October 20, 2022
Cortes de la Frontera to near Montecorto
Super cool cave tour, and wacky ending to the day
We got a 9:30 start from the nice town of Cortes, starting with a gentle downhill. It was overcast and a bit breezy, but once again a perfect temperature, somewhere in the low 20s as a high for the day.
We had hoped to take photos of the interior of the bullring today, but it was locked up.
After the easy start, we had a steep climb up through fabulous rocky terrain, including riding next to a steep cliff for part of it. This must be a popular cycling area for groups based in Ronda. We saw a tour group of British road riders on a supported ride. Near top of the climb, we passed multiple signs for the Cueva de la Pileta, and stopped to see what it was all about. It turns out that it's a cave with paintings that date from somewhere between 40,000 years ago (said our guide) and 25,000 years ago according to other sources. The caves were discovered in 1905, and access is still controlled by the family of the farmer who found them. We lucked out with timing, and only waited 15 min for a tour to start. AMAZING tour of caves - we went about 500 m in, past two pools of water. There were fabulous stalactites and stalagmites. Our tour guide was a descendent of the farmer who found the caves in the early 1900s. Paintings were of animals (horses, aurochs - ancient cows, goats), bows and arrows, and lots of marks counting days or moon cycles. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the caves.
We saw lots of bats too. The guide told us that he’s a biologist by training, and so far the bats are healthy. That's good news in comparison to the die off of North American bats.
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We had a picnic lunch near the cave entrance, feeling very lucky that we'd gained access to this amazing place. Then biked more down and up and down - that's the story of biking here. Finally, we crossed over our loop from earlier in the week as we headed towards our destination of Montecorto. It turned out that our hotel was quite a way out of town. And when Komoot said we were at the right address, we were just at the entrance to the hotel's very long driveway, and we had to descend about another 2 km in distance and 160 m vertical. All the way down we were both dreading tomorrow morning's start up this steep hill with lousy pavement. Yikes!
We got a very good price on a fancy resort-type hotel, the Hotel El Horcajo. At first it felt sort of abandoned in this off season, but then we realized that there were a few other guests lounging around. We sat by the nice pool for a while, but it wasn't warm enough that I wanted to swim, probably about 20 C by that time.
We asked for a dinner reservation at the opening time of 8 pm, but they asked us to come a bit later, I suppose so everyone didn't arrive at once. Almost all the guests were non-Spanish, and I'll bet everyone wanted to be fed as early as possible. At dinner, guests filled up the dining room and we had a rare meal indoors with other people. We've mostly been eating outdoors in an attempt to avoid COVID.
An aside: COVID-wise, we haven't seen many signs of precautions, other than entrance to pharmacies being limited to one masked person at a time, and taxi and bus drivers seem to all wear masks. Nobody else. I can't imagine the 2020 lockdown in these towns - people were only allowed out of their houses for short times, or with a good excuse like having to walk a dog. In comparison, we had it very easy in Canada.
The hotel had a small dining room with maybe seven tables. I ask about the appetizer salad and am told it’s just a 'regular salad'. I thought 'aha, a resort that serves a side salad!'. But it turned out to be a classic huge ‘mixed salad’ that I've already eaten a few times. It includes iceberg lettuce, corn, tuna, and hard boiled egg. Already full, I cancel my second course. And can't comment on the desserts. Funny- I haven’t had dessert in Spain. Just don’t feel like eating something sweet so late at night. Our on-going afternoon study of ice cream and cookies will be my test of Spanish treats.
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In the evening, I looked at the Google Maps satellite photos to see if the road continued down the valley, or if we were doomed to climb back up the long access road. I didn't see a way out, and Komoot showed no other option, even if I chose 'mountain biking' as ride type. Too bad.
Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 366 km (227 miles)
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