El Torcal, a going up trip.

We started the ride like this…

Rainy start.. see the mountains in the back? We were heading there…

Some switchbacks…

Some were intimidating..!

The roads? Excellent..!!! (most of the way) look in the back.. That was our destination..

At the top of our main climb.. "El Torcal" is an observatory, and you can see even Africa from there in a clear day.. today wasn’t one..

At the turn around point.. Now that was some climbing..!

At the sign point… Reference.. Look t-Bong I am using your present..!!!

Heading back was lots of downhill..!!! Do’h..!!! But in order to get to the main road and take some distance away from the ride we had to face this..

One of the guys cresting… Pain face anyone?? The view in the back amazing..!

To finish at this place that is amazing..! Cycling meeting point is the name of the place..!

And I am done for this week.. 385 km and 7300 meters of desnivel.. I am done..!

Thanks for reading and if you need any info leave a comment and I get back to you..

One to remember

100 km and 2450 meters

The start of the first climb… Cat 2, Las 3 Cruces

The first 3 km are brutal..! All above 10% and as high as 16%

Then it never gets really easy…

Then you have a few flat and downhill sections where you push like an idiot trying to catch whoever is in front of you

From the top you get this view.. (pay attention to those mountains in the far back)

Our last man coming up..

There were some special refuel options.. They make this for cyclists.. Is a Gel in the form of a well look..

Then was the descend… After that some rolling to get to out next climb of the day… As we started to climb the not real climb

Then after 5 km at 10% I think.. my reward.. Mediterranean under there and in the far back Sierra Nevada (with snow)

Migue taking his time to climb the last 200 meters.. I am not blaming him..

All together at the top of El Repetidor de Mijas

And that was my way to close my 350 km week…

Hope you enjoyed the story and hope to see you around here soon..!

Pablo

A man on a mission

Last night i started to prepare my assault to the 2 big climbs of today… No I was not aiming for the KOM.. Is totally out of reach for me.. But I sure could beat my previous times..!!!

The first climb? Cerro de Hijar is a 7.1 km climb at around 5% qualifies as a cat 2 where my previous best attempt was 32:10 over that distance… Today’s effort?? 27:48 I felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest but I kept pushing.. 
It feels so good to see some improvement on my climbing… But it will be a while before I attack that climb again..

Some pics of my friends as they were getting to the top

Don Antonio… 57 years old and usually kicks my butt on every raise of the road… (also weights 63 kilos)

And the last one? This is the look of someone that gives everything on a climb…

Then we had to ride for a little while to reach the next climb… I am sure some of you will remember the climb to el Juanar… This is another climb that is not long, at least the part that I wanted to do better at… El Juanar is a Cat 3 climb at 6% where the first km probably is the worst part… My previous best time here was… 20:30 and today’s effort was… 18:50..!!!

Not bad for a 100.4 kilo rider right??

As you can see this place and me can adapt to almost any requirements.. By this I mean that if you want to ride hard when you come I can make you ride hard.. If you want to take it easy and stop to take pictures everywhere we can do that too..!! I am happier with the latest option...

Start planning your next trip to Málaga and I will make sure you have one of the best times of your life on the bike... Or at least try..

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See you next time.. Or maybe soon?

Pablo

Pablo's Cycling Tours..! With Paul and Alex..! Thanks for coming guys..!

I met another PdC user..!

I also started promoting Pablo’s Cycling Tours so far I took 3 people out and nice reviews back..

But today’s story? Paul (can’t remember his user name here) is on holidays with his family about 100 km from Coín but he drove to meet me and go for a ride that I put together.. We also had Alex riding with us.. He is a friend of Paul from Scotland… So all of us headed out for little adventure..

As usual I took roads that are light on traffic.. So I can do this while riding..

We had to stop and fix Alex saddle height since it was a lot off… Rental bikes do that.. This was a good opportunity to take a group pic.. Big climb started right after that pic.

As is a tradition now a days we stopped at the Puerto sign to take another pic.. (they almost kill me climbing, I got there a few minutes behind them…)

We then took a long fast downhill to the next town where we had some coffee and sweets.. No pics of them.. After that we cross the street to look at this..

Pictures don’t make justice to the surrounding area.. But you can see in their faces that their were happy with it.

We took a transition road that was surrounded by olive trees and mountains on both sides.. The view?

One more..

I was hurting in colours already at the back but good enough to take pics of the guys.. And the side of this mountain..

And there were lakes and dams..

And switchbacks…

And previous Vuelta finishes…

And "kid" having fun.. We are all big kids..!

And this is part of what we just had climbed..

And we stopped at Caminito del Rey sight…

There were Belgium tapas and Spanish ones as well +beer..!!!

Before we rounded all up in Coin with a refreshment..

Overall a great day out..! The ride? HERE 120 km and 2200 meters of climbing..

Thanks for coming guys..!!!

I rode my bike a bit..

Monday: off
Tuesday: Ride with a friend and then I headed out again.. 2nd ride
Wednesday: Cadencing in the wind started trying to have a higher cadence while riding..
Thursday: OFF
Friday: OFF, actually went to help some Belgium friends that opened a bar in a town near by.. PdC drinking quarters..!!!
Saturday: Harder that what it looks Still working on the cadence.. Kept it up till the last big climb.. No pics
Sunday: The big ride of the week Great views..! And I did take pics..!!!!

At the start of the day we met at the Alameda.. Here they had all around the world food trucks this weekend.. And some attractions..

I had to fuel up before I headed out 

No issues with the law..

Back in time…. Now a days in NY they wouldn’t open the door for those prices..

But once we got to the new area of riding the views were amazing..!

Me dropping at the start of the climb… I couldn’t get going..

But been off the back means I could take pics.. Willj this one was with you in mind..

Then I really got behind..!!! Can you see the guy ahead? And he is not even a climber..!!

A look at the dam from the other side… + the mountains on the back and around..

The route we climbed… about half way up..

A little farther up the views got even better.. a twisty road with a lake next to it..

Then I caught everyone here.. Not a bad place for a pic..

And this was suppose to be the turnaround point… I am the one with the Podium jersey.. 

This place was so great that even the flats didn’t feel too bad…

The actual view from the place were we were??

This climb was a real bitch.. Sorry there is no other way to call it..

The other part of it… And you can add another 50 meters to 100 after the left turn…

The resto of the guys were getting to where I stopped to wait for them.. And take pictures.. And tell them to smile for the pictures.. I got some nice words back..! Can’t repeat them…

There was a lot of ups and down.. But my legs started to feel better.. So I was making it to the top of some climbs before other people..

And some others we were just waiting for the others..

After the last shot we still had like 60 km to get home and was my time to go to work.. So there was no more pictures from me.. I can tell you that by the time we make it back in town I was completely exhausted and wanted to do nothing but to eat something.. Had 2 Claras and something like a poweraid.. chips, jamon serrano, chorizo, bacon and bread as Tapas.. snack ways food.. 2 plates for 6 guys so I didn’t get to eat all that much…

So my week was huge for my standards… 367 km and 5.500 meters + of climbing.. (I kept it flat  ) I am sitting on the couch writing and the only reason to move is because I am hungry and I am cooking something on the grill…. Looking forward to dinner.. I am hungry..!

Hope you like it and consider visiting me one day

Thanks for reading and see you next time..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy