Tired Legs

---

Geo: 36.742, -5.16641

75 km of sustained effort today and my legs know all about it! Three significant climbs - two of which were around 9 km with a gradient of about 7%.

But what beautiful riding - along switchback roads through the gorge and the Sierra de Grazelema National Park where I saw lots of magnificent Griffon vultures soaring above the cliffs.

Helen was on a mission in the morning (she must have had an extra coffee at breakfast) as she was really strong climbing the hills. Looking good!

It was very hard to get back on the bike after a pleasant lunch sitting in the sun in the plaza but it had to be done. The highlight of the afternoon were two spectacular descents - one through cork plantations and one descending down to the Ronda valley before the inevitable long climb back up to the town.

In the evening we had dinner a El Quinqué, a very small local restaurant and we were treated to the most amazing and intimate Flamenco show. The singer was fantastic and the dancer was exceptional. Apparently each region of Spain has slightly different styles of dance and improvisation. This dancer was from Cadiz and it was definitely a happy and uplifting performance. I enjoyed this performance more than the somewhat more sombre one I saw in Sevilla.

Fun Fact: Every July Grazelema celebrates the saint's day of the Virgen del Carmen and part of the festival is the Toro de Cuerda, in which a bull, on a very long rope, is allowed to run run through the streets of the village. Not quite in the same league as Pamplona's Running of the Bulls... but a real tradition.

---