Marylou takes off from the hotel. Clouds in the background.

Our ride took us over the Guadalquivir River, along the foothills of the Sierra Morena Mountains, and through the town of Hornachuelos. There is always a “hill du jour” and today’s was at 18k. I rode in the van past the hill, then got on my bike.

It had just started to rain when we reached 32k and a rest stop. We were wet but hung out there until the rain stopped. Leaving the restaurant, we had a downhill with speed bumps and Ross thought he lost his water bottle then. Later, someone rescued it at the restaurant.

At 43k, we stopped for a view of the Castillo de Almodovar and the town of Almodovar Del Rio. This is a castle of Muslim origin but was originally a Roman fortress. Also called the “round” castle, it’s a tourist attraction between Seville and Córdoba. This is as close as our group got.

Interesting aerial photo of the castle and town. You can either drive or walk up to the site.

Riding on down the road, we see some baby olive trees.

Clouds like these were rolling around all day.

For lunch we stopped at a cortiijo – a typical Andalusian farm house. At this point, everybody is pretty much soaked through from the rain.

We have a break and the sun briefly appears to warm things up.

Our lunch includes sandwiches and salad,

and a wonderful custard dessert. The ingredients included milk, egg yolks, lemon rind, and vanilla with cinnamon on top.

This was prepared by our host.