June 30, 2011

Yet another very hot day – I guess you are thinking –  ‘well, what do they expect in Spain in June?’   Having said that, we are used to cycling in hot weather in Spain – we do it all the time at home – but somehow this seems especially hot and very draining.  Perhaps it is different when cycling with a fully loaded cycle or perhaps it is different when you are cycling every day or perhaps it is that we are cycling for six hours a day rather than three – I don’t know.

We retrace our 12 km back along the road we came along last night.  The next part of the day sees us climb the next range of mountains – a steady climb of 13 km or so which reminds us of our favourite ride from home in the Montes de Malaga, followed by a fast descent into the next area of flatlands. The crops have changed to corn (and it is as high as an elephant’s eye) and fields of sunflowers, which are a bit creepy to cycle past, as it feels as though there are thousands of faces staring at you as you go by.

We then deviate from our planned route towards the C25, the road recommended by the helpful bar owner.  We pick up the road, which turns out to be very busy.  Unlike in France, where busy roads made us feel extremely unsafe for two reasons – the speed of the traffic and the closeness with which it passed us, we do not feel that our safety is threatened.  Spanish roads have a marked off lane at the side of the road, in this case a good metre and a half wide, for us to cycle in which gives us plenty of room.  Neither does the traffic here travel at the speed it does in France – everyone seems more willing to take their time.  Nevertheless, the road is tedious and the never-ending traffic irritating.  We again feel like stopping early and no sooner have we decided to look for somewhere to stay than we see a hostal at the roadside.  So it is an early night for us to see if we can revive ourselves for tomorrow.