Time was not on our side today as we had 100 miles to cover by 17:30 in order to make our appointment with his Excellency of Gibraltar and the local press! It was a dramatic morning as we set off at dawn from Olvera- a lovely mild temperature, threatening looking skies and a fantastic castle set the backdrop as we rolled downhill for the first 10 km.
Any of you that you that have cycled will know that wind can be a cyclists best friend or worst enemy. So far we have been extremely lucky with the weather, however today the wind was out to get us! We were faced with a strong headwind for the first 50 km's and if that wasn't enough we had 2,300 meters to ascend! The mornings riding was sluggish and lethargic but nothing a coffee couldn't sort out. We stopped and met the battle bus in Ronda for a quick drink and refuel.
The afternoons riding was extremely mountainous and very hot. The scenery was breathtaking with rolling mountains as far as the eye could see. We climbed numerous peaks, many of which were over 1,000 meters. Each climb was rewarded with a fantastic descent. Our last veritable feast was at a picnic / lookout area with a great view. After lunch we had an enjoyable 10 km descent which took us down to the last 30 km of the trip. To see out the final kilometres we peletoned along at great pace. Rob wasn't overly happy about this "segment effort" we were putting in and asked for a shotgun at one stage!
Just outside Gibraltar we stopped to collect a cold beer to fuel our final pedal turns of the trip. We crossed the border from Spain into Gib, cycling across the airport runway (which also was the main road in and out of Gibraltar). On arrival in Gibraltar we were greeted by his Excellency plus entourage and also a couple of members of the local press. We had a chat with his Excellency and gave an interview with the local press in which Fred was left speechless..... quite literally!
The evenings celebrations started with champagne being popped, followed by a lovely dinner in the main square. The partying ran late into the night with larios con tonicas being consumed by litre. However we were all aware that we still had to cross over the Straight of Gibraltar for our mission to be accomplished.
Today's distance: 102 miles
Average speed: 14.6 mph
Top speed: 40 mph
Time on bike: 6 hrs 55 mins
Total Distance: 1357 miles
Max heart rate: 88% (176 BPM)
Average heart rate: 70% (140 BPM)
Calories burnt: 4305
- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk
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