Since I'm not doing huge miles I find I don't have great motivation to start early. Also, Spain operates on a later time zone. 8am feels really early here.
I walked out of my hotel and headed away from the tourist streets. I was definitely out of the tourist zone in a few blocks. There was an open bar with only locals so I went in. The barista was a character; it was fun just to watch him work. I ordered a cafe con leche and he offered churros. Yes! The far end of the bar on the street windo was windowed off and it was because of the churros fryer. It was straight out of the oil and on my plate. I had two!
Back in the room I ran out of things to delay and started packing up. Once I start packing the bags the process runs until I'm out the door. I carried everything down from the 3rd floor - which would be the 4th floor in the US. Here ground floor is 0.
My bike was in a locked room on the ground floor. When I got it assembled I realized I had packed my gloves. I was riding without gloved today.
It wasn't far to get out of town. I like the way towns here just stop. You cross a line and it goes from apartment buildings to fields. The first climb of the day started immediately. It was gradual at first. But got quite steep. And to make it worse there was a nasty headwind that hit me at times. Sometimes I was protected from it but there were times the grade was over 10% and the wind was working just as hard to push me back.
It was a good climb and at the summit I stopped to enjoy the scenery and get hammered by the wind. I probably shouldn't tell this next bit but this blog is really for me and my readership of 3 won't care. At the top I needed to pee. I was standing at a view area at the top of the very top summit. I could see any cars for miles. So I just peed. What I didn't take into account was the fluid dynamics of the high winds hitting my back. The pee never hit the ground. It caught the wind and came straight back and up on me. I peed in my mouth. Worst thing was I couldn't stop.
Moving on. I had a nice down hill and then another 100m climb. The scenery was spectacular and the photos would be stunning if it wasn't so hazy. A little blue sky would make this incredible. The riding is quite great. Very little traffic. There were far more motorcycles than cars today.
At the summit I saw a sign for a Mirador - a view area - and exited for it. I lugged my bike up a stone path and got some Mirador.
Heading back down I saw some Dutch cyclists. At first I thought the were on ebikes (he said, "Everybody thinks that!") but they had the crank gearbox and belt drive. We chatted for a bit. I told them the road out of Ronda was busy with no shoulder. They told me about the restaurant ahead where I had lunch and the route by the reservoir was worth taking. I asked how heavy their bikes were and with out bags their bike weighted almost as much as mine with all my bags.
I went down the hill and without pedaling and I was in El Burgo. I found the restaurant the Dutch had mentioned and got some lunch. I'm having trouble ordering portion sizes here. I have consistently ordered far more than I want to eat. At lunch I ordered salad and a burger. It was enough for two people easily.
When I got to the restaurant after 1pm it was empty and when I left an hour later it was full.
As I was about to pull onto the road a cyclist with paniers rode past. It was the start of a 300m climb. I passed him at a slight downhill and didn't see him again until the top when I stopped for a photo. I passed him on the down hill. He looked too fresh and clean to have come far.
From the last summit it was almost all downhill to Alozaina. I stopped at a gas station and got a large bottle of water. The 1.5L bottles fit nicely in my water bottle holder. At the hotel, which is two doors down from the main square, I checked in and the owner showed me where the bike would sleep. There was a storage area off the street behind the hotel.
I went out to find a beer just after 5pm but all the places that had been busy when I ride into town were now empty. I did manage a beer at a place that was closed but I went back to my room just after.
Pretty sure my pork cheeks were beef but it was good. For dessert I tried to order flan but got cheese cake instead. It was good. Time for bed.
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