And what about Sunday?

I felt like poop this morning.. Stuffy nose, hard to breath, was awake till 2:30 in the morning and had a few beers while cooking and with the people we had over.. When the alarm went off this morning I wanted to stay in bed so bad but I managed to drag myself out of bed to join my Sunday group ride and I think they are my friends.. Or at least there is a friendship.. Well it was a good day as I pedaled I felt better..

It looked like this when we started..

The guy in green was his first road group ride.. He is a mtbiker so has plenty of stamina..

We were heading over that bump ahead..

The view as we climbed the first part…

This other guy got the visit of the man with the hammer… He was beat..!

After the long climb we stopped to fill the water bottles at Carratraca’s water fountain, it comes straight from the mountains.

And after a long downhill and some assistance to the guy that blew up… My well earned reward..

After that stop for beer and some chips with jamon serrano I headed for another few km since no one was home and I forgot my keys… At the end of the day my ride looked like THIS

I am starting to offer these kind of experience to anyone coming to Málaga.. If you would like to join me for one of my rides feel free to contact.. Comments will be the first step and we take it from there..

Hope you like this report and see you next time..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

*****R O N D A*****

So I went for a ride yesterday and my day started like this

For a few minutes we were playing hide and seek with the sun… It made for a nice scenery

And for the first 2 hours was a cool ride… Well at least not hot… Great feeling early in the morning..

We were in for a long ride so some of the guys opted to cut the ride a bit shorter and drove a few kilometers ahead and were waiting for us to catch them.. Here we caught one.. And passed him..

Then it was time for the first big climb of the day.. 14 km Cat 2 at around 5% if I remember right… I was stretching the legs…

Still before 9 in the morning and sun was really high up.. But still cool enough to ride and enjoy this views..

I sprinted up the mountain to wait for my partners and take a few pics of them cresting the top…

After a 10 minutes descend we got to a little town in the middle of the valley called Burgos.. There it was time for breakfasts.. Second breakfasts for me…

Then it was time to tackle the second climb/mountain of the day…. Me with a full belly started like this…

But after about 40 minutes climbing I was ok to sprint up the mountain with the guys and enjoy the view at the top..

This is almost at our turn around point in the city of Ronda.. Great place and full of history HIGHLY recommend this place if you are coming over… In this pic those towers are part of some Roman ruins.. (camera lens was full of sweat and had to erase lots of pictures)

After a refreshing soaking and water bottle filling was time to turn around and head back home..

On the way back I didn’t take too many pictures.. The downhills were fast and technical so I was more concentrated in not breaking my neck then in taking pictures… Just let me share this with you.. The route we took to get there was the same one we took to get back home so everything was very much the same but in the opposite direction..

In order to get to Ronda we rode 65 km and climbed 1500 meters… And when we turned around we climbed the same mountains but from the other side.. (they are lower) so we rode another 65 km and climbed only 1000 meters…. the Strava link is here

But to finish this extreme day (Strava said it was extreme, not epic) what better way then with a nice refreshment drink… Salud ..!!!

Hope you enjoyed the story and pics

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

Expanding my local knowledge...

So a tiny Colombian guy I met here in my new town took me out to a climby route... WTF was I thinking? After all have you see me??? No? Look at me..!!! I am not built like a climber...

98 kilos of whatever I am built with... Spanish food is too good to go on a diet.. But I am trying to lose some weight... And did I mention I like my recovery drinks???

So we left Coín in the direction of Marbella... Is a bit bumpy heading that way... And as expected when the routes started heading up..... my riding partner was ahead...

We were heading for a little town in the middle of the mountains called Istán, this little beauty of town is in the middle of all this...

My friend was sort of worry about me getting drop in the middle of all this climbs... Look forward..! I am here..!!! (still)

But when I was able to put the big chain ring and push the pedals a bit harder.... Look what happened..

And when the roads headed back up?? We were playing like that all the way into town...

Once we got to the center of town was time to refill bottles at the local fountain... A nice place to stop and take a picture while refreshing.. Not far from this were bars where you can have some food and drinks before you head back down the mountain...

If you are wondering how hot it was here? I mean by the time we got to the top.. Pushing your bike over all those bumps... Well my +Garmin says 25 C average for the whole ride.. But there? Well I think this image gives you an idea of how people reach the top...

We came down the mountain flying... There is a nice view of a dam but I could not take any nice pictures while descending.. Maybe next time.. Once we reached the flat lands our roads looked like this before we headed up the mountain again to get home..

Of the last climb I did not take any shots as I was busy managing my effort to not get drop.. I was lucky enough that my companion started cramping while climbing and I didn't get drop... But to give you an idea is a loooong constant climb that Strava says is a category 2 climb... 52 minutes climbing...!!! On the bright side I am in the top 100 in this segment (only 64 did it) The whole ride if you like to see the route..

Hope you enjoyed the reading.. Hope to see you around here one of these days..

Thanks for reading and sharing... 

Thanks to everyone that is supporting the blog via Paypal Link every little helps to keep bringing you stories and images of Spain.

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

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

Getting to know the flat bits.. What flats?

As you saw this far every time I head out I come back home with a lot of elevation even taking the little man to school and back is like 100 meters of gain in less then 5 km.. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy doing hills.. Enjoy is one thing and fast at it is another one Clear?

Example? I have to climb this one every day to get home..

Today was a little different.. To begin started going down the hill to meet a friend that had a broken hand for the last 40 days and today was his first ride outdoors.. So far so good right? down the hill and meeting a guy that had a broken hand...
OK he picked the route because he knows the area better then I do and probably knows what would suit his rehab better then what I do..

We started heading for the flats, even downhill for the first couple of km.. Fast so far but understandable.. Is downhill or flat... or at least looks that way...
We saw a lot of people riding but since I was at the front sheltering him from the wind I didn't take many pictures... But I did manage to get a shot at out view and this guys coming at us..

After a while we had to start going up since we were going down at the start.. This wall came at us out of nowhere..! Totally unexpected and hard for me to go up specially because I never put the small chain ring on the front.. I swear I did..! But I didn't!!!

By the time we got back into town +Strava  said we did 59 km.. 684 meters of elevation at 26.1 km/h..! Not bad for a guy with a recent broken hand and a fat guy trying to get form..! Now was time for some refreshments..!!

My new riding buddies are not only showing me the new roads and mountains.. They are also teaching me a bit about beers and gastronomy here.. This is a place just down the route from were we live and a point of social gathering here in town..

Here is a picture of La Alameda, Coin about 300 meters from my house.. While I was there with the guys the MTB group joined us after their ride... And soon after then my wife, kids and dogs.. The beauty of keeping everything together in a familiar environment..

Looking forward to the day I could start my B&B and show you guys what all this is really about..!!

Hope you enjoyed and if you like it share the story

See you next time

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

My first Cat 1 climb experience

My getting stronger and fitter journey is involving a lot of different aspects of my life.. The riding around here as I mention in previous posts is very challenging for a heavy rider like me so on top of all the training is time to start watching what I eat as well....(but is another post coming about this topic soon) What do I mean by challenging rides?? Just look at my riding area...

Don't get me wrong..!!! I am not complaining..! I love this..! Is so challenging that every where I go I end up with a few hundred meters of climbing by the time I come back home... Today as an example I used +Strava  to monitor my school run... By the time I got home it was 4.1 km and 100+ meters of elevation!

But this is about the Saturday ride... I know is already Monday but I had a busy weekend with the family (Happy Easter!!!) So my roads on Saturday looked like this most of the time...

Like this going up or down most of the time.. Sometimes a bit more rough...

And 99% of the time my views looked like this...

At points the roads got really rough that the local authorities let you know ahead of time... And by the way can you see those antennas in the back high up? I was heading there.. Just not yet...

But before I got there I had to climb a bit more... And also go down some nice towns in between the mountains...

After making a few wrong turns here and there I was finally on the right track to conquer my first ever category 1 climb... All I had to do was follow this road.

8 km of roads that only kept going up.. And then up some more.. Along the way you could see this kind of views that would be much better on a MTB to explore...

A very narrow road to the top of my first monster climb...

As I was climbing and came out of the trees I saw the Mediterranean see in the distance..

Then it was back at going up... The gradients?? For the curious ones my +Garmin said 12% here... I don't think it ever when under 7% for the whole climb..

As you go up there is painting on the road that tells you how far you have climbed... The painting started at 5 km to go to the top... I tried to take some pics but they didn't come out any good as I was struggling to bread much less to aim at a painting on the route while riding.. Did I ever mention that all my pictures are taken from the bike while riding?? Well almost all of them..
But I was almost there at the top of the climb... But Before getting there lets just demoralize the poor fu**/r with this ramp..

That was something like 100 meters North of 14%.... The cherry on top???

But I think everything is worth it when you get to the top... Dismount your bike and hold to it as you realized that you are dizzy as hell and everything is spinning around you.... Then just then after you catch up your breath and the feeling of puking is leaving your body on that moment when you finally can look at the horizon and see how far you got up..

That I believe is the city of +Benalmadena Unica

And my trusty companion that took me all the way up there... The Mediterranean sea at the back..

For those that would like to follow this route one day here is the Strava link to my ride..

If you are ever in this part of the world drop me a line and hopefully I can take you up here for a spin.

Thanks for reading.. Hope you enjoyed the story.. If you have someone that might enjoy this share it!

See you ate the next update?

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy