The wind has eased by the morning. I take a bike ride along the beach front. Cadiz is a strangely interesting place. The old town and newer residential streets offset each other well. The plentiful palm trees mask the proximity of the very busy port.
I drive to Puerto de Santa Maria and stop at the Decathlon sports store. I buy four bars of surf wax, as everywhere seems to have none, and a pump for my bike.
I head to Arcos de la Frontera. Arcos is one of the mountains ‘white towns’. The views are impressive as I approach. I find a car park and have lunch. After I fix up my bike and ride into town. The old churches are impressive, but the very steep twisting streets are the best part for me. The homes seem hardly touched over the years of the town’s growth. I take in the old town and decided to head back to the van. I ride through the old high-sided streets, but without a reference to the edge of town I get lost. I cycle up a steep hill, and then realise this is the wrong way. I cycle downhill, and then up another street. That seemed wrong as well, so I returned to the base of the town, where I saw the sight of one of the churches. I went to the church, and saw the edge of town, and got back to the van.
I headed off for Ronda. The 80km drive took me through beautiful countryside of hills, lakes and farms. After over an hour I could see Ronda approaching. Driving up the hills I entered the city. Whilst trying to find somewhere to free-camp I took a loop around the city. A car park for buses had a caravan in, which through me at first. I decided to stay at a campsite, and followed the signs to the not cheap, but very nice El Sur, where the beautiful assistance checked me in.
