December 1, 2021
Ronda Day 1
We booked three nights in Ronda because we wanted to do a day ride and because we didn’t need the extra day at our next stop we’d allowed to walk the Caminetto del Rey as it’s closed for the season. (We would have done it as a day excursion from Malaga but couldn’t get tickets.)
Tomorrow is forecast to be wet so today was the day. I’d mapped a couple of options but we chose the shorter one so we could wait for the day to warm up before starting.
The route was based on one designed by a commercial supported road bike tour. The particular company is known for their challenging trips and we certainly weren’t going to do their whole day ride. I can’t find it on the Internet anymore, but as I recall, it started from Ronda and went first to Grazalema, then up Puerto de Boyar and back to Grazalema, then the loop to Zahara and over Puerto de las Palomas and back to Grazalema, then back to Ronda with a detour through Montejaque and Benaoján. I’m tired just thinking about it! Our route for today was out A374 as far as the turnoff to Montejaque to do the little detour. A374 is a red road on the Michelin map but RWGPS shows a lot of heat on it. Besides, it’s the road that commercial tour uses and there’s no alternative.
As it turned out, that part of the route was an uncomfortable 12 km. It wasn’t the first high speed road we’d been on; after all, we’d even ridden a bit on an Autovia. And the road did certainly deserve its green “scenic” highlight on the map. But it was the first with such a narrow (and often overgrown) shoulder. When we finally turned off, we were wondering if we could get back to Ronda without the planned, thankfully shorter, part on A374.
The quiet road we turned onto, though, was lovely. Up and down over a couple of gentle ridges, past a dam way below in a gorge…
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…then we turned a corner and were right beside the gorge.
The wows continue.
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We stopped for coffee in Benaoján and discussed our options. We could continue with the route as planned and maybe there might be an alternative road to loop below Ronda and approach from the south, as we had yesterday. Or we could continue on and up to Jimera de Libar and rejoin yesterday’s route at Atajate, the bottom of yesterday’s longest climb, and enter Ronda by descending on the really bad surface of A369 (which was excellent until that long descent). We decided to stick to the plan.
It was a very steep descent, on an excellent road, from Benaoján to the bridge across the Rio Guadairo. Across the bridge and along the river valley which we found quite scenic, though there had been no green highlight on the map.
Just before MA7401 connected with A374, we tried finding a road around Ronda’s ridge. We’d seen roads in the valley looking down from Ronda, but I suspect we were in the wrong valley. The road we tried dead-ended at the sewage treatment plant. Oh well, we tried.
Less than a hundred metres past where we turned on to A374 was a radar trap (two cops in high-viz jackets standing by their car). Thanks to that and the lesser volume of traffic than this morning, our return to Ronda wasn’t as uncomfortable as our departure.
After stowing our bikes safely at our hotel and changing out of cycling kit, we headed further into the old town to look for lunch. There are surprisingly few places to eat in this area! But we found one with tables in the sun, very close to the top of the trail down I’d seen yesterday. Of course we headed down after lunch.
Next on our list of sights to see was the Casa del Rey Moro and its “water mine.” There’s a famous garden there too, but it would be better in a warmer month. The Casa itself isn’t open to visit; it needs an incredible amount of restoration. So the water mine was the main attraction.
Apparently this was the source of water for the city when it was under siege by the Christians. A large water wheel, turned by Christian slaves, was used to get water from the river, which the slaves then had to carry up to the city. It’s about 60 m vertical. I believe the attacking army managed to take the water mine and then tithe city surrendered, but I’ll have to research it when I get home.
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We continued down the twisty street that led past our hotel and the Casa del Rey Moro and found ourselves at the Puente Viejo. The street, or rather stairs, continued to the Baños Árabes but we decided to return to see that tomorrow.
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After more than 4 weeks of similar menus whoever we ate, we were thrilled to find an Italian restaurant.
Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 1,308 km (812 miles)
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2 years ago