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

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..!!!

La Vuelta a España, trip to Alicante "Day 1"

So here is a few pics.. Day 1:

Our rides started like this every morning… Riding by the marina taking in some sun… ( I was accused of sun doping)

But someone else got accused of sock doping… Prove??

Villajoyosa has some good bumps all around it..

And the weather was amazing..! OK hot but amazing.. Look at thebongolian smile..!!! The kids is having fun..!

Yeehoo was keeping me company for a while till I send him looking for the others as I was soaking in my sweat surroundings..

I do not understand this pic… I am sure he was ahead of me.. He went around twice??

And there was socializing over German lunch in Spain… And plenty of water and other fluids… T-Bong the only brave one to have a beer..

My only KOM of the day came at the "who finish lunch first"

Best image of the TT??? Yeehoo taking a nap in the shade..!!!

Ice cream, smoothies and plenty of other fluids were extremely necessary…

We found Oleg..!!!!

Awesome view by the beach…

And that was it from me on day 1 in pictures in Spain.. And the strava link for the first day.. There was Team beer and Team sangria at night.. Remember those names for day 2… No pics of this.. I left the camera at home..

Hope you enjoyed this adventure and stay tuned for day 2 and 3 that are to come shortly...

Pablo

The Weekend Report guy