Now in Ronda, Andalucia. I got as far as Aranjuez, south of Madrid, but decided in the face of lousy weather and headwinds to take a train to Jaen, about 160 miles south. Was very glad that I did, as the first two thirds of the route were flat and boring and cold and wet, even from the train. Then things got interesting. The usual problem in Jaen: I couldn't find a way out - hit a Freeway on every attempt. And since the main freeway is low down, and Jaen is on the side of mountain, that got old quickly, so checked into the Youth Hostel, which was part of a spa complex with a pool that seemed to be continually filled with fat old people doing water aerobics. Remind me not to ever wear swimming trunks again! In Jaen I finally found a bookshop that sold Michelin maps (Spanish towns seem to be notably devoid of bookshops). Three cheers for that. Plus a bike shop owner who knew how to get on the Via Verde, a Rails-to-Trails track to the west, and could give coherent directions to get to it. Three more cheers! Rode the entire Via Verde to Puente Genil, 120 km in 1.5 days. Anyone else thinking of riding Spain, take note: the Via Verde is NOT on the Michelin map, the maps provided by the tourist office do NOT show how to get on and off it in the towns and it is impossible to find out anything about where such a route goes once it leaves the province you are in. The weather is now beautiful, and the old railroad track a delight, tho' not always well-maintained. Little coffee shops in many of the stations. Met a Swiss fellow at the one in Cabra who had been walking for 11.5 months: Switzerland to Santiago to the Moroccan desert, now back to Santiago, then on to Rome by Christmas. He had done 11,500 km.

Stayed the night at DonaMencia after riding 52 miles: at the end of the trail I had a horrendous (when fully-loaded) climb out of the valley to Lora de Estena, which is on a Freeway. Here a friendly motorcyclist told me about the service roads for the freeways, and how to get on this one: apparently all the freeways must have one, but they are outside the fence and look like farmer's tracks. This got me to La Roda de Andalucia, where they pack La Espanola brand olives, which I think I have seen in my local grocery store. Then a nice easy road (well, one steep 3 km hill) to Campillos, where I stayed after a 72 mile day. Another note for travelers in Spain: lots of things are closed on Saturday, so eating may be difficult. EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday unless it is tourist-oriented: i.e. a roadside cafe in a beauty spot - these are 50% more expensive than the non-touristy equivalent. Today only 40 miles, and so exhausted that I was shivering at the end of the day: I had to ride over a 3000 foot pass (885 m) which was not marked on the Michelin map: but beautiful country - around the Embalse de Guadalteba (reservoir), beneath Teba, lying like a crumpled handkerchief on a saddle between the Sierra Subbetica and the Castillo de la Estrella. Then a 17 km continuous climb past Cuevas del Becerro, a small town that sits on the edge of cliff. From directly beneath the town there springs from caves a full-grown river to plunge down a series of spectacular waterfalls. Finally Ronda, a town divided in two by a vertical-sided slot that must be 200 feet deep and has a spectacular bridge across it. From the south side of town one looks over cliffs that must be 800 feet high across the mountains between here and Algeciras: I think I'm taking the train, though. It looks like a spectacular train ride, and the only bicycle route that doesn't put me in Freewayland apparently is 4 times more hilly than today's, and there may be no places to stay: 68 km of climbing on a 6-8% grade and a bed in the hay doesn't sound so good! Besides, my original intention was to ride the Spanish coast north: this week has been a bonus because I was told you can't take a bike on a national train, only on the local ones. I may NOT be able to ride north out of Algeciras, though - it's all mountains and freeways: I'll give you the answer to that in a few days.