I had the first really good sleep this trip last night. That really makes a difference.
Out of the hotel I pulled into the bar I had a beer at yesterday. It was not open yet, but around the corner there were a lot of people getting coffee so I went there. The place was busy. I had my cafe con leche and in the ten minutes I was there the place was nearly empty. I must have caught the tail end of the morning rush. I also find it interesting that the different bars in these town have different hours and cater to different needs of the same people.
After coffee I was ready to climb and it started as soon as I started pedaling. Straight up for over 1000m. I was a great ride. It was a classic mountain road ride with little traffic, spectacular views and the cement blocks to keep you from falling over the edge.
I saw some local riders coming down and got passed half a dozen times but local going up. We exchanged the wave you always have to give another cyclist as you pass. "Buenas" is what you get as they pass you.
Unfortunately, there was a haze which really ruined a lot of the scenery and the pictures. It was warmer than it looked. It was strange weather. I still took a lot of photo breaks.
At the top I put on my sunglasses and started to roll down. The town of Grazalerma which I didn't stop in was quite pretty. I'd put it on the list of places to revisit. This whole area from Bosque to Grazalerma seems to be a hiking paradise.
From there until the end of the national park the traffic was light. There were some long ups and some long downs. Not mountain but interesting terrain.
When I got to the end of the park I joined the road that connect Seville to Ronda. It was not a road meant to handle all the tourist traffic is was getting. This was not a great ride. The traffic was fast and there was no shoulder.
I needed some food and my map incicated there wasn't much ahead. Fortunately, about 1km on the bad road there was a restaurant. I pulled in and had a little lunch.
Feeling energized I continued on. I soon came to a long downhill with really bad winds. I was getting blown all over the place and there was no shoulder. I was going pretty fast but I had a tour bus stuck behind me for a while.
I was then cross the valley from Ronda and could see the city; it was still over 10km away. There was long 300m climb up the other side of the valley.
In the city I found my hotel. There was no one on duty yet but there sent me a link to open the front door and my room door. Later the girl photocopied my passport and gave me a tourist map and highlighted the views in the old town.
I walked around and Ronda is a great town but it is overrun with tourists. There were so many I decided to change my route and bypass Marbella and go for the mountain towns.
At the end of my walk I wanted a beer and all the places near my hotel had shut down. It was 5pm. I wandered over to a main walking street and most places there had closed up as well. Just and hour earlier they had all been busy. One place was open and I sat at a table and ordered. I was sipping my beer and looking at my phone. Two women where looking for a table and I indicated they where welcome to the other 3 chairs at mine.
The sat and ordered coffee and we started chatting. One woman was retired, Finnish and lived in Ronda, the other was her American friend who was visiting. She just started a Ph.D. in Finland in theology. We talked for an hour after the Finnish friend went to a dance Las Maravillas. We discussed the pettynLas Maravillasess of academia and how to beat it. Publish, publish, publish!
I left to plan my next day. I settled on a town called Alozaina. Only about 50km away. That will give me time for a nice pre-tourist walk around Ronda. Now I need to get dinner, I'm starving.
I went to one of the restaurants ??? recommended - I need to get better at asking names. Las Maravillas was pretty good, I had the ensalada mixta and the rabo de toro.
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