From El Viso to Ronda

On wednesday morning I left El Viso and headed direction Carmona and Ronda. I crossed the flat Vega of Guadalquivir having a slight tailwind. I made good progress and spun my wheels at nearly 20 kms/hour. As I reached Morón de la Frontera I was welcome by a member of a local fraternity preparing chandeliers and flower arrangements for the festivities of Semana Santa.

Leaving Morón I hit a very calm tarmac road where local cyclist like to train and met Miguel Alvarez on his road bike. We chatted about fitness levels, the Via Verde and my trip while we sped up the hills. Miguel told me he was in "quite" bad shape but he still had less effort with the climbs as I did with all the lugguage and as I struggled for breath I cursed him while he chatted happily away spinning lightly on his 9 kgs carbon road bike. Bless him !

In Coripe I loaded up with potatoes and galletas for dinner and hit the spectacular Via Verde de la Sierra. Once I saw the rock of Zafra Magon I pitched my tent right beside the Via and tried in vain to light my stove. Frustrated I gave in and had a sad cold dinner of cookies and bananas after 93 kms on the road.

The next day was very hard with a steady headwind and a fierce sun shining from the cloudless andalucian sky. Me knees hurt from the effort the day before and the terrain was little nasty hills with steep climbs and little downhills to recover. After tiring 53 kms I entered the spectacular town of Ronda and found a cheap hostel to rest my weary limbs. And of course a nice bar to feed and water....