Stage 23 of 60, day 28 of 71: 117.6 km, 2119m, 5:45, 541 shifts, ave speed 20.1, max speed 74.1
I slept over 8 hours which was the first good sleep in several nights. The wind did not die down though, and it was still windy packing up in the morning which did not bode well for the ride. I got to say good-night to Katie before breakfast – it’s funny how the time zones work. She asked if I had seen the full moon and I answered, “I’m staring at it now” and showed her.
The cycling was varied today, but included lots of climbing, the most of any stage so far. The wind provided some moments of glory as well as some moments of despair. One time, with a tail wind, we were cruising at over 70 for a while. Another time, while pedaling, I saw I was going 16 kph and my Garmin told me the slope was -3%. For non-cyclists that means it was extremely crappy conditions.
I’d say the most interesting thing we saw was the Gaitanes Gorge (Desfiladero de las Gaitanes). We rode by and saw the amazing looking walk you can do, looking like those crazy ones in China – with a walkway built into a vertical cliff. As long as you trust it and it doesn’t break, you’re good to go.
A bit after that we had lunch, then continued to Ronda. The last obstacle was a 14 km long climb that started out steep and very hot. They always end though – you just have to keep at it. The descent was really nice and soon we were in the touristy city of Ronda. Finding a bar for beer was as easy as “Let’s stop at this one.” We had a couple of rounds with some fried seafood. Then we checked out the crazy cliff that the city is built on top of. Of course we rode across the famous bridge and took photos. Tourists everywhere.
The campground was just up the hill, where I had soup, snacks, soda, shower, laundry, beer, dinner and dessert in that order.
Nathan's Blog 
beautiful!!
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