[Leica] IMG: La Vuelta in Jijona

[Douglas Barry]

Excellent collection, Nathan. You really caught the effort that is 
needed to propel these incredibly light machines up those impossibly 
steep slopes. Those of us who cycle really know what pain can be :-)

I was thrown by the town name of Xixona on the route map and never 
realised it was your photographic Jijona. Surprising to see that the 
Valencian name (Xixona) was used on the route map by the Spanish 
organisers rather that the Spanish one. A nod to the diversity in Spain 
following the Catalan protests, I reckon.

Being a cycling nut who never misses a grand tour, I have the entire 
stage recorded from yesterday's Eurosport tv coverage, so that in the 
depths of winter and miserable weather I can replay it. As you picked an 
easily identifiable place https://tinyurl.com/dw25msp6 I'll have a look 
at the tape tomorrow and see if I can see you.

Douglas

On 21/08/2021 14:06, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
> The Vuelta a España bicycle race started last weekend. After a series of relatively flat stages, yesterday things got serious. Stage 7 contained six mountain passes over 152 km, finishing in the mountains near Tibi, one of my cycling destinations. So I took the afternoon off to go and see the race. I planned to cycle to Tibi and catch the Vuelta at the top of the penultimate mountain pass of the stage. But the climb to Tibi is very tough, and inland temperatures were going to hit 40C during the afternoon. Driving was not an option (you go to see a bicycle race on a bicycle, or else you stay home and watch on TV). So instead, I cycled to Jijona, about 24 km away, and found a great spot with shade, shared with a nice local family. It was on a steep uphill, so the speed of the cyclists would be moderate (all relatively speaking, of course), and at that point the cyclists would have 120-125 km and four passes in their legs, so I knew the peleton would be nicely spread out, and it would take 20-30 minutes for everyone to pass. And so it was.
>
> What I like about cycling from a spectator’s point of view is that in no other professional sport can you get so close to the competitors. I could have touched the cyclists if I had wanted to. But I settled for photos, and a small gallery of 29 images is now uploaded. Some of the images are not technically perfect but I included them anyway because they show the effort and suffering of the cyclists. Where I could identify the cyclists, I have done so in the captions. It’s all here:
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> https://www.greatpix.eu/La-Vuelta-in-Jijona/ <https://www.greatpix.eu/La-Vuelta-in-Jijona/>
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> As always, comments and critique are welcome and appreciated.
>
> Nathan
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> Nathan Wajsman
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> Alicante, Spain
> http://www.frozenlight.eu <http://www.frozenlight.eu/>
> http:// <http://www.greatpix.eu/>www.greatpix.eu
> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws <http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws>Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ <http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/>
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> Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator <http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator>
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> YNWA
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> "I’m not arguing, I’m just explaining why I’m right"
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