Even though I finished dinner at 11pm, I still woke, wide awake at 4am. I took my time and built my bike. When it was ready I still had an hour to dawn. Good thing I have mobile games or I would have to read a book.
At 6:45 it was light enough to see and I headed out. The town was a little nicer than it looked on the way to the hotel in the car. This town does not appear to be very old and there are a lot of new houses. Not that many shops and restaurants - my hotel looks like the best place in town.
There was not that dawn coolness you usually get at that hour. This will have to be the time I start all rides.
Still in town I heard the hiss and felt the spray of sealant on my leg. It did its job and I didn't have any issues. I heard the hiss a few other times. I think my tire has a hole the sealant can cover but if it gets poked just right it opens an bit. I added an ounce of sealant before packing the bike so I hope it lasts.
Just out of town I crossed over the freeway and was in olive groves until I crossed back over it in Andujar. The road was a perfectly smooth, a no dividing line road winding through the olive groves on the rolling hills. Lots of climbing but nothing stupid steep. There was one hill with some 9% but most of it was 3-6%. The climbs were all around 100m and I front loaded them to the first half. After Arjona it was mostly downhill.
In Arjonilla I stopped for a quick cafe con leche. I think there must have been a fancy all night party because there were a lot of people wandering around town in evening gowns and suits. I think a lot of them wanted breakfast at the bar I was in but the bartender kept waving them off. There was, however, no shortage of old guys getting served their snifters of brandy at 8am.
My route was originally about 75km to Porcuna but I decided I would cut off about 20. I cut over at Santiago which was just a crossroad, I think. I did see a town on a hill before the turn but I didn't go through it and it vanished. That happens fairly often here. You see a town in the distance but you never seem to pass through it.
Just before Arjona I joined the bigger A-305. There were nice wide shoulders as you usually find on the province level roads. I explored Arjona a bit and started to return to the main road on a side road but it turned out to be gravel and steep enough I didn't want to do it and backtracked the way I came.
A-305 took me to Andujar after some long downhills. I made a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the tracks with no way to cross over. On the other side of the main freeway I followed flat side roads through farm fields back to Marmolejo. When I got to Andujar I was running on empty and didn't have a lot left on that final section. The final hill into town (there is always a hill into town) I was going very, very slow. Getting back to the hotel and a shower felt great. Overall, it was a great ride. Great roads, no traffic and I beat the heat.
After cleaning up I took a walk around town, had a coffee and bought a giant bottle of Aquarius - European Gatorade. Then lunch at the hotel and a nap. All afternoon I kept passing out which doesn't help my timezone adjustment.
Going to try to get some food and go to bed. The restaurant doesn't look very active and almost none is at the bar. No problem, ordered a massive tomato salad with tuna belly and a beer
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