At a loose end and fed up of window shopping we decided to take a ride to Teide.
The conversation went like this, Ed started;
"I want to go out"
"Ok, where do you want to go"
"I don´t know"
"Ok, I´ll get ready and we will go"
Armed with all my usual tack that has to come out with us, hoodie, sunnies, mask, reading glasses etc etc we head out and get in the car.
"Where are we going?" Eddie asks
Erm......I scratch my head and remind him that it was him that wanted to go out!!!
We drive to Alcala and decide that we haven´t had a ride up Teide for at least four or five years so, we head up the motorway towards Chio and start our ascent.
As we head further up, there are pine forests and its windy. One minute the sun is out, the next we are immersed in cloud and we are cold. The aircon is on, the aircon is off!
We carry on through the pine forests and then they suddenly disappear and we are now in a lava field and the scenery is just stunning. It certainly has an appearance not dissimilar to mars and Eddie jokes that we should look out for Perseverance just in case its all a massive hoax.
We carry on, still going up and it seems that these roads have had a face lift since the last time we were there. They have been resurfaced and new barriers have been installed, making it a more pleasant ride.
I´d actually forgotten how straight the roads are up there, I don´t know who built them but the Romans spring to mind. Eventually we get too the cable car station but the cable cars aren´t going as the weather is just to unstable, we carry on and stop for coffee.
Thank god I had brought my coat, it was freezing. Layered up we sit outside and have coffee. We
could´ve sat inside but that would´ve been no fun.
We drink our coffee while watching the birds feed on various seeds and other things, they are remarkably tame. I then think to myself that this is probably a family owned business and that they probably live on the premises and we talk about when were in full lockdown last year. These people probably never saw a soul from one day to the next, I imagine the only vehicles would´ve been the police patrol vehicles and possibly a couple of maintenance vehicles now and then. I wonder what it was like for them, I really should´ve asked.
Obviously in "normal times" this cafe would be inundated with coaches, hire cars, cyclists and although people are still going up there, its a small percentage compared to the usual volume of visitors.
We finish our drinks and get back in the car and begin our journey home. We make a nostalgic stop at the rocks of Garcia. Nostalgic because we have photos of Jack and I both stood by a particular rock. Today Jack wasn´t with us, so it was just me and the rock!
We had a fabulous ride out, and thanks to the new motorway the journey is much easier and quicker. The lack of tourists meant the roads were very peaceful and parking was easy.
Sometimes you just have to take some time out and a change of scenery and a break from the norm was the perfect tonic, and just what we needed!
As always, take care and keep riding this looooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg storm, almost a year now!!!!
Until next time
H x
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