DAY 8 Cordoba Rest DayApr 6
“some things in this world you can’t change at all, …if I could, I would chase all the clouds away, make every shadow fade,.. but sometimes baby, the rain must fall”–Kenny Wayne Shepherd
The weather forecast for today…our ride has been postponed and we will shuttle to Cordoba unfortunately. It was to be another 100km, 4,500ft climb day. But we had a very nice dinner last night at a family owned hacienda in Priego…the husband and wife were chefs and wine stewards, daughter receptionist and waitress.
Destination – Cordoba
A truely great town. Cordoba is rich in history and a fantastic place to spend a day wandering, resting, exploring, eating and drinking.
We checked into our hotel, the Eurostar El Conquistador, directly across the street from the famous Mezquita mosque. A short walk in the old town for lunch and a bevvie made the rainy day a little more cheery.
Check out the braided rug in the courtyard!…look closely….it is stone!
Lunch at the Gran Bar….tapas of calamari, breaded hake bites, little prosciutto and cheese bites, a bowl of bean soup with chorizo to warm up with….and a frosty Estrella!
More on Cordoba tomorrow but make sure you read the following….I don’t know how I ended up with this group of great people, I certainly can’t do much more than carry their water bottles, but having a great time with them!
**the Grupetto!!**the last 2 but by far not least!!…and remember, the names were not changed to protect the innocent, because they are all guilty!
Jonathan Page…hailing from Sydney Australia, Jonathan is a medical doctor with a specialty in oncology. He is the oldest in our group but also one of the strongest. His cycling history is quite extensive:
–Melbourne to Sydney in 6 days
-he started racing at the ripe age of 32 yr old, doing criteriums and road races
-Rode the famous 228 km Grafton to Invero race in Ausralia 8 times
– then switched into endurance(randoneuring) events of 200, 300, 400 km lengths
– Paris-Brest-Paris, 1,200km race with a 90 hr time limit, held every 4 years, Jonathan’s first was in 1984, completing it in 60 hr
– has completed Paris-Brest-Paris 6 times and next year will go for his 7th
– ridden across USA 13 times, these rides were 14 days in length (comparatively I rode across USA only once and did it in 44 days!)
– Canada to Mexico
– the eastern seaboard of USA in the Appalacians
Jonathan makes his Pinnarello Dogma proud!
Jose Rodrigues….born in Madrid this Spanish born Australian and rose connossieur, who splits his time equally between La Scala Spain and Sydney Australia with his better half Jo, because “we follow the sun”. When he wasn’t working as an architect and people manager, he ran, swam and rode bikes, now retired….Definitely the top rider in this group with speed and endurance and an effortless looking form…he cycled as a youth but then as “girls and cars” got in the way, cycling took a back seat. He got into multi-sports including mountain climbing, rock climbing, which progressed to duathalons and triathalons, with enough success in that to be sponsored. But it was cycling that Jose developed a passion for, both the riding side of it and the technical/mechanical side. He has ridden numerous long distance bike trips with wife Jo. In triathalons, he qualified at the World Championships in Manchester UK to be able to join the Australian Olympic team, which ultimately led to competing at the Ironman Worlds in Kona Hawaii. Jose completed the Kona Ironman 3 times! HELLO!!
-It has been an absolute privilege and pleasure to ride with all these folks!
So this is us, the Marrakesh Express Grupetto!
And of course, dinner at a beautiful restaurant serving Sephardic cuisine in the Jewish quarter of the old city
Good night from Cordoba Spain…more of that tomorrow!
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