The extended weekend..

One of the things I do not fully understand here in Spain is how every little town has their own holidays... Well today was my little town turn to have his... Where do I live? Coín for you..!

So we had another day off.. To me makes no difference really since I am still in the process of validating my paperwork here in Spain while I am looking for work but not luck so far... Thanks God my wife is working and I can stay home for now and take care of the kids, the house and the pets... But I am not going to lie is getting a bit frustrating...

BUT it has a positive side to it right? I can venture out almost every day on my bike and take pictures and write stories that I believe you enjoy and makes you pass a few minutes traveling around Spain thanks to the internet... Maybe one day we meet on the roads???

Well too much blah, blah blah already..!!! We went for a ride down the beach with a few detours... First we went to Alhaurin el Grande before heading into the mountains of Mijas and here is where the real fun begun.... But I posted many pictures of these climbs before.. You can look them up on the previous posts...

Today was about the beach...
Here is one pic as we got to the beach area on what I believe was Benalmadena

The images are great to perceive the peace and quiet of a Monday morning by the beach.. I would say was around 10:30 AM but I wish there was a way to make you breath the sea air as you were riding... That is something that you have to come down and experience for yourself... A true amazing feeling!

In between your riding you can visit the other towns.. Or why not just ride along the Mediterranean sea while you visit them? Fuengirola

As I was telling you... there is a great marine path where you can enjoy a relaxed ride by the beach.. Follow her example...

And eventually when you get enough of the beach and the flat lands you can make a short detour to start climbing almost right away...

While you are climbing you will have this amazing surrounding where the sun and mountains will keep you company for as far as you can see...

Now don't forget that this is Spain and if you decide to come here for a ride you will be HOT so is very important to have 2 full water bottles and plenty of sunblock..!!! So you can enjoy this roads..

What the routes are like? Let me tell you I was glad to be going the other way here... Not that was much less getting here..

So at that point I put the camera away to start the downhill into home... No I am not that crazy to take pictures while doing over 50 km/h on the bike...

As a resume and the route for you here is a LINK to the +Strava ride, you can have a better understanding of the ride and the routes by looking at the profile and speeds that the +Garmin records while I am riding...

Thanks for reading and SUPPORTING this blog...

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THE ONES THAT DONATED

Looking for the climbing legs..

I had a quiet weekend when it comes to riding.. I did not ride much.. All I did was was this ride where I was curious to see how fast I could do it and what kind of power I could produce while at it..

So FTP territory right? But please tell me... FTP means??  I came up with my own definition.. F*ck That Pablo..!! But what did I actually did??

I headed out on Saturday without much of a clue on what I wanted to do.. Then I run into a guy I know that was doing this loop I know where I can push a bit since is rolling terrain for a bit over the first half... Here is where I wanted to test my legs and power... The result??? 240W... Not a big number... But a number to work with from now on.. The ride? Strava says.... This are rolling terrains..

Today?? I went looking for my climbing legs...

My playground for the day looked like this..

And I was riding with this guy...

And we did this ride... not bad for a Tuesday... If you are too lazy to click on the link it says 52 km and over 1000 meters of climbing in two hours...

So That was it for today... See you next time..Thanks for reading and sharing..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

Went out to test the legs after Friday....

So after a big effort on Friday I took Saturday off to see if the body could come around... I seriously felt like poop at the end of the ride Friday and I wasn't much better on Saturday all day... But it was time to see if the legs wanted to do some work on Sunday..

What the day looked like???

It took like 40 km for the legs to come around.. But then they were OK.. I could even sprint at times to get ahead of the bunch... (and snap a picture or two)

Well they were OK till we got to the first and only big climb of the day... At the start of it...

5 minutes later the legs told me to F**** off and quit working... As you can see my friends getting smaller in the distance...

After that last climb we got into downhills and rolling terrain... And that felt great for my legs.. I could stay at the front and sprint up the little bumps to take pictures... Great weather..!

I took over the front till we got to Coín by then +Strava said we did 96 km and 1375 meters of elevation and we were ready for some refreshments..

Seems like I finally starting to ride a little more often and I got over 2000 km for the year..!!! Slow compared to other years but little by little..

On the +Giro d'Italia climbing challenge? Well out of 83.000+ people I am at 12.000 so is not that bad... Have 12 days to climb like 15000 meters..!!! (not going to happen..!!!)

Hope you enjoy and share the reading 

One day I might have you as a guest here in Málaga...

See you all next time...!

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

P.S: I am already starting to study the way to start the B&B and cycling guiding tours..

One more for the Giro challenge

I was out by 10 am after dropping Felix ( my son to school) had no time to get back since he was having a play date so that means no rush getting back..

But what to do? Where to go? So I wanted a calm and easy climb.. As calm goes this climb was calm.. Now as easy goes.... Well wasn't all that easy... Maybe the first time up but when you are doing repeats the story changes...

I picked the Juanar as my playground of the day.. is a 5 km or so climb that finish at a hotel on the top of the mountain.. a Nice calm climb.. Looked like this..

The views are great and you can really enjoy this climb because the traffic is very little.. During all the time I spent going up and down I maybe saw 10 cars... And when you get to the top is this hotel..

Coming down from it you have to be careful.. Is little traffic but you never know what could be around the switchbacks..

My second trip up? Oh yes.. I went up again... I saw this sign.. That told me I was 3 km away from my second summit.. I believe is one at the start of the climb as well..

This guy spooked me as he flew by me..! (skinny young bastard!!!)

I even went off road a little...(nature break) but the view was really peaceful

On my third time up to the Juanar I was too busy trying not to collapse to take pictures.. Went I got to the top I ate and drank everything I got before I head down.. After this time I was bored and not feeling like another trip up the mountain..

From here I headed in Marbellas direction... That is the opposite side of my house.. So a bit more riding before heading home...
That part of the ride is great and mostly downhill... Really fast and in between traffic... If you do this please take it easy since there is a cross wind coming from the ocean that can scare you a bit if distracted...
Well I wasn't planning to get to Marbella so in the exit to Ojen I got out of the main route and into the little town before my final big climb of the day... I felt like I was going backwards here.. 6 km/h 7..8... Almost never double digits.. Painful experience but the views totally worth it..!!!

And they were quiet as well.. Those rock walls are impressive..!

The ramps were progressing the wrong way for my legs... But they still looked great...

That was my morning ride.. And the +Strava file if you want to look at it is HERE

On the second part of the day I did a group ride where I didn't take many pictures because I was fighting with my legs to keep turning the pedals.. It was a pain fest.. Well actually I was not in pain but there was no strength in my legs and I could see my companions disappear any time that the route went up..

So the only nice picture of the day was when we run into local traffic...

Unfortunately my GPS decided not to record this ride that was another 75 km and around 1000 meters of climbing... I am still trying to get the file from some of the other guys... That by the way thanks to the guys for waiting for me in every bump of the route...

Thanks for reading and sharing

Stay tuned because I am planning to start the guide business soon..

See you next time..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

My Giro climbing challenge experience..

As a cyclist a lot of times we sign up for stupid hard challenges.. Like is very fun to push our self beyond the common understanding of our partners or non-cycling friends...

How many times you got a "I don't even drive that far!" "How long were you out there?" And many other ones that only another cyclist can understand...

Well this time is no different.. What did I sign for? Not much really but I am sure you heard about the +Giro d'Italia  and +Strava right? Well did you see what they came up with? Let me show you..

That is a lot of climbing..!!! In a normal month I climb around 10.000 meters sometimes more sometimes less but always around that number.. (lately I do less then that) And now I went and sign for this..!!!??? That is double the amount of climbing I do in a month and I am trying to do it in 23 days..? Oh well is worth trying... Right?

So next time you are reading around the web and see this logo:

Make sure you stop by and see what that crazy cycling friend is doing this time around... Don't forget to give them Kudos..!!!

And for me? Well is going this way so far...

DAY 1: Rained..! And I mean there were rivers in the streets..!!! So.. No riding for me.

DAY 2: Now we are talking..! 1490 meters at least I am moving..! 

DAY 3: Rained all day again..! I see a lot of hill repeats this week...

DAY 4: Rained.. Had to pick up the kid from school and make dinner... Big fat "0" again..

DAY 5: Seriously? Rained again! I see my chances getting smaller by the day..

DAY 6: Finally stopped raining..! Add a little 706 meters maybe I can get out again later???

So I went and hit the local climbs.. And one not so local but I wanted to get away from the same street... Not bad for a day 6 with drizzle to start but some nice sunshine to the end.. Maybe I can get some more riding in if it doesn't start raining again..

DAY 7: FFS...!!! I thought I moved out of Belfast..!!! It rained again..! Tomorrow is suppose to stop raining.. Charging the camera and the GPS for the day ahead..!

And after a nice ride... was time to have a refreshing drink..

And that was my day 1, I mean 2 but really 1... You know what I mean right? 

Stay tuned for updates on the matter... 

Hope you enjoyed day 2 and see you next time with an update..!

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

100 km..! First time in Spain! La primera en España..!

The title kind of gives it away. Right? El titulo lo dice todo.. No?

My first metric century in Spain..!! Mi primer vuelta de 100 km en España..! How was it? Como estuvo? What about I tell you this with some images? Que tal si te lo cuento con imagenes?

It was a cloudy start... Un poquito nublado al empezar..

That made for some cool riding at the start.. Esto ayudo a tener una agradable temperatura para andar

The views? Las vistas? Amazing..! Maravillosas..!

You have more then one kind of riding... Mas de una opcion a la hora de montar..

And the ups and downs are better with company.. Y las subidas y bajadas son mejores en compañia

We shared the route with everyone..Compartimos la carretera con todos..!

A classic view of an Andaluz town..Una vista clasica de un pueblo Andaluz..

An always welcome reminder.. Un bienvenido signo para recordar..

Heading up again.. De vuelta para arriba

Flowers? Flores?

The swamps? Los pantanos..

Had to stop and get a pic here.. Tuve que parar a sacar una foto aquí

One of my faves from the day? Una de mis favoritas del día?

Quiet roads for the win..! Rutas tranquilas para disfrutar..!

A lake? Un lago?

I had the chance to go and take a closer look.. Tuve la oportunidad de mirar de mas cerca..

Local residents... Algunos habitantes del area..

Even fixing a flat looks nice here.. Hasta arreglar una pinchadura parece lindo..!

\
It wasn't a lake..! No era un lago..!

The dam..La represa.. The mountains..Las montañas..

I am inlove with the water color..! Estoy enamorado del color del agua..!

History time! Tiempo de histroia..! That is the chair the king used to when the dam was open over 100 years ago.. Esa es la silla que el Rey uso hace mas de 100 años cuando se inaguro la represa..

Tunnels? Tuneles..?

Into the light..Hacia la luz..

The chase was on..! La persecucion habia comenzado..!

And at the top of the last climb I am been chased by a Colombian..!I am doomed..! Y en la cima de la ultima subida me persigue un Colombiano..! Estoy listo..!

And +Strava said we did... Strava dice que hicimos... THIS/ESTO

Hope you enjoy the adventure and images.. Espero hayas disfrutado la aventura y las imagenes

Don't forget to share it.. No te olvides de compartirla..

See you next time... Nos vemos a la proxima..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy