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Sunday, March 31, Cordoba to Priego de Cordoba,
I am psyched for a hard ride today. I know it will be mostly climbing as we are heading in the direction of Montefrio. I am up before 8 doing sit-ups, push-ups and stretches to get my body ready. I am ready before Mike, as usual, so I get our bikes out of storage and my bike loaded up.
He’s slow at the start of the ride too, but as soon as we hit the first hills he starts to pull ahead. We are using N432 to leave the city. Almost immediately it begins to climb. It climaxes in a large hill a few km along, and then the terrain is undulating until it approaches Espejo, a small hill crest town at 34 km. We climbed the hill and through the town. From here I can see Cordoba and around us in all directions. If it wasn’t so hazy I am sure that my zoom lens would be great. 
From Espejo we drop and climb again to Montillo, a small but renowned wine processing town. It’s a hilltop town too, and from there we can see Espejo. The road climbs gradually over the next 22 km south and east to Cabra. These past two towns were the ones the Brits recommended in Palma del Rio. They are scenic, but not spectacular.
From Cabra, the road climbs to its peak for the day, 792m, a rise of 740m for the day. It is almost a constant climb from Cabra. The drop on the other side to Priego is steeper. I top 57 km/hr while Mike gets up to 65.
We arrive in Priego before 4:30pm, the result of an early start from Cordoba. Our distance from Cordoba is 100 km, which is good for so much hill climbing.
We find a very cheap hostel, 1600 pesados, with nice rooms. There is a bar on the main floor where both kids and adults are screaming their lungs out as if there is nothing better to do.PHOTO 1: leaving Cordoba
PHOTO 2: starting to climb
PHOTO 3: Espejo
PHOTO 4: Montillo
PHOTO 5: Cabra
PHOTO 6: Sierra Parapanda
PHOTO 7: somewhere along the climb to Priego
PHOTO 8: castle outside of Priego
PHOTO 9: Priego at night
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