Chapter 9: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Ronda to El Burgo

16th April 2019

You can see my YouTube on this ride here

I had another encounter with Spanish kindness on leaving Hotel Arunda. The lovely clerk, Jose Miguel, gave me a nice discount on my room. I'm not sure if he felt sorry for me or if it was because I asked for my room not to be cleaned! Whatever the reason, it

was very welcome!

Riding out of Ronda, I was soon into the hilly countryside. A theme was set for the day, I missed a turn on the gravel road and had to back-track a kilometer, uphill. This was the easiest of my corrections due to my inability to follow a map!

The gravel road crosses some meadows, very steep and rocky. Then I'm onto the GR249 that traverses the Sierra de las Nieves. It's a double track, not well surfaced and uphill, interspersed with some short downhill sections. This cuts through some beautiful mountains, the views always interesting.

A local farmer, Paco, stopped his Land Rover to have a chat. He was very friendly, and told me a little about the mountains.