The Sierra Nevada Mountains (in Spain)

I was looking forward to the ride on day 4 of our ride across Spain as we were to cross the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Having ridden across the mountains of the same name in California, I wanted to complete the set and ride both ranges in different continents.

We knew we had a long days riding so leaving early was a must. We skipped breakfast and continued our journey south. Paul riding around a bend with a spectacular background....

The view of the lake near Hornos, north-east of Granada....

Fantastic bends, just inviting you to take them at speed....

The dam that forms Lake Negratin....

The water behind the dam is very clean and clear and the fish make the most of the food thrown in by the passing tourists stopping to look at the dam. I think these were about 12 - 15 inches long....

The lake is surrounded by trees and this makes the views even more special as you catch a glimpse of the turquoise water....

Not as tall as there US counterparts, the mountains in the Spanish Sierra Nevada only rarely reach above the tree line....

A haze was in the air, making a clear view of the mountains impossible....

Looking down on one of the small towns in the mountains....

Mile after mile of Olive trees, for which Spain is famous....

Rounding one bend, a fire was blazing away on the hillside. It looked like the grass between the olive trees was on fire, but it was also catching some of the trees....

What is it about signs like this that make motorcyclists stop and take a picture?....

2,000 metres or 6,500 feet is not spectacularly high, but it had provided some terrific roads to get up to that point.

Another of the mountain villages....

I love the roads in the foreground of this picture, crossing from side to side in a long ride down the hill to get into the village....

Many of the bends have their sides protected by these stone blocks....

We rode 317 miles in the mountains today, which was quite tough. By the time we found our hotel in the town of Berchules, we were very tired. It was all we could do to eat at the hotel of get to bed early. I slept very well that night.

The following morning we had a 184 mile ride, mainly along the coast, to get to my house in Sotogrande, in southern Spain. We had ridden 1259 miles from Pauls house near London to my house in Spain. We were greeted by my wife Jackie, who had flown down the day before, and that afternoon Paul drove to Malaga Airport to meet his wife Sarah and son Jack. We were to spend 5 days relaxing with our wives before heading out on the road again.