April 10, 2014

Happy Birthday Ken! Now officially a senior citizen.

Today we have a short run to our first big city of the tour, Jaén, where we will take a day off.  It starts just like yesterday with another main road climb, about 10 kilometres long.  Although it is relatively early it feels baking hot.  As we rest for a few minutes, I chat to a farmer pruning his olive trees next to the road.  He says it is much hotter than normal for this time of the year.

The ‘touring legs’ are definitely developing.  It feels tough getting to the top of the climb, but nowhere near as bad as it would have felt a couple of days ago.  We are rewarded with a really long, fast downhill of about another 10 kilometres or so, just leaving a final undulating run into Jaén of about the same distance.  When we arrive in the city centre the street thermometre reads 30 degrees, so it is no wonder that we feel hot.  We have a quick pit stop for a cold drink and head towards the hotel we used before.  This involves pushing the bikes on foot up some narrow and steep streets, but at least this time we know exactly where to head for.  The hotel is a modern place right in the city centre which was incredibly good value for money last time we stayed.  We’re hoping it still will be this time as we want to stay for two nights.  The price is still exactly the same as three years ago – one of the advantages of a recession for consumers though not for businesses.

We’re looking forward to a day of recovery tomorrow, although with washing to do, emails, the blog to catch up on and Ken’s bike parts to find it might turn out to be a busy ‘rest’ day.