April 5, 2024

Day 99: El Bosque (Cycle)

Today's ride went like this:

  1. I rode up the A-372 for roughly 15 kilometres, which is the road I came down from Puerto de El Boyar on yesterday; and, also rode up last year.
  2. I rode up to Puerto de Las Palomas, on the road I descended on, both yesterday and last year (Note: my bike is pointing in the opposite direction to yesterday!);
  3. I descended on the road I ascended last year (and yesterday) from Zahara de la Sierra to Puerto de Las Palomas, just because I wanted see what the descent was like, which was the main purpose of today's ride: it was very good, mostly quite flowy with some more technical sections thrown in to keep you focused.

    (Zahara de la Sierra church)
  4. From ZdlS I rode, for the first time, on a short section of descent to join the A-2030.
  5. I rode the flatish A-2030, in the opposite direction from that which I'd twice ridden previously (once this year and once last year), to join the CA-9123, which was the start of a 15 kilometre climb, back up to Puerto de El Boyar.
  6. I rode up the CA-9123, which I rode down last year. It joins the A-372, a few hundred metres before the pueblo Grazalema.
  7. A rode up the A-372 to the junction with CA-9104, which I rode down last year, which left about 2.5 kilometres to reach Puerto de El Boyar.
  8. I rode up this 2.5 kilometre section yesterday and, down it this morning (and last year).
  9. Finally, I descended from Puerto de El Boyar to El Bosque on the road I rode up this morning, last year and, descended on yesterday!

The cycling was good, but it was a wee bit too hot for my liking this afternoon. When I returned to the van it was 34.5°C inside it - the Garmin (navigational aid) was reporting this level of temperature on this afternoon's climb in the sunshine.

I do think that the road from Zahara de la Sierra to Puerto de Las Palomas is one of my favourite climbs/descents.

  • Distance driven: 0
  • Distance cycled: 73 kilometres
  • Weather: Quite pleasant in the morning, very warm in the afternoon

Today's route: