18 October 2019: Ronda —El Bosque (40 miles-541 total)

After 4 nights and 3 days in Ronda, we moved on. We all took longer to repack our gear and left about 10 am. The nice long steady descent of 4 miles out of Ronda was rapidly replaced by numerous climbs, for another 35 miles. The profile looks better after the first one-third, but it was just as challenging. The only difference was that the climbs were shorter but unrelenting.

The highlight of the day was the town of Zahara, where I took a number of photos. Robin went nearly to the top, then returned to a restaurant. Michael, John, and I stopped at that restaurant on the way up, having lost Robin. After a coffee, John and I went to the top, Michael wisely enjoyed lunch, and Robin returned to join him. 

We arrived at our 3-bedroom house in El Bosque about 3:45 pm, and check-in was 4 pm. We called the host and he arrived within minutes. We have another great place to overnight.

Seeing a washing machine, we promptly filled it with our riding clothes, then spent the next 2-3 hours trying to figure out how to end the cycle and retrieve our clothes. We never got it to spin dry, so we did the usual, wring them out, roll in towels, and hang them to dry. 

I began uploading photos for today's blog, then we went out to explore El Bosque and determine what to eat/buy for dinner. We settled on salad, 3 frozen cheese pizzas, topped with shrimp, mixed shellfish, and mixed vegetables. It all turned out great. The photo upload finished about 9 pm, about 3 hours for  today's photos.

Michael and John. Typical terrain.

Another of the white villages of Andalusia.


For more detail, read below. My summary is that we were traveling through a national park and the border area between waring kingdoms, essentially Christian vs. Arab/Muslim/Moor.





 John and Robin, left to right.

 Michael

 We see a lot of these tiny, diesel-powered cars. 

 Approaching Zahara




 I was struggling to keep up today. Here, perhaps I can claim it was due to stopping for photos.

 While our route bypassed, Zahara, we rode the steep 4 km climb to the town, then on up to the fortress tower.

 Classic Red Fiat

 Painting on the church entrance. Crusade theme.

 View from mid-Zahara

 Zahara Church

 Our route leading to Zahara

 John, negotiating the steep path to the tower, not easy in bike shoes with metal cleats.

 Zahara from the tower.


 Inside the tower. Essentially, only four rooms, quite small as fortresses go.
 Looking out the tower entrance


 Pinacle adjacent to the tower.

 John met this woman from Portugal, a singer, on vacation.



 Michael finished his lunch with a tort drenched in chocolate sauce and cinnamon. When he went to pay his bill, 3 locusts sopped up the sauce using a banana (me) and bread (John and Robin). Only John was caught in the photo.

 Dog of the Day
 Gourmet Corner Store. Just 3 miles outside El Bosque, John and Robin stopped to wait for Michael and me to catch up. This store featured local products, cheeses, meats, art items, and local wine. The wine was sold by the liter, a young white wine and 3 types of sherry. Sherry is a nice after dinner beverage but only in limited quantities, so we bought a liter of the white. Drinkable but not memorable.

 Shop Owner. He had a good business going. This customer bought 2, 2-liter bottles of the white and a 1-liter bottle of sherry.

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