Day 109 We're home!! Iznalloz to Colmenar 138 km

This morning feels slightly cooler, even though the sky is bright and blue as usual.

We have decided to make a bid for home even though it will be a really long day.  We are starting out just north of the city of Granada - more than 130 km from home.  Again we choose main roads to try and make our progress as speedy as possible.  It definitely is a bit cooler, the wind is very light and we are able to make a quick getaway from the motorway service station.

The day is all about getting our heads down and getting on - which we do.   We arrive in Loja - the town in which we stayed on our first overnight stop on Day 1 of our trip nearly 4 months ago.  We are now retracing our steps.  It is only as we haul our way up to the Puerto de Los Alazores that we realise that some of the toughest cycling to be found is right on own doorstep.  No wonder it seemed so hard when we set off all those weeks ago.

We arrive home, in the dark, at 10.30 pm after cycling exactly 6684 km or 4153 miles, definitely fitter, definitely lighter and, most definitely, ready for our own nice comfortable bed.

And finally, very many thanks to all of you that have followed the trip and sent encouraging emails.  For anyone interested, I will be adding a post-trip section to the overview giving some of the facts and figures, highlights, equipment list etc. just in case any of you decide to do something similar. 

As for us, well, I'm in the 'planning' phase - Ken's in the 'worrying' phase. Situation normal.

Day 108 Huesa to Iznalloz 110 km

We're ready to leave nice and early on another bright and sunny day morning, but when we go downstairs there is absolutely nobody there - everything is in darkness.  The front door has been left unlocked but that doesn't help as our bikes are locked in the hotel garage.  We hang around in the lobby for a while - the man running the hotel had asked us last night what time we wanted to leave and so we expect he'll turn up soon.   He doesn't.  I ring the 'phone numbers on the hotel business cards - no reply.   A neighbour tells me that the owner lives in a flat on the top floor of the hotel - I go and bang on the door but there is no response.  We wait around some more, but our early start is doomed.  We wonder if we will ever get away and start to look around for a way down into the garage.  Eventually we do find our way down and are able to open the garage door from the inside to get the bikes out.  We load up and leave with still no signs of life at the hotel.

The sun is already hot but, thankfully, the wind is light.  The first 30 km are along a quiet, undulating road before we join a main road which we go along to help speed up our progress, even though the cycling is not so pleasant.  The gradients on the main roads tend to be more gradual and the road surface smoother.  We are very hot, but making good progress when we reach an unexpected obstacle - the main road is closed for resurfacing for the final 20 km.  I look on the map to check the road that the diversion takes.  It will make the final stretch 40 rather than 20 km long - not a problem when you are in a car but not welcome when you are on a bike at the end of a long day.  I check the map again for a better option and see a back road which will get us where we want without adding so much distance.  It takes a while to find it and the surface is very rough but better than an extra 20 km.  However, the surface gets worse and worse until it becomes cart-track.  We hope it will turn back into a proper road again soon, but unfortunately, it doesn't and we bump along for nearly 20 km. 

We ask around in Iznalloz to locate our bed for the night and with sinking hearts find out that there isn't one.  The only option is to cycle to the junction at a motorway and stay in a motel.  It sounds like a grim end to a hard day, but actually it doesn't turn out to be that bad - then again, by this stage of the tour, we are not that choosy.

Day 107 Huescar to Huesa 74 km

Another clear blue sky - another battle with heat and mountains. We are skirting around two natural parks today - the Sierra de Castril and the Sierra de Cazorla - both are beautiful areas but we are just running along in the foothills rather then going through the main areas. Still there is always another time to come back. We see our first glimpse of the snow covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the distance - we can actually see these same peaks from our house (although they are 130 km away from where we live), so we know we are getting near home now.

The wind becomes a major factor - by mid-morning it is strong, hot and in our faces. It generally builds up during the day in mountainous areas. It saps our strength and we are both pleased and surprised to see a quite a large hotel in a small town after 74 km. It turns out to be very well appointed, although the people running it seem a bit amateurish. We plan an early start tomorrow again to try to get some kilometres in before the main heat of the day and before the wind becomes too strong.