I had given myself another tough day today not deliberately but I had to the miles to get out of the sierra and reach civilization which was the city of Jaen !
This morning was especially cold, I was layered up and had thick gloves on. It had been a clear night and once again I was in a deep sheltered Valley.
Soon I crossed the guadelquivir river which upstream is just A trickle, I was barely a few miles from its source
Next I reached aroyo frio, this was the biggest but one of many small leisure towns which at this time of year were virtually closed. There were campsites and grand hotels everywhere but very little happening.
From Aroyo Frios I was pleased to see the sign that the pass was open today and I had the small but not inconsequential task of cycling 2000 feet up the Paloma pass !
To be fair the raid wasn't too bad lots of trees lots of hair pin bends and limited views, but at the top it opened up a bit there was a viewpoint with great views back down the Valley I just cycled up. A fast descent followed down to Cazorla, the major town in this part.
I stopped for lunch feeling the hard bit had been done but there were 50 miles left to go. Those 50 miles were difficult with lots of 500 feet climbs immediately followed by 500 feet descents ... Repeat.
I plug on through Jodar, Bednar, Jimena and on to Mancha Real via a nasty climb with no fewer than 4 false tops.
I had been cycling through vast olive Groves this area is just covered with olive trees. As I looked back at a huge mountain I had cycled round and took a photograph it looked rather like Uluru in Australia.
That just left time for me to get hopelessly lost on the way into Jaen and almost cycling on the motorway passing the arena before a nasty climb all the way up to my hotel next to the cathedral.
Spoiler alert tomorrow is my favorite day of the tour I'm expecting big things