Day 28 - Antequerra to Ardales

Gorgeous start to today, a nice (!) steep 100m rise out of town to get the heart started and then beautiful rolling hillside scenery for most of the morning.  We crossed into another scenic valley with lemon, orange, almond and of course Olive trees and gently headed down for most of the morning until arriving at El Chorro gorge. 

Let me tell you about the down hill sections; they are STEEP!  Yesterday we had to get off a couple times for an incredibly steep uphill section, but I (Shaz) could happily have gotten off the bike for a couple of the downhills!  The roads are little back roads so not the best surface to start with, then in the braking zone they turn to rubble and then to gravel in the corner!  Then the corner might tighten a bit, or drop off even steeper and of course, there can always be a car coming the other way, or two cars stopped - one in each direction - while the locals catch up for a chat!  My legs haven't hurt as much going up any hill as my forearms and hands have hurt trying to keep the speed under control going downhill!

So happily after lunch we headed back uphill, 200m to 450m in about 4km, through some pine forest, the lake district and then into Ardale.  Gorgeous, typical white town with narrow lane ways up steep hillsides, pity the food wasn't so great; I think the ice-cream was the healthiest option here.