20-Feb-2016 -- This is the first out of 2 reports reaching confluence points during a bicycle trip through southern Spain.
Friday evening after work I took a flight from Zurich (Switzerland) to Málaga (Region Andalucía, Spain). My bicycle went together with me – meanwhile I know exactly how to pack the bike for a plane ride. Arriving in Malaga at 11:40 PM, I unpacked my bicycle from the box and rode out of the airport to a nearby hotel.
The next morning I continued riding 80 km in north-western direction and reached the confluence point via Ardales and Teba. The confluence is located just 30 m from a nice country road. It is sandwiched between the road and a parallel running railroad track. The point is covered with gravel from the rail track and located close to the ditch for drainage. When I arrived, a tractor was just about removing the railroad sleepers from the confluence point, which had been sitting there already in 2001. It looks like there was a dual track planned some time ago. If so, the confluence would be exactly under the second track now. Since I started taking pictures right at the spot where the tractor driver was removing the sleepers, he got curious and asked me what I was doing. I had to use my best Spanish to explain my mission. I obviously succeeded as he was fine with my explanation and continued his work.
Right after the visit, I had lunch in the cute little town Almargen which is 1.5 km west of the confluence. I continued riding towards the east all day and stayed the night in the little town Las Cabezas de San Juan, which is 6 km from 37°N 6°W.
By the way, I noticed that I had visited the antipode in New Zealand 9 years earlier: 37°S 175°E. I was wandering if it would be possible to visit an antipodal pair on a single day. Wouldn’t it be an interesting challenge?
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to the road: 30 m
- Distance of bicycle parking: 110 m
- Time to reach the CP from the road: 1 min
- Time at the CP: 12:36 PM
- Measured height: 474 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
- Position accuracy: 3 m
- Topography: in a wide valley, hilly
- Vegetation: grass, nearby cypress and olive trees
- Weather: sunny, 18° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Sleeper Removal Confluence
The story continues at 37°N 6°W.