I did my first ride in Spain, starting from the village of Urracal, where we have a little house. So the decent from the village I averaged 55km/hr, no pedalling, just so you understand the grade. I decided on the first day just to try my legs out with a 52km ride. Just gorgeous roads, 40 degrees C, with cool winds.
After that descent, I started climbing about 1,000m of gain, so the highest little hill was about 800m. Then downhill again, it was great! Little pain in the back but wonderful.
So again, I ask my wife to plot me a route. Great! Over the Sierras! So the day started with 3 hours of climbing, never ending, leg aching climbing. It was great! I finally hit the summit at 1246 meters, not like a big climb of the Tour de France, but I still think a category 1 climb.
So after all day of climbing, there is the mind numbing, descent of 80km/hr that goes on for 30 minutes. I got good practice of cornering at high speed. But as you know, my life never goes easy. Half way down the mountain, I feel this sharp pain in my abdomen, burning searing!!! A wasp flew down my clothes and stung me. I don't have disc brakes so it is not easy to stop quickly at 80km/hr. But after the third sting, I had to grab a fistful of brakes!!
The guy was right there in my bib, just stinging away!! Being Buddhist, I could not bring myself to kill it, it was just being true to its nature. So I flicked it out of my clothes and started down the hill. WOW!
My legs still ache after that delicious climb. I leave Spain on Sunday, so I hope to get one last ride in before I return to Canada.
I should post some pictures later.
Week in Review – December 21st, 2024
12 hours ago