At the beginning of May I decided to go to Malaga to cycle cause I wanted to try how does it feel to be completely alone cycling and in general to enjoy my most favourite activity – discovering places on a bike. The whole trip came about very spontaneously because I had an unused kiwi.com voucher for €100 from my covid days, so I used that money for the flight. I hadn’t planned anything, I just arranged to sleep in Malaga via Couchsurfing, with an Argentinian called Edu. When I arrived in Malaga, Edu picked me up right at the airport because he was returning from Fuengirola with Bujia, his dog, who was being looked after by his friend Anita. The first day I just walked around Malaga and worked in cafes. The first place I visited was the Next Level Café in which I had a great flat white. I laughed a bit to myself that I became a “fancy” lady for not going to local cafes anymore, but hipster places. But I justified it to myself by saying that I just needed to work and that the café had pretty comfortable tables for that.
Then I moved on to the next place, where a Norwegian guy sat next to me and after talking to me a bit, thought I was very brave to go cycling alone in Spain like this for 10 days. I thought it was cute, but I didn’t really want to talk to him. It was raining a lot and I was just waiting for it to stop. I then went to the gym, where there were too many men and too few women and a lot of testosterone around. But better than doing nothing. Then I picked up my bike and after only 5 minutes of having it, I got a puncture. Luckily an Argentinian guy showed up at that moment and tried to help me. Unfortunately, we discovered together that I didn’t have a working pump, so he didn’t end up helping me much. I almost cried, but luckily Edu saved me with his car. Thank God that good souls and angels exist.
Montes de Malaga
The first cycling trip started a bit late, because I got a puncture again and was a bit scared that there was something wrong happening with my bike. So I took the bike to the workshop. Then I found out that I was robbed in the airport and my new sunglasses were stolen for 200€. I was sad about the whole thing, but eventually I got over it and went to Decathlon and bought a pair of sunglasses for 15€. They were fine and served me well for the rest of the trip.
I then drove out of the city and made my way gradually to Montes De Malaga. I didn’t feel too good the whole way, but at the same time I enjoyed being able to ride. I met a journalist at the top of the mountain, so he actively took my picture. I didn’t meet any cyclists. I listened to podcasts, especially Lex Fridman. My new role model and favorite podcaster. I came back from my first trip a bit sad, empty and lonely. The sight of the beach and the people outside didn’t help. Wine in the evening helped, but only a little.
From Marbella to Malaga over mountains
The next day I went to Marbella with Edu and found a route from Marbella to Malaga. I was pretty sick at a few points and also very exhausted. My legs were aching and I was often riding on gravel roads where I was afraid I would puncture the bike again. No one was anywhere and I was a bit doubtful about the safety of those places.
When I arrived at the village of Alozaina, I had to walk because there was a terribly steep hill that was impossible to cycle up. At the top I got to a restaurant where the waiter gave me their food, a local product, for free. He mentioned some name but I already forgot. I just remember that I didn’t like it much, because it was too bready. I got back home, went with Edu and Bujia to the beach and felt grateful. Then we bought shrimps and white wine. We drank the wine and in the morning we both had headaches.
I started to find out that Bujia is a very interesting dog. That she is quiet, afraid of people and dogs and everything, but that no one really knows what happened to her before. Edu said that sometimes he is worried that she’s not free on her own. That he thinks he’s shutting her in and she doesn’t want that.
Fuengirola – Abandoned Hill – Mijas
In the morning I found out that the sleeves on my arms had gotten sunburned and it wasn’t what I wanted. So I decided to change my jersey for a regular top and go. I had planned a route without a hill, but I ended up going up a high hill, which was pretty abandoned. Didn’t meet anyone on the way there. With a great view as a reward. At the top I met a Spanish man, an older guy, who later gave me a tour of Mijas and Fuengirola. He spoke very fast Spanish and seemed a bit egocentric. But he had a nice bike. A polished frame down to the steel. I don’t really understand bikes, but I thought this one was pretty cool. It was a long journey back to Malaga. I was a bit scared because it was already dark. But I managed quite well in the end. On this trip I felt really great in some places, and quite sad in others. A lot of ups and downs.
Almogía
The next day I took a shorter trip with a pretty large elevation gain to a village called Almogía. It was this religious village with pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. I had iced coffee and sandwiches at a local restaurant there. Everyone there was looking at me and making weird comments. They thought I didn’t speak Spanish.
When I returned, I went with Edu to see his friend Anita, who was throwing a party for English golfers on the terrace of her house. Or rather, her husband’s house. Interesting experience. I prepared the Sangria, took care of the candles and stuff. I served the food. Then I also listened to Edu’s talk with another Argentinian.
Ronda
On Monday I went to the beautiful town of Ronda. We wanted to visit this place with Toubar in the summer, but the buses there are very complicated, so we abandoned the idea. This time I went there and back using the Blablacar service. I liked it a lot in Ronda. I was very glad I went without a bike because I enjoyed hiking around the city. The photo with the bridge was taken by a German who was traveling alone. There was a lot of mixing of Spanish and German when I talked to him. It made me a little happy that I was already”thinking” in Spanish, and at the same time a little sad that I was forgetting German. In the evening, I also visited the village of Setenil de las Bodegas, which was interesting because it was actually built in a cave. Then, on the way, I had the BEST jamón I’ve ever had. The next morning I left Ronda at 6am with Bilal, a man from Morocco who worked as a tour guide for tourists. He dropped me off right in front of the house and when I got back to the house I went straight to sleep.
Tunnels and Impressive Views
The last ride was wonderful! I was wearing a backpack and had my shoes on to change into, so I looked a bit like an MTBkier. I loved that ride so much. I got to ride a beautiful trail on top of the mountains and was so impressed and touched. Then the fact that I could be alone. That I could handle myself. That I can talk to anyone, about anything. Despite all the anxiety, I’m not giving up. That I have faith that things will get better. That one day I will be happy where I am and that I will love myself as much as I want to love others. That one day I will cry less than I laugh. At that moment, I loved life. And it was one of those moments that I remember specifically. To remind myself when I’m sad that it’s not forever and that there are moments when I’m just purely happy. Edu and I had salmon for dinner and agreed to go on a road trip together the next day.
To Antequera by motorbike
During my stay in Malaga, Edu was fired from his job. All of a sudden. It was really weird. Anyway, he had a ton of time off, so we could go on a trip together in the middle of the week. It was also my last day in Malaga. We rode his motorcycle to Antequera to see the beautiful rocks. It was really cool. I especially liked the motorcycle ride. We even went 140 km/h and I started to understand a little bit what people like about riding motorbikes. It’s really quite adventurous. I got sunburnt. After we came back, we went out for ice cream. I was thinking about how cool these short encounters of random people actually are. How much I love getting to know people in depth and then leave again so that the short experience is all that is remembered. How much I love talking one to one and having deep conversations about everything. And how rare it is to meet a person who has it the same way. Luckily I have some people like this in my life and I value them more than everything.
Edu then drove me to the airport, we said Adios and I flew. I was feeling well and happy on the plane.
The main thing I took back from the trip to Malaga is that I felt unwell and anxious a lot of the time, but I came back stronger and more confident. And maybe even a little calmer.