Green . . ..

Well at last we can see the colour green. Don't misunderstand me- it is still very hot and we are both pretty well exhausted but for the first time on this trip we feel that we have made some progress. We hope to be able to give you a report about Pamplona tomorrow. We intend to have a free rest day so that we can get some chores such as washing done and also be tourists for a day. Crossing Spain at speed is a young mans game I think but it is always good to give them a run for their money. If you have not donated to our charity yet please do- John and I are all but killing ourselves here whilst you are probably sat at home with your feet up - or at best cycled 70 miles without panniers. You should try this sometime- afterwards anything will feel a million times better.

More and more and more. .

Today was just more of everything. More heat- more miles and more pain. I have seen on the internet link that both Mark Cavendish and Matt Goss have had to retire from the Vuelta de Espana because of the heat here in Spain. I have to ask if those young pro cyclists have retired due to the heat what are us two oldies doing- perhaps we are mad after all. . . . The extreme heat has caused John's Thermarest mattress to burst. I think he blew it up too hard and the heat caused the air to expand and BANG! John is now having to use it as it is- it's not as comfortable as it was but when he replaces it after this trip I bet he won't blow the replacement up so hard! To make matters worse he has also managed to break the zip on his sleeping bag. We hope to get to Pamplona on Thursday evening- about 150 miles- we then plan to have a rest day so that we can do some washing and also look around the place, in other words play at tourists for the day. I think we both deserve that. . . . . .

Cycling Fuel.

Well we have now had our first day without Dave. As we thought hydration has been a problem - but we managed. Most small churches and chapels seem to have a water source. Most of our meals seem to consist of a tin of pasta with meatballs and a pepper sauce. A problem we have had throughout Spain is the ground is too hard. Trying to get the tent pegs in is like attempting to knock then into solid concrete. Last night I gave up and slept out under the stars without the tent. At one campsite we were plagued by groups of children riding their bikes around the site until about one thirty in the morning. Some of there kids were only about eight years old, maybe younger. They appeared to be locals and had no apparent parental control that we could see. What parent allows kids of that age out at that time of night? The campsite owners didnt seem bothered- it really was a campsite from hell. We are now north of Sacedon. We will keep pushing on for a few more days before having a day off as we want to get through Spain as quick as possible.

Dave has gone!

This morning at about 05.00hrs Dave had to set off on his journey back to the UK. He had sold his soul to his employers in order to participate in the start of ROCK2UK and now they are cashing in the chips. Both JD and I feel very much alone now that Dave has gone. We are very concerned about getting enough water as Dave was always able to provide this for us. It is still far to hot and the villages seem very few and far between. (See photo for one of the few villages ) We have had to wild camp due to lack of campsites. If we can keep pushing on and get further north earlier than planned we can then treat ourselves to a well earned rest day. This is proving to be far harder than LEJOG ever was. We were looking for a serious challenge and we have got one. We really are earning every penny for Cyclists Fighting Cancer.

The never ending road.

Today was a big day. We had to traverse two mountain ranges with a high plain of about 1000 metres in between. A total distance of about 95 miles. We had a headwind and it was still blazing heat. The road ahead was a straight line heading into a vanishing point. It was to hot to stop and there was no shade to enable us to get out of the sun. Dave has decided to stay with us for one more day before going back to the UK. He says that he is concerned about leaving us because of the extreme heat- but then Dave does worry anyway. We are now past Cuidad Real. We managed 12.47 mph and that was really hard going. When I looked at the map of Spain I couldnt believe how much further we still have to do before we get to France. I cannot remember whose original idea it was to cycle back to the UK from Gibraltar but at the moment it feels like madness and I am blaming JD. Tomorrow we will continue the torture- but none of us would miss this for the world.

Still like an oven.

The daytime weather is still like an oven. We have decided that for as long as Dave is supporting us we will try and get as many miles done as possible. Once he has left us we will find it difficult to get enough hydration. Dave is obviously able to carry more water than we can on the bikes. The more miles we can do in Spain before he goes back the better. Perhaps the Northern part of Spain will be cooler. Currently we are north of Montero. No bike problems at the moment and we are keeping our fingers crossed on that one. Our spirits are still high even though the heat is more intense than we have ever cycled in before. Average mileage covered over the past three days is in excess of 70 miles a day.

Like riding in an oven,

Our first day on our ROCK2UK was just like riding our bikes in an oven. For two UK guys who are used to max temps of about 80f today was serious heat. We were told at our campsite that it was 40c I think that equates to somewhere about 112f . We are now at Ronda which is 65miles from the Rock. It was from sea level to 1386metres at a gradient of between 6 to 9 per cent with only two sections of respite of about a mile each. In this heat it has been absolute torture - a living hell- talk about a baptism of fire for our first day. We had originaly planned to do this trip in September- after today we wished that we had. This level of heat just saps all your energy and when you are climbing hour upon hour it does make you wonder why we took up cycling. Perhaps tomorrow we will get to do some downhill. If it is cooler that will be a just reward for all todays effort.