty complaints to myself. As we leave the city it is threatening rain and the headwind intensifies.

It takes the rest of the afternoon to reach Nerja. How different this coast looks going the other way! But it seems there is always a headwind regardless of what direction I am going. What a relief it is to roll into beautiful and familiar Nerja. Mike is waiting for me at the turn-off into town. It has been a 114 km ride from Marbella but it feels like so much more. Both Mike and I are happy to call it a day. We check into the same pleasant hostel we used before on our way to Malaga.

We eat dinner at the German restaurant where we ate before, mainly because it's close to the pension. We sit by the window and watch the rain that has just started. It is a light rain, the first we have seen since the day we left Sagres in Portugal. The land needs it badly but I hope it's not still raining tomorrow.


PHOTO 1: boardwalk at Marbella
PHOTO 2: Torres Ladrones before Fuengirola
PHOTO 3: Fuengirola Castle
PHOTO 4: beach near Malaga
PHOTO 5: Mijas coast
PHOTO 6: Nerja