It was a streamlined morning, breakfast at our appartment and bags packed down to the garage ready for our hilly ride.We opened the door to the room where the bikes were stored…..problem Tim’s front tyre was flat. It was wheel off, new tube fitted etc but Tim was rushing as we should have been pedalling so the tyre wasn’t seated that well and Tim had put it on the wrong way round. Yes technology is amazing nowadays your tyres have little arrows down the middle in the direction they want to go.So Tim’s bike has been trying to go backwards all day and has a great wobble downhills as the tyre wasn’t seated that well.We also had to contend with another dusky sky filled with sand from the sahara again, apparently not good for the lungs.I did try my bandanna over my mouth but as I couldn’t breathe that was no help at all.

We needed an early coffee after the bicycle tyre fun in the freezing cold garage so we stopped at the first town we came to St Olalla del Cala , 22kms covered very fast downhill mainly, my battery still showed 95% ! Tim went into to get the drinks whilst I watched what was happening across the road.There was one man frantically cooking in a kiosk and putting what looked like donut sausages in a huge paper bag and then onto the next customer. They were all served the same and as fast as people were served more arrived.Yes it was churrizos or churros as they are know in other parts of Spain.Everyone in the bar had a bag from old to young and were dipping them in their chocolate or coffee.We were tempted but it was a huge bag and they didn’t look like they would taste good cold or the next day either.They are meant to have originated from a staple of shepherds apparently. Crispy creme donuts in Australia can attract queues aswell but no cultural significance to them!

After this entertainment we set off again up and down hills.I was so in the zone I followed the road straight on, except it wasn’t our road I was going onto the motorway.I think I would have seen the fast cars once I got to the top but I did hear Tim shouting for some reason and then realised where I was, oops.We decided to stop in the same town as one of the bikie gangs with skulls on their bikes sporting tattoos and goaties.They all were wearing their logos and jackets with black widow spiders on etc, all such paraphernalia is banned in Australia but not in Spain! They weren’t drinking coffee either not that I’m snitching on them but….

We saw plenty of racing bikes but not huge peletons so a popular route for those local super fit bike heroes.We did also see 3 other touring bikes fully laden,one guys legs were going round and round but he was hardly moving.The other 2 were stopped at the top of a pass exhausted.This route is not recommended for touring bikes you are encouraged to use a longer route which is less hilly rather than riding this section.

Lunch was eaten at El Ronquelle as we weren’t too sure what would be available where we were staying.It was just a grill meat and chips but very tasty and I’ve learnt you order your salad separately and it comes first as veggies tend not to come with your meal.After lunch it was back to the hills, they were getting steeper.In my lunchtime haze and trying not to go into the super help mode of “normal” I mismanaged my gears.There was a horrible clank but I fortunately stopped pedalling immediately so after stopping we could change gears down and nothing damaged.After that I started using the help button more as it couldn’t be too much further I hoped.

The scenery was spectacular and we occasionally saw the motorway high up on bridges above us.Quite a bit of the area was national park.We didn’t see much road kill in this section but earlier in the day we had seen a big beautiful badger killed by the roadside and a hedgehog.No signs saying look out for wildlife apart from deer, which we have only seen once.

I reached the top of a hill which had gone on for ever, I even went into “sportif” another layer of assist.It felt like we were really up in the clouds.I’d pulled into what looked like a hotel, how lovely if we were staying here I thought and then I read the sign on the side of the building, we were staying here!We had booked this hotel in the middle of nowhere as we figured Tim might be running out of battery, his battery is the same size as mine but the poor bike is carrying just a little bit more weight.You’d think battery’s would be designed according to your weight.

An Amazing Andalucian style hotel awaited us with a huge inner courtyard with rooms around it. Our upstairs room even has its own roof patio and we look out on trees and the birds are in full song.The bar area has iron gates to the outside and cobblestones on the floor so we just wheeled our bikes through to the courtyard.Its a majestic place with beautiful paintings and old furniture and we ended up here by chance, unbelievable.

Venta Del Alto Hotel las Cumbres, El Garroba

Must be a peaceful night I hope, Seville tomorrow.