Chapter 24: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Baza to Campo Camara

You can see my YouTube on the ride from Baza to Campo Camara here

15th June 2019

I’m having an internal fight! I know I should wear my helmet whilst riding, but often I forget to put it back on, or can’t be bothered to as I can see an ascent in a short while where I'll push my bike again and remove my helmet. So, I find myself riding without it, something I know is foolish. Because of the direct sunlight, without my Panama hat, my cheeks and nose get burnt. My helmet has a large peak, but it doesn’t protect my face from the sides, like the hat does. I spent some of the time this morning riding with my helmet over my Panama hat! It looked quite silly, and was very hot, so I didn’t do it for long, but it was an option!

After a short ride through Zújar I was back on the camino, it was quite a rough loose surface, through olive groves and small holdings, then opens out onto undulating hillside camino. With mountain to my right and to my left, a plateau with distant mountains. The loose camino, very steeply descending at times, eventually brings the sparkling turquoise waters of the Embalse de Negratin into view, directly ahead.