\nI started the week with a ride on the V\u00c3\u00ada Verde on Sunday morning. Sometimes I like to “play in the dirt” on my mountainbike for a change from my usual road cycling routine. And there are nice views of vineyards:
\n
![\"1010089\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n17_2<\/strong> 17_3<\/strong> 17_4<\/strong> 17_5<\/strong> 17_6<\/strong> 17_7<\/strong> 17_8<\/strong> 17_9<\/strong> 17_10<\/strong> 17_11<\/strong> 17_12<\/strong> 17_13<\/strong> 17_14<\/strong> 17_15<\/strong> 17_16<\/strong> 17_17<\/strong> 17_18<\/strong> 17_19<\/strong> 17_20<\/strong> 17_21<\/strong> Mostly cycling and walking this week, but also a visit to the bar Malatesta in the centre of Alicante, and a Sunday lunch with our friends. 17_1 I started the week with a ride on the V\u00c3\u00ada Verde on Sunday morning. Sometimes I like to “play in the dirt” on my mountainbike for a change […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3141,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3247"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3247"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3250,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3247\/revisions\/3250"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAlmond trees are also a common sight:
\n![\"1010096\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_2.jpg\")
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\nMy version of the lone tree (channelling the Lone Cypress in California):
\n![\"1010098\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_3.jpg\")
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\nBesides the majestic views of the mountains, there are also pretty little things on the ground:
\n![\"1010092\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_4.jpg\")
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\nI cycle on the V\u00c3\u00ada Verde, but many people walk instead. The surface is good (hard-packed gravel), and the incline gentle, around 2%, so it is very good for families, whether on foot…
\n![\"1010095\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_5.jpg\")
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\n…or on two wheels:
\n![\"1010101\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_6.jpg\")
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\nLots of cute four-legged family members too:
\n![\"1010103\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_7.jpg\")
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\nDoing what dogs do:
\n![\"1010106\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_8.jpg\")
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\nIn the afternoon we had lunch at Balu’s house:
\n![\"DSF7545\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_9.jpg\")
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\nHis people were there too:
\n![\"DSF7549\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_10.jpg\")
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\nAs usual with these lunches, there was a lot of food:
\n![\"DSF7555\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_11.jpg\")
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\nAfterwards, the humans want to relax in front of the TV but Balu has other ideas:
\n![\"DSF7560\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_12.jpg\")
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\nEarly Wednesday morning, on the way to work I stopped by the beach. It was windy, and it had rained during the night. The light was nice:
\n![\"1010114\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_13.jpg\")
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\nA lone paddle boarder was dealing with the waves as best he could:
\n![\"1010108\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_14.jpg\")
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\n![\"1010111\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_15.jpg\")
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\nFriday afternoon, on my way home from work, I stopped for a beer at Malatesta, my favourite bar in Alicante thanks to its nice atmosphere and, above all, excellent beer selection:
\n![\"R006590\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_16.jpg\")
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\nWhile drinking my pint, I was entertained by this couple helping decorate the wall:
\n![\"R006580\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_17.jpg\")
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\n![\"R006588\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_18.jpg\")
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\n![\"R006592\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_19.jpg\")
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\nThe first Sunday in May is Mother’s Day here in Spain, and we had decided to do a hike on the V\u00c3\u00ada Verde and then have lunch in a restaurant in one of the nearby towns. So on Saturday I devoted my bike ride to a bit of reconnaissance; I wanted to find a good spot to park on the road that in places runs alongside the V\u00c3\u00ada Verde, so that we could park optimally the following day and hike the nice parts of the trail. The road on the right is where I was cycling, on the left is the A7 motorway towards Alicante:
\n![\"1010124\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_20.jpg\")
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\nView of the coastal plain and Alicante in the distance:
\n![\"1010121\"](\"uploads\/2021\/17_21.jpg\")
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