Run to Chew Res. Past Dovestones. (Saddleworth)

Just a quick run after work Bank Holiday Monday 31st May. Around 6 miles with a 1600ft ascent. First time I actually ran all the way to the top Amazing! My best was just over halfway previously.

Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 16.

Ronda to Moroccan border via Gibraltar

Well its my last day (16days) and I should make it today as its around 70miles to Gibraltar should be quite easy although I'm not out of these Mountains yet! Someone told me that its all downhill from Ronda, but the same person told me it was all down hill after the Pyrenees !! Ummm... :-)

One noticeable point when heading out of Ronda was 5 mins after setting off from my hotel. I came to a bridge stopped to look over the side....... Well!! Ive never seen such a Huge drop down, it was making me dizzy just looking over the wall of the bridge. And my thoughts were that maybe it is all downhill at that stage!

I'm heading out of town on the A369 towards Gaucin. And after around 20mins I'm climbing uphill so much for the downhill all the way, when I reach that particular hill top I have a downhill bit "Great I'm thinking" but as I'm freewheeling down this hill my speed is 12mph, I'm thinking probably get out to about 20ish mph now just freewheeling... but no my speedometer starts to go slower ?? What ! I'm thinking. How can this be I'm going downhill and my speed is slowing down, not that's weird and to date I'm still not sure why?

Its not long until I'm going uphill again, but heading up, my speed actually increases, (This makes no sense at all to me) was my thought.. was I dreaming ? lol. After more cycling the views were Fantastic of all the Mountains and villages, and there were more descents rather than ascents, around lunchtime I cycle into Gaucin and stop at a petrol station to to up supplies, there are plenty of motor bikers out on these roads, also lots of cyclists in these Mountains (It is Sunday by the way, so I reckon everyone is out and about).

When I get to Gaucin, I have to make a decision do I take the A377 to Manilva, or the A405 towards San Roque? The latter was taken towards San Roque, and I think it was the best choice as it was mainly descents all the way down, I must have been just freewheeling about 10miles down... it was unbelievable how much height I must have gained the previous day!

I'm just back on the flat after that long ride down (I didn't have my helmet on neither) oops! and heading towards Gibraltar, its nice and sunny again now on the final run in, a couple of hills in between but nothing too strenuous, on one of the hills I see 2 cyclists just on bikes (No panniers etc on their bikes) seems like they are out for the day. On the hill I overtake one of them he starts to talk in Spanish, I say "I'm English" and he says "Alright mate"....

I'm gobsmacked! I ask "Are you from England" he replies "We live in Gibraltar" Its father and son, as we all seem to ride at the same pace we get chatting and I let them know where I'm going and where I've come from (They are well impressed what I've done on my own in that many days) "Thanks" I say, but I'm going to get the ferry over to Africa and cycle on that coastline, they tell me that I should turn right before going to Gibraltar and cycle to Algeciras to catch the ferry, but I tell them I have to go to Morrison's first, to see the general manager there (Gary) as I have been keeping in touch letting him know my progress along the way down here, so I will be having my photo at the store when I get there. The father and son inform me that I could be pushed for time to get to Africa if I decide to go to Gibraltar first, rather than later on..

I still decide to go into Gibraltar first to call in Morrison's as planned. I will then try to sort out a ferry to Africa if poss! The father and son cycle with me right into Gib, so that was great to have a bit of company on the last 10miles or so, I roll into the centre of Gib around 2pm. I have my dinner at Morrison's, paid by the deputy Mgr (Mark) Thanks Mark. Then soon after this Gary the Gm arrives, I ask them where I can get a ferry to Africa from, the look on their faces (as If I've not done enough lol)

I get the info but its a 10mile cycle to the port, after my dinner I'm off again, down to the Port to catch a ferry to Africa (Wha hooolo!) I'm excited I've got to Gib, but the thought of going over to another Continent is a real buzz, seeing as though I have cycled from my front door at home. I arrive at the Port at 5.25pm, its very hard to book tickets as there are so many desks/windows to book tickets at, everyone of them I ask for tickets they send me to the next window ! Eventually I get to the right window/ticket desk, to ask how much to Tangier, he replies "Too late 5.30pm last ferry, no more tonight" Damn! so then I ask "What time next to Ceuta and what time last one back?"

6.30pm was the next ferry to Ceuta and the last one back from there was 10.15pm.. Perfect I thought, how much ? Think it was about 50euros - I'm booked in, got my tickets there and back for those times, I'm very excited now.. Its around an hour to do the crossing, so looking like 7.30pm arriving over there, back to ferry port over there for 9.45pm ready to board at the 10.15pm return time.... this gives me about 1 hr to cycle as far West as poss hoping to touch the border then 1hr back in time to catch last ferry back (Great!! )

I arrive over on the African coast and I'm off the ferry and onto a main road (Coast road heading West, its still sunny although it will be getting dark in about 45mins so I don't hang around, I'm flying down the coast road until I cycle into a town called Benzu, I go through this little town and at the other side the road ends along the coast.... the only road then is a lane that heads up through a tiny village and up into the Mountains, I cycle on up here past the local people who are giving me some funny looks and chatting to one another.. a little past this village the road is open, and winds up the hillside towards the Mountains where its starting to go dark, also there are signs saying No entry!! I carry on until I see a watch tower.. this looks a bit border line ish !! I take a quick shot of the tower, just after I hear shouting.. Oops! I'm out of here... is that at me I'm thinking, well I'm not hanging around to find out, so the bike is quickly turned around, and I'm heading back down the hill, through the village, and back onto the coast road back to the ferry to get back to Spanish mainland.

I get back to port and I am in a queue with the cars waiting to be checked through, there are dogs with the police searching cars before they let them get onto the ferries (They are searching for drugs probably) By this time its dark, and I'm just waiting along with the cars for our ferry to arrive. About 10.40pm it arrives in port, that means I will get back to Spanish mainland around midnight! It is around that time, and I'm headed out back on the main road out of the Port heading for Gib, I end up cycling along the motorway hard shoulder for most of the way back :-) Nobody stopped me though, so that was great. Its about 1.30am now and I'm cycling back towards Gib to get to my hotel for the night.

I eventually get booked in at around 2am (On the way up to my room I take a quick photo of me in the lift ) :-)) silly pic I know but I'm still buzzing about where I've got to. It was worth it to get to the African coastline even if it meant getting back to my hotel at this time. The following morning, I'm back off to Morrison's to get my photo taken with a number of staff, after that its break my bike down, pack it up in cardboard, then its off to the Airport to catch my fight home at dinnertime...

Job done.. Time to relax on the plane, so its about 4 Bacardi and cokes on the flight back.. Great to have everyone meeting me at airport when I got back.

Total miles = 105 miles.

Average Speed = 12.5 mph.

Grand total = 1794 miles.

Grand Average speed = 12.9mph.

Average Daily milage = 112.1.

Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 15.

Puente Genil to Ronda

Its a quiet morning and not many people around as I cycle off down the road heading towards Gibraltar, if I really push it today I could be very close to finishing! That was my thought but today ended up Very hilly ;-)

For the first few hours its not too bad its a little cloudy which helps keep the temperature down. I'm heading towards Herrera on the A318/A388. So far so good its about 10am and no punctures as I cycle through Herrera, now en route to El Rubio after around an hour I arrive in El Rubio, from here its sign posted to Osuna straight forward.. I take the road signposted to there!

After around an hour I end up near a motorway (A92) When I check my phone map I see that I took another road out of El Rubio.. Damn! It looks as if I can only get to Osuna via the Motorway.... This means I may have had to back track and take the correct road out of El Rubio. Fortunately I see a road on my map application that looks very similar to the type of road I encountered some days ago near Guadalajara!

Yes its a dirt road once again! that runs along side the A62 I start to cycle down and the only thing on my mind is punctures (Especially on this track!) but after cycling along the bumpy track past a few mad "frothing at the mouth" dogs along the way I arrive in Osuna. I don't stop just cycle on through here after having to stop at a train crossing I'm heading out along the A451. The sun is starting to come out now and its very warm.

This is where it started to get hilly (Very hilly) and hot! No wind other than at the high summit passes, then once your back in the dips its very hot/sweaty.

Its a hard slog and I arrive in Almargen for some supplies as I'm running low by now. Only to find everywhere is closed (Well there isn't really much here anyway!) So I look for another town that's not too far away, and that's Olvera. On the way there the roads are going down so its fantastic, the views are Brill too, what a day I'm thinking and almost at Gibraltar (Great :-)) Its around 4pm as I head into Olvera, just before I get to the town I get a puncture (Oh well its the front tyre this time so its quickly repaired) I'm into the town I see a petrol station... perfect Its stocking up time again with the usual water, red bull, chocolate, sandwich.

I feel much better now I have stocked up and I'm back on the road, its seems like I'm in the middle of the Mountain ranges in southern Spain now, as its hard going (Big climbs and winding roads, I would say that this area is harder than the Pyrenees). The roads on these Mountains are terrible, half the roads have slid down the mountain sides, just leaving half a road surface, and barriers sunken down. There are signs before you get onto these roads which say No entry/Closed but I had no option these are the roads I need to get straight through the Mountains so I have to pick my bike up and carry over the barriers and cycle on up those closed roads.

The roads from Olvera are the N342 and the A374 towards Ronda. Its tough going again, but there have been a few downhill roads, but there seems to be more uphill today. I reach a junction and take a left turn, and head down the A347 now, and its great (Downhill for about 3miles) there is a lake to my right side as I freewheel down towards Ronda, on the way down I take a photo of two peaks (El Gastor) Very impressive!

I cycle on, and after around half hour I'm on the climb back up :-( over a big bridge, and up again. On this road just after the bridge the road in front of me has collapsed.. I carry on cycling up the hill thinking that Ronda may be just at the top of this hill. Nope its a good freewheel down again though, and can't complain.. this road is fantastic its going on forever, straight down and down and down.. Brilliant, I'm thinking that Ronda is probably at the bottom of this great descent. The road flattens out for a while, that's OK I like this can't be far now!

Its taking ages ha ha then I'm heading back up hill on these switchback roads.. Blimey!! where is this Bloody Ronda place I'm thinking.... eventually after cycling uphill for around a half hour I'm here Yeah!!! its about 8pm ish, I'm needing to find a place to stay, I try a very posh country club place first, but I'm waiting in reception area for ages and nobody is around other than the guests coming and going. Four people are English are passing by me, and I say hello, they ask where I have been cycling too today, when I tell them where I've come from, they are well Impressed!

I get a little fed up waiting here and head off out into the main streets to find somewhere else, I see a hostel, I stop to enquire, the lady is on her phone for ages asking someone on the other end of the phone if they have a room!! She is chatting away for 10mins, after that shes says No rooms... bugger!! Right back on the bike further down into the centre its dark by now, I see a bar and go in to ask if any rooms..... Bingo! I'm in. Yes, I leave my bike in the bar area, and get my bags up to my room, they have give me a room at the top of the place on the roof more of less, and its tiny to say the least, but its a place to stay and that's all that matters. I have a shower, change and head back down the winding staircase that eventually goes back down into the bar/restaurant :-) I'm on my own table and ready to order (Its Spag bol and roll with several cold Beers) Fantastic day! hard, but great. And only 1 more day to go...

Total miles = 101 miles.

Average speed = 11.1 mph.

Cycling from Huddersfield to Gibraltar Day 14.

Fuencaliente to Puente Genil

I'm packed up booked out for about 8.30am today, nothing for breakfast this morning, but there was a petrol station where I stocked up on food, water and red bull. I'm on the N420 heading towards Montoro and I'm flying one thing I didn't expect to be going downhill so much! Must have gained some height without noticing yesterday. I seem to be flying to Montoro, and arrive there just before 12pm.

I'm a bit peckish now, and call into a bar where I get 2 x cheese and ham toasties and 2 cups of coffee its just the job, spirits high with making the miles quick in the morning, but I do wonder if there is some height to gain further on today !

I'm heading out of Montoro, and cycling towards Bujalance on the A309. About 30mins after I have a puncture its the back tyre ! :-( panniers off etc.. Its very warm now at this time of day. I use one of the inner tubes I bought from France (It feels very thin to touch this inner tube, like silk) Its fixed and I'm back off again..

I arrive in the town of Bujalance its very nice, some great buildings to see and little one way streets to cycle down. Didn't really stay to have a look around here so I head out on the A309 towards Castro del Rio - and what happens over the next 3hrs is very frustrating to say the least, especially in the heat of day, also with nothing but open spaces between towns.. I had a total of 7 punctures over the next 3 hrs, bringing my tally for the day to 8 ! All the lot were on the back tyre :-( (Very demoralising at the time) Also after around number 6 puncture the local Policia decide to pull up behind be at the side of the road - blue lights flashing x two motorbikes (Looked like the old series "Chips") I could not understand what they were saying to me, they were looking at my bike, feeling the saddle, chatting to one another and I'm there thinking I have not got a clue what your both saying :-)

I do but in now and explain that I'm from England, and one replies "Ahh English" I then tell them I'm heading to Gibraltar.. He replies "Ahh Gibraltar, one moment" he starts to go back to his motorbike, and comes back over with a road Map! He then speaks to his buddy, who then goes back to his bike, and brings back a pad and pen !! Between them they are now speaking in Spanish giving me directions and pointing out road numbers, the other policeman is writing the directions down for me too ( I do know where I'm going but I didn't want to upset these guys, I just keep saying "See, " "See, " "Gracias and I keep nodding)

I see them pointing to the coast road on the map near Marbella and start to mimic riding a bike with hands on handlebars - Shouting the words "Coast road, coast road Yeahhhhh" I start to laugh, they are funny, but they are helpful in their own way. After about 45mins they leave me to carry on.. Blimey what a polava today is turning out to be....

I carry on cycling thinking when is the next puncture coming, those tubes are rubbish and at the next town I need to change them to some thicker type ones. They do hold out and I'm in a town called Montilla funnily enough I can't seem to find a cycling shop, but I do call in a Motorbike shop, and by luck they sell cycle inner tubes, I buy 3 and check the quality out of them, there are totally different- so much thicker to touch.. I keep going on the poor ones for now, I will change them when I next get a puncture !

I have a coffee and call in at a supermarket while in the town of Montilla, its around 5pm now and I'm looking on map to see where I will stay over tonight, my reckoning is to keep cycling up to 8pm (It goes dark around 8.30ish) The place I aim for is Puente Genil.

Its not too tough for the last few hours the roads are quite flat, I can see a Mountain range in the distance, but that would be the next day I reckon. I cycle into Puente Genil, I'm looking on my phone to find any hotels in the area, I find one its about quarter of a mile away - Sorted! Just then..... Puncture Again! same back tyre, just to top the day off with a tally of 9 Punctures!! I push my bike to the hotel, book in, I have to leave my bike near reception, so I just take off the rear wheel and take it up to my room, and changed to inner tube to one of the new ones (Lets see how good these ones are?)

After shower, I'm back down in the hotel bar area where I have a Steak dinner, and several beers too, its been a eventful day, and its that warm in the evening I'm sitting in the hotel grounds outside.

Total miles = 88 miles.

Average speed = 12.4 mph.