Southern Spain 2018

Day 1 - Seville to Carmona

The ride with no downhills that never ends! I’m writing this at the wonderful hotel in Carmona, absolutely knackered from riding what could have been 70 Km. While the website ‘routeyou’ has created wonderful routes in the past by avoiding highways, this time around it sent us through what seemed to be a Brazilian favela and ultimately a prison. Yes…a bloody prison. At that stage we had to use Google Maps which decided to make our life misery by leading us to muddy roads, big puddles and roads where the bikes would swerve - very dangerous when you are using panniers. All this and NO DOWNHILLS made it very unpleasant. You can see in the Strava section that there is a straight line which is when I forgot to resume it. The ride was 66Km and possibly 70Km+ for that reason and by the very end I was just in automatic mode pedaling and wishing it would end. Not a great start but we’re switching to Strava and possibly ride on the highways which have big shoulders. We seriously cannot bear the thought of seeing a crimson path for the rest of this trip. On the positive side, Carmona looks like a lovely town and we’re off to find ourselves a well-deserved drink and some dinner!

Day 2 - Carmona to Palma del Rio

Nice room, quiet with a HUGE bathroom in Carmona. No children to wake us up in the morning! We packed, picked up the bikes from the store room and headed off for brekkie at a bar by the circular plaza. Salmorejo with cheese and jamon at unearthly prices.Coffee for Christian, tea for me. Caused a moment of panic as I explained that tea takes cold milk - a look of total disbelief and a frown as if to say: Englesas! Received a small coffee cup half full of hot water with a tea-bag …. well it was right, sort of … and a jug of cold milk. So couldn’t complain. Tostadas were yum. Then looked around the town, which is a lovely, quiet, narrow-streeted, white fronted old town within walls and surrounded by a small newer town, with a large, ornate late 19th century theatre. Flagstones to ride on: great for the cellulose. Discovered the the USB adapter wasn’t working and so headed out to Audi in the hope of getting one. Found a largeish multiple adapter with a couple of USB ports, so bought that and set off. Lovely day’s riding: from the town we descended through citrus groves and acres of vegetables and sunflowers in undulating very pretty countryside. Lovely to see these groves and fields, which although on an industrial scale, nevertheless still bespeak the work of people used to the land and a countryside that has been cultivated for thousands of years. We rode for a couple of hours, some of the way off road along a stone track by a canal, still bounded by vegetable fields. At a small bridge with trees and shade we stopped for lunch: lovely fresh bread rolls with butter (huge proportions), cheese, tomato and lovely chorizo. Food rarely tastes so good. We packed up and set off, reaching the highway again shortly and continuing for most of the way on very quiet roads to Palma del Rio. Not a long or difficult ride at all. The very last section through a Camino rurale, a small wood of lovely big trees, before we came to the town. Hearts sank a bit, since it looked a bit fatal at first: white fronted, barred cottages, with paving from wall to wall. Typical of these towns in fact. The hotel was close by: just on the old town walls in a renovated monastery, which, once entered, was delightful: high walls surrounding a beautiful large paved courtyard with small white tables interspersed among large trees. A small swimming pool at the end, and views outside the walls of the cathedral spire. The concierge was lovely, like everyone here so far, polite, helpful and evidently happy. Stowed the bikes, showed us our room, which was shady and lovely with large comfortable beds. After the blessed shower, we headed off to explore the town a bit, looked into the cathedral and followed some of the old walls around. But what we really wanted was to sit in the sun with a beer and a plate of olives, which is exactly what we did. Absolute heaven, just by the side of the square, far enough from the children to be relaxing and only a couple of steps to the tapas restaurant where we headed for what was Christian’s favorite meal so far. Chipirones (squid). Solomijo de Cuervo, patatas bravas & profiteroles. And a bottle of Ribera Creanza wine which was heavenly. We managed to finish that off and then staggered back to hotel and bed.

Day 3 - Palma del Río to Córdoba

The temperature during these days have been very kind with us, and for this reason we are not out riding at the crack of dawn. We took our time and had breakfast at the fantastic hotel where we stayed the night before [HOTEL NAME]. The fellow at the reception was very friendly and chatted with us while he served us a “tostá” (a toast, which is “tostada” but the Andalucians “se comen” (they eat out, omit) certain letters as they like to speak very fast. The ride was incredibly pleasant - riding through fields of crops with very little incline and almost no traffic. The route that was plotted was amazing as it took us through side roads or not busy highways with big shoulders. The only real scare was before arriving Córdoba, where the road narrows down to a bridge and you have no shoulder. Combine that with cars swerving by you at 120 Km/hour and it’s enough to make you think if you chose the best life insurance for the trip. We had picnic at “Almodóvar del Río” after going up the only significant hill of the day which offered majestic views of the “Castillo Almodóvar del Río”, a place worthy of Game of Thrones as Peter rightfully said. Getting to our AirBnB was a piece of cake with the fantastic app we have been using : BikeGPX. Central Córdoba is a maze of narrow paths which we navigated as if we had been living here for a long time.

Day 4 - Córdoba to Zuheros

AirBnB in Córdoba was good. Alex the owner, in Barrio Nuevo 10. Leaving Cordoba was good: bike paths out of the city - the only problem being the pedestrians who chose to walk down the bike path … Highway then, a bit busy but reasonable shoulder to ride on and we commenced what we had planned to be a 70 km ride. The secondary roads proved to be unusable, however, one of them even blocked off, so we kept to the highway for most of the day in fact. We made a detour to Montillado for lunch, which was pleasant, but nothing particularly attractive about the place. After lunch in a little park we headed off towards Zuheros. A steady upward incline made the ride pretty demanding, but surprisingly, we go to the Via Verde just outside Zuheros about 5.30 in the afternoon and from there the ride was good. Only problem was the 81 meter climb over approximately one kilometer: very steep. But worth it. Zuheros is lovely, with a dramatic fortress and landscape. The Hotel Zuhayia is lovely. A small pool and lots of sun, a hot bath and then off to the terrace overlooking the valley for a couple of beers and a cheese platter. Sun going down and cold now, so I think it’s back to the hotel for dinner and then …. BEDDIEBYES. … The town itself is very big with lots to offer. I do admit I miss the tranquility of towns like Palma del Río. Córdoba is a lot more touristy (but not overtly) with lots of restaurants and bars to choose from. We had tapas at the “Mercado Victoria” which is a very modern version of the Spanish market. Once again we had “patatas bravas” and something new“albódnigas de cetas”, both hit the spot. Tomorrow is a rest day and we’ll use the time to go around with our bikes and get to know the city. It’ll certainly be a relief to leave those panniers behind!

  Day 5 - Zuheros to Priego de Córdoba

We left Zuheros hoping we would have stayed one more night. The town is mystical and has lots to offer. Our hotel was fantastic and so was the brekkie they offered for 4 Euros. Lots of jam, chorizo, goat’s cheese, “tostadas with tomate”, etc. The personnel at this hotel were very nice, especially Antonio from the restaurant. We had drinks at the Palenque at the top with a majestic view last night and ended up having dinner at our hotel: spinach with chick peas and chorizo, a majestic salad with flambeed goat’s cheese and feed-fried eggplant with honey - all three were an absolute delight. Cheese is big in this region, so make sure you get your fix! As far as the ride today, it was only ~30 Km with gentle climbs and almost no traffic. Getting out Zuheros was very easy (thought the steep hills out of the hotel with the huge brekkie was not a good combo!). Throughout the ride you are surrounded but the “Parque Natural de las Sierras Subbéticas”, which offers incredible views of mountains. We did stop through Antonio’s hometown, “Luque”, and it’s definitely wort visiting with its maze of streets and beautiful plaza next to the church. Arriving Priego was easy and we found our hotel next to the church very easily. I would not recommend the hotel, the owner has a restaurant as well and has a hard time balancing the service between the two. Our bikes had to sleep outside even though we were told that there was a place to safely store them. As a general comment I would only recommend doing this ride before the time we did it. We’ve been told it’s not unusual for these days to be 40+ degrees C but today we’ve had a max of 24 and will continue like so for at least a week.

Day 6 - Priego to Montefrío

Nice little hotel tucked away in a little square with a fountain. We left the bikes outside while we went up to the room which was also lovely, overlooking the square. The owners didn’t know what to do with the bikes, since they had people inside in the atrium and we couldn’t get the bikes in. Christian got angry with them but it was ok, since we just locked them up outside during the afternoon and put them inside at night. We went for a walk around the town, which C didn’t like very much but I thought was lovely. Beautiful fountains about a five minute walk down the main street, late Baroque or rococo style, with magnificent trees on one side. Dinner that night was accompanied by cats at the hotel. Patatas bravas and tapas. Nice food, lovely evening and straight up the stairs to bed! Next morning the hotel owner gave some good tips on an alternative route which we took and which was gorgeous, all the way to Montefrío. Undulating and pretty countryside. We didn’t do lunch, although it was quite a long ride, about 60 km I think. Arrived at Montefrío, with a very steep ascent uphill to the hotel. Apartment in the Centre of town, beautifully furnished and equipped with kitchen etc. and two balconies. Put our stuff out in the sun to dry off and then set off up to the castle which turned out fascinating. There was a tourist guide there, who told us some of the history. It was the last outpost of the Moors during the Reconquista, subsequently changed to a Christian church from the original mosque. Unbelievable views of the countryside all around. Afterwards we went looking for a beer but everthing seemed closed. Two old blokes with coffees indicated to us that there was life in a cafe (Bar Tití) and we went there for a beer. Funny, slightly depressing place … Dinner that night was fantastic, octopus, salad, pork tapas, nice wine at a terrace restaurant, nice waitress (Rocío, or Rosa) - they all seem to be! Then bed …. zzzzzzzzzzzz

Day 7 - Montefrío to Granada

After a quick pack-n-go, we had coffee at the café a bit down the road where we stayed. From there we could watch all the old blokes who seem to just stand and do nothing for most of the day. They are harmless, as we were told by the apartment manager, but at times it felt like something from the X-files. The brekkie? Toastada with Serrano and tomatoe, of course! We then headed out of Montefrío and were back in the countryside with ups and downs, which were most enjoyable. The route guide showed a nice downhill we were really waiting to get to, but when you join the A432 ride it’s basically a highway with lots of traffic, and even though the shoulder is wide enough, you feel very vulnerable going downhill at the speed with trucks next to you. From here onwards it was a gentle uphill to Granada, but as you approach the city, the traffic becomes more and more unbearable. The route we were following also had something along the railroad which happened to be a dead-end, so more road-riding until we got fed up and used GoogleMaps which led us a to a bike path that led us to the University of Granada and we then our way to AirBnB. If you plan to do this ride, make sure you plan your entry carefully (which did not) and it made the end of the ride a bit unpleasant. The place was very well kept in “Albaicin”, the old part of town, just a walk away from the Mirador de [???], which offers magnificent views of the Alhambra, especially at night. Granada is a town to walk, so put your bikes away and head to any of the places recommended by Google. We did not manage to get to the Alhambra but made our way to Generalife (weird name, beautiful gardens) and Alcazabe, a fortress that offers incredibly views of Granda, definitely worth visiting and this activity could easily fill your day. As per my suggestion to cope with a bit of nostalgia of the trip I had with my parents in 2008, we made our way to the bull-fighting ring. We had a nice taxi ride there with a driver who was a pleasure to talk to about Granda in general.

Day 8 - Granada to Alhama de Granada

The time spent in Granada was fantastic, it is a lovely town with so much to offer, two nights was definitely not enough, but we had to move on. Getting out of Granada was a bit hectic…at the beginning the route was OK and even took us out of the city following a lovely bike path. But blissful feeling was quickly shattered when it ended and we were faced with tons of cars in a highway. It was such a mess in terms of roundabouts trying to get on the right side of the road, we felt very vulnerable at times. If anything, this trip has showed us that we cannot simply plot the route with a a computer program. Things need to be fine-tuned or you end up in a highway crossing a bridge with no shoulder with a humongous truck next to you, which is in now way a good feeling. The ride was exhausting…we opted out to follow the highway at the end because the paths that were plotted were steep and incredibly rocky, so the you could not enjoy the downhills and the uphills were even more difficult. The town of Alhama of Granada is nice but very small. Not a whole lot to do but we were knackered from the trip…actually writing this in bed. Tomorrow a new day with 34 Km to go, which will be bliss compared to today.

Day 9 - From Alhama de Granada to Periana

We started the day a bit late as we wanted to see what the route was and make last minute alterations. After yesterday’s experience of riding long hours in dirt roads that were in no way gentle, we wanted to be sure that we were not headed in the same direction, figuratively speaking. We were also delayed in our start because we stayed a bit late last night having dinner and a few drinks. The town of Alhama de Granada is small and has some nice sights which I think can be easily be done on one day. We had dinner in the “Café Bar Andaluz”, which was the one that showed signs of life. After having a couple of wine glasses, we headed inside (it was cooling down very quickly in the terrace) and we had a nice dinner including a fantastic ham & cheese platter that included jamón serrano, morcilla, salchicha, chorizo (the real deal) and goat’s cheese. We then shared a lovely octopus “a la gallega” (with potatoes underneath and lots of paprika) and a lovely tuna salad. We also had (yet another) bottle of wine…tsk..tsk..tsk. Back to the ride….getting out of Alhama took a while as it was very steep to get to the road. Not too many cars and it was a steady climb to get to the A-402 which we followed Southwest in the direction of “Pilas de Algaida”. We stopped for a coffee here and met Manuel, an old, nice local from the town who overheard the conversation of getting to Periana when we asked the waitress for advice. He told us (not in a nutshell ;-) about this rail trail that we could take. We were absolutely skeptical about anything that was not paved at this point, but we were certainly glad we followed his advice. Manuel was nice enough to drive the car to the gas station and lead us to the beginning of the trail, our jaws immediately dropped - the view was absolutely beautiful, you could even see the coast of Málaga from a distance. The trail was gravel but very pleasant…and it was mostly downhill - we were in heaven, so thank you Manuel from Pilas, you are the man!!! After the path finished we ended up getting to Periana, a medium-sided town where we had a lovely tapa of tomato sauce with pork, albeit very expensive for what it was! We let Google take us the rest of the ride to our hotel, “El Cortijo de las Monjas”. Tough last 3 Km or so until we reached the hotel via the A-7204 highway, Before getting here there are lots of hills that are not that painful, but will require a bit of extra power to get through…remember the wise words “there is no shame in walking”. The hotel is surrounded by mountains…the closest shops/restaurants are 2Km away, so either come with enough food for dinner or let the hotel managers know that you will need to have dinner prepared. In brief, a fantastic ride through lovely hills and a rail trail with absolutely fantastic views.

Day 10 - From Periana to Antequera

Cortijo de la Monjes - arrived and immediately headed for the pool and the sun, it was heaven. After an hour or so, including a dip, we went back to the apartment and got ready for dinner which arrived at 8 as announced: chicken with green pepper on a tortilla with a bottle of red. Very nice (price ended up being a bit high: 30E which is restaurant prices, but it was lovely sitting out on the terrace. Bed, deep sleep, and next morning breakfast also on the terrace: jamon, cheese, bread, pears, joghurt, orange juice and coffee: lovely. Christian checked the planned route with the owners who gave a lot of info which led to a complete change of route. Ride began beautifully with up and downhill through the countryside down to Colmejar where we had a coffee and an iced tea outside under the trees. Then on down to Concepcion de la virgin, a pretty depressing town, but with great tapas at a bar. Late lunch, but still a long way to go. Even after having climbed a lot of hills already, we still had the worst to come. It was quite overcast and cold, fortunately, since getting up that hill in the heat would have been difficult. During that day we covered 61km and an elevation of 1500 metres. Stunning rocky cliff scenery and very high up. Couldn’t manage to set El Tocar, which is a unique rock formation, but quite a long way up into the mountain. When the descent to Antequera came, it was really something. Speeds reached 55-60kph going into the city. We arrived late and exhausted. Showered and went out for a drink. Too tired to really look around the town, which was a pity, since I think we missed a bit, but couldn’t help it. We found a great tapas bar, however, where we had a lovely dinner and a bottle of ‘Tetas de la Sacristana’, ordered by me in a fit of the giggles. It was nice. Then back to the Hotel Numero 1 where we had a nightcap - before heading to bed. Not a bad little hotel in the bar, but the room was awful. Window looking out onto the ventilation shaft. Brekkie was ok the next morning, tostada with salmorejo and jamon, interestingly and unusually. Then off on the day’s adventure, more of which follows in the next installment …

Day 11 - Antequera to Ardales

After talking with some people in the bar, we decided to change the ride’s course but being more cautious. The original ride had us going North of Chorro and coming down to Ardales, but instead we decided to go west of Antequera going through “Valle de Abdalajís” and then passing through Chorro. This really payed off as the ride was very picturesque. As has become very usual with the beginning of every ride, getting of town is very difficult with huge hills to climb, which is not a good idea when you’ve just had brekkie. The climb was gentle and we’ve had some very nice scenery, and our legs were most definitely thankful to not have huge climbs to go through. We eventually veered of the main road and got to Chorro. Lots of accommodation available before you get to Chorro that do not show up on the Internet…however, unless you are planning on doing rock climbing or visiting the hanging bridge, Chorro is a place where you can just stop, have lunch and keep going. From Chorro to Ardales it was a nice uphill, not too demanding… Ardales is a very small town with a bit of charm. Very hilly and has a nice church at the top. Our accommodation was thru booking.com felt as if it was through AirBnB. The lady was nice and recommended Falco, where we had a fantastic dinner of steaks, salads, prawns, wine and more wine. We enjoyed the music at the place only to later find out the manager really likes music and had picks the songs himself. He sat down with us for a bit to let us know how to find his music. Tomorrow is the last of the ride and I am feeling a bit nostalgic. I have enjoyed Spain like no other time, all the towns and people we have met have been fantastic, I’ll definitely miss these days.

Day 12 - Ardales to Ronda

No log was recorded for this ride - from what I can rememeber, very hilly, we had to make various stops a long the way. As you approach Ronda you are covered by the mountain and a myriad of goats that cheer you as you pass by…not really, but one imagines all sorts of things to keep your mind off the hill! 🐐🏔